MR to China - Visa Needed?
 

Hey there - I'm a newbie MR'er that needs a LOT of miles on *A before the end of the year and am considering a few runs to China to get miles... I know you need a Visa if you are planning on visiting, but I would likely just land, and get on the first flight back, due to time restraints with my travel schedule.

Any thoughts or suggestions on the visa concern?

Also.... any suggestions on some CO or UA (UA preferred since I have upgrade options via SWU) for long haul or easy haul "rack up some miles" runs before the end of the year. I do troll the MR deals boards and have booked some great one day runs for .04cpm recently... MCI is my home airport.

Thanks much FT'ers...! :)

You need a visa if you plan to return to US.
Visa cost 140 USD 1 year duration- multiple entries

If traveling onward to another country then you can
get a transit stamp. n/c

TWOV

In PEK good for 24 hrs - can leave the airport
PVG goood for 48 hrs - can leave the airport
CAN 24 hrs - can't leave the airport.

When I fly to various countries, China included, which require entry visas, the ticket agents at my departure airport normally check to make sure that I actually have a visa before even allowing me to check in. If you were to do a MR to China, I have a feeling it would be difficult to even get onto the plane without a visa.

The good news:
If you are a US Citizen, Hong Kong doesn't require a visa to fly there and its a longer distance than Beijing or Shanghai.

If you somehow end up there without a visa you'll eventually get sent back somehow. ;)

Probably the best way to do it if you don't want to get a visa (which is very efficient process... more of a way to get your money unless you plan on visiting rural Tibet or Xinjiang) is to go to PEK or PVG then back to the US via NRT. As long as you have a confirmed onward ticket you can do 24 hour visa-free transit in China or 48 hours in PVG/SHA. Going back through NRT isn't the way it's supposed to work and it is backtracking, but it's probably the best way to get away with it flying US carriers. Going onward to HKG/SE Asia would be better but then you would actually have to go somewhere rather than being on an MR. ICN is also an option.

It's too bad you're doing this on *A, if you flew DL/SkyTeam you go through HND/SHA and actually get to see the cities a little bit without too much time. In the end, I would recommend getting a visa, especially if you plan on doing more than one of these. 1 year multi visas are easy for Americans and if you're getting a good enough deal on those flights, you can spread the cost of the visa over all of your trips.

why can't I enter the country? I asked on an internet forum and they said I could

Lots of people go there and don't need a visa to enter . Go on give it a shot

:confused:

Very much depends on the rules of the fare in question. I'm on a SEA-PEK ticket next week that explicitly includes TYO as a routing point and a stopover point. I'm getting 2 nights in China and 2 nights in Japan on the one ticket with no troubles at all.

UA/CO offers codeshare service with ANA on the flights between China and TYO and meets the needs of the TWOV if you choose that flight schedule. I chose two nights in China and buying the visa instead.

:confused: This is either a badly written bit of sarcasm or horrible advice.

Yeah but PVG is so inconvenient for seeing the city within a < 2 day time constraint compared to SHA.

This makes no sense. They will check with you several times before even leaving the US at the airport to make sure you have the visa. Unless you are going to HKG, you need a visa for mainland China, as explained here.

Maybe he's Japanese or Singaporean? (Doubt it, I'm just giving him the benefit of the pretty high doubt)

The rules are very clear.

If going USA-China-USA - not a chance
If going USA-China-Other-USA - you get 24 hours with no visa.

The problem will not be Chinese immigration - you just show your boarding pass/itinerary on arrival, its extremely easy - the problem will be the airline not wanting to board you in the USA, and you will have to have the rules printed out for them

Lots of stories and actual experiences in the China forum

Maybe do a MR to countries that you are sure you don't need a visa?

Or just get a multi China visa and actually get to travel around China a few times? :(

You may not board plane in the US airports if you don't have a China visa.(assume you hold a US passport)

There are over a billion people who don't need a visa to go to China ;)