[FARE GONE] ORD-PEK $461 all in
Nov 1, 2005, 9:04 pm
#16
Original Member
Original Poster
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Highland PArk,IL,USA -- AA Lifetime Platinum, IHG Plat, UA Silver, Hilton Gold, Radisson Gold, Marriott Lifetime Titanium
Posts: 2,366
Originally Posted by docr775
Bummer,
I priced the same itineray and it came out around $1800 on a combination of M and Q fares.
I priced the same itineray and it came out around $1800 on a combination of M and Q fares.
Nov 2, 2005, 1:12 am
#17
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: PHL
Posts: 145
Seems to be dead on travelocity -- anyone seeing it via other sites?
Nov 2, 2005, 1:18 am
#18
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: LAX
Programs: Almost all status expired. Hilton Silver. UA 0.8 MM. AA 0.6 MM.
Posts: 1,380
Disclaimer: I'm going back to China in Mar 2006, so I'm not meaning to rag on China. Just a warning for anyone out there who does happen to be pollution-sensitive.
--------
Maybe pollution was worse on the first two days I visited (10/9-10/10/05) - temperature inversion or something. It was much better on the last day 10/11.
But on 10/9, there were times when visibility was only about 200-300 yards, and I couldn't see anything past the first office building. Nada, nix - no buildings, streets, mountains, etc...
Maybe a better question would be...which days in Beijing are the best/worst? Do they have smog alert websites?
I lived in Los Angeles for 12 years (where smog is pretty bad, my LA lung specialist friends say take 10% off your lung capacity for living there - measure your FEV - mine was about 530-580, rather than the 620 it should have been.), and my experience of Beijing was much, much worse.
Shanghai pollution may be more like Los Angeles-level...wasn't there long enough to really notice. In Los Angeles, faraway buildings are always progressively hazier in the distance, except right after a rain. Even at Venice Beach, the Mailbu Mountains and Palos Verdes moutains are always hazy, except after a rain. Compare to Seattle where the mountains are always crystal-sharp.
When visiting the Great Wall near Beijing, you could see the mountains getting hazier from smog. Now that I've been to China, I've noticed the smog in lots of pictures from China in travel books. Maybe I thought that was just fog like the San Francisco bay stuff before.
In Los Angeles, if we fell in the water during sailing races, we immediately put Bactine on any cuts. The water in Los Angeles basin rates an F for quality, but the water in Chinese rivers was incredibly green and disgusting. If the New Orleans Katrina water was anything like China, yuck...
--------
P.S. I grew up in Ohio going to bars where you couldn't see the wall on the other side of the bar because the smoke was so thick.
The only times before Beijing I've ever felt so bad from smog...were two day in Los Angeles when we had a particularly bad temperature inversions and there were big smog alerts, where they told everybody to stay inside.
--------
Maybe pollution was worse on the first two days I visited (10/9-10/10/05) - temperature inversion or something. It was much better on the last day 10/11.
But on 10/9, there were times when visibility was only about 200-300 yards, and I couldn't see anything past the first office building. Nada, nix - no buildings, streets, mountains, etc...
Maybe a better question would be...which days in Beijing are the best/worst? Do they have smog alert websites?
I lived in Los Angeles for 12 years (where smog is pretty bad, my LA lung specialist friends say take 10% off your lung capacity for living there - measure your FEV - mine was about 530-580, rather than the 620 it should have been.), and my experience of Beijing was much, much worse.
Shanghai pollution may be more like Los Angeles-level...wasn't there long enough to really notice. In Los Angeles, faraway buildings are always progressively hazier in the distance, except right after a rain. Even at Venice Beach, the Mailbu Mountains and Palos Verdes moutains are always hazy, except after a rain. Compare to Seattle where the mountains are always crystal-sharp.
When visiting the Great Wall near Beijing, you could see the mountains getting hazier from smog. Now that I've been to China, I've noticed the smog in lots of pictures from China in travel books. Maybe I thought that was just fog like the San Francisco bay stuff before.
In Los Angeles, if we fell in the water during sailing races, we immediately put Bactine on any cuts. The water in Los Angeles basin rates an F for quality, but the water in Chinese rivers was incredibly green and disgusting. If the New Orleans Katrina water was anything like China, yuck...
--------
P.S. I grew up in Ohio going to bars where you couldn't see the wall on the other side of the bar because the smoke was so thick.
The only times before Beijing I've ever felt so bad from smog...were two day in Los Angeles when we had a particularly bad temperature inversions and there were big smog alerts, where they told everybody to stay inside.
Nov 2, 2005, 7:11 am
#19
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: BOS, PVG
Programs: United 1K and 1MM, Marriott Ambassador
Posts: 10,000
mitchell is correct
I basically agree with mitchell.
pollution in china is a big, huge problem.
it's getting worse and that's why i don't want to live in china for extended period of time.
pollution in china is a big, huge problem.
it's getting worse and that's why i don't want to live in china for extended period of time.
Nov 2, 2005, 10:33 am
#20
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Shanghai
Posts: 42,039
Originally Posted by mitchell
Maybe a better question would be...which days in Beijing are the best/worst? Do they have smog alert websites?
last spring was so bad that i basically took matters into my own hands (i.e. didn't run it past my company) and left the country. once leaves start to grow in town and in the gobi desert, things get a lot better.
the fall is usually beijing's best season, but, as mitchell noted, september and october featured some pretty bad days.
winter is actually pretty good, in spite of those infamous purple skies.
inversions don't happen too often in the summer. however, the average air quality isn't all that great either.
Apr 6, 2006, 8:36 pm
#21
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 114
A great fare, indeed!
