djjaguar64

We are planning to fly from PEK to PVG with Air China in J. Is it worth flying in J with this airline or should we just book the Y class tkts. As well is it worth flying into Shanghai for a one day trip?

coolfish1103

The flight from PEK to PVG is too short to make it worth it.. plus the services Air China gives isn't value enough to pay J unless it's an extremely long haul.

dvs7310

If you have to pay full Y on that route (possible) then I'd do it in J. To me its worth it not to have to deal with economy class boarding. I hate flying Y on an airline where I have no preboarding privledges. Economy class boarding in any asian country is pure chaos.

J usually isn't too much more expensive than full Y in China.

DownUnderFlyer

IIRC most flights between Beijing and Shanghai are landing in SHA not PVG. We have booked first class tickets for a OW trip in April for that route and they were marginally more expensive than Y.

Zeus1234

I flew from PVG to PEK a week and a half ago on Air China. The flight continued on to SFO and was on a new A330. The J class seats were very nice, and so if you got a new plane, it might be worth it.

hserus

There's an excellent night train beijing to shanghai you might want to try. Here's some photos I found online.

http://home.wangjianshuo.com/archive..._crh_train.htm - day train

http://home.wangjianshuo.com/archive...o_shanghai.htm - night train

djjaguar64

We were also looking at the trains but it takes 12 hours and that is why we are opting for the flights. Now only if we could get D business class seats rather than C. Is not D cheaper than C.

hserus

Come on, its a night train. Not much difference sleeping in a hotel bed rather than in a comfortable train, and