This post has been dead a while. When I saw it several months ago I really doubted this was a real fare. But, I booked it and my wife and I just got back from a great trip. The weather was a little cool for some of the days, but it got better and there was no rain. The pollution was not so bad. I have seen much worse. We saw all the great sites as the Great Wall, Tainnamen Square, the Forbidden City and so on.
The prices are reasonable and everyone was trying hard to be nice to tourists and rip-offs were at a minimum. The fact that they are going to hold the Olympics in 2 years might have something to do with it.
So, my wife and I want to thank the person who originally dug up this fare. Keep up the great work! This was truly a great find. The fact that I got 23000+ ff miles with not much effort didn't hurt either.
The prices are reasonable and everyone was trying hard to be nice to tourists and rip-offs were at a minimum. The fact that they are going to hold the Olympics in 2 years might have something to do with it.
So, my wife and I want to thank the person who originally dug up this fare. Keep up the great work! This was truly a great find. The fact that I got 23000+ ff miles with not much effort didn't hurt either.
Apr 7, 2006, 12:21 am
#22
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 211
Originally Posted by mitchell
PEK is extremely polluted... too much for me. I was getting headaches and the tops of my nose hurt after 1 day in PEK, even with a face mask.
Other Chinese cities are polluted (rivers and lakes are disgusting green), but PEK was the worst. Perhaps like the famous smog in London and Milan of a century ago.
The Li River (Guilin) was good, but even the West Lake in Hangzhou was pretty disgusting.
I'm sure China will heal up environmentally in the future. Better sewage and a shift from coal to gas/nuclear. Two friends just spent one month in China encouraging environmental awareness.
Other Chinese cities are polluted (rivers and lakes are disgusting green), but PEK was the worst. Perhaps like the famous smog in London and Milan of a century ago.
The Li River (Guilin) was good, but even the West Lake in Hangzhou was pretty disgusting.
I'm sure China will heal up environmentally in the future. Better sewage and a shift from coal to gas/nuclear. Two friends just spent one month in China encouraging environmental awareness.
Apr 7, 2006, 5:15 pm
#23
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: MHT/BOS <--> World
Programs: AA Plat 2.8MM
Posts: 4,629
Originally Posted by Agrolingua
But, I booked it and my wife and I just got back from a great trip. The weather was a little cool for some of the days, but it got better and there was no rain. The pollution was not so bad..... The fact that I got 23000+ ff miles with not much effort didn't hurt either.
Apr 8, 2006, 10:51 am
#24
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 132
just my 2 cents... i did a mileage run to PEK for 7 days at the end of Feb... and it was one of the best times i've ever had in my life.
pj
pj
Apr 9, 2006, 7:35 am
#25
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Our nation's capital
Programs: UA 1K & 0.6 MM
Posts: 781
Originally Posted by wanaflyforless
I also just got back from a ticket using this fare. A great trip and a double bump landing me a total of $1500 in NWA money. But this is not the place to post trip reports...there is a forum for that. Agrolingua - lets keep posts where they belong.
We are taking this trip the 23rd and I would like to have a historical basis for what they offering for bumps. Mr. Big V and I are prepared to shave a day or two off the vacation if we can cash in with the vouchers...
Thanks so much for your reply.
cheers,
big V
Apr 9, 2006, 9:31 am
#26
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Seattle area
Posts: 444
What are the VISA requirements for travel to Beijing? I thought the initial trip had to be with an organized travel group in order to get a visa.
Apr 9, 2006, 9:55 am
#27
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Our nation's capital
Programs: UA 1K & 0.6 MM
Posts: 781
IfItAintBoeing, US passport holders do need a tourist visa to go China. This does not need to be through an organized travel group in certain cases, however. We are travelling on our own and are filling out the paperwork without any 'sponsorship,' as it were.
You only need such sponsorship if you need a multiple-entry visa for a period of 6 months to one year.
This and other info is available here: Chinese Embassy Visa Information
big V
You only need such sponsorship if you need a multiple-entry visa for a period of 6 months to one year.
This and other info is available here: Chinese Embassy Visa Information
big V
Apr 9, 2006, 4:59 pm
#28
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 114
Visas
There don't seem to be a lot of restrictions on visas. A single entry tourist visa costs $50. The only hassle is that the application must be hand delivered and picked up at one of their consulates. They do not accept mail, Fedex, and other types of submissions.
In the event you do not live close to a consulate, or have the time to do the running an alternative is to use a visa service. I used www.mychinavisa.com They seem to be about the cheapest, and did a no hassle job. I was very satisified. There are others out there as well if you do a search.
In the event you do not live close to a consulate, or have the time to do the running an alternative is to use a visa service. I used www.mychinavisa.com They seem to be about the cheapest, and did a no hassle job. I was very satisified. There are others out there as well if you do a search.
Apr 9, 2006, 5:02 pm
#29
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2000
Location: أمريكا
Posts: 26,763
Gotten two visas in the last year, no problem. Went in person once, sent my passport to a friend (who was traveling with me) the second time. I've heard the visa services are pretty easy, too.
Apr 9, 2006, 7:57 pm
#30
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Seattle, Seoul, temporarily Shanghai
Programs: UA, AA, KE, OZ Hyatt Platinum, Int Ambassador,
Posts: 215
When I first came to shanghai, I have noticed a difference in air/water quality from the US (San Francisco). After a while though, I think I have gotten used to it and it no longer bothers me anymore. OF course during the agitating hot summer days, it does get intolerable but not anymore than other major cities I have been to. I would say the non-scientific polution level would be equvalent of Los Angeles (is that even a good analogy?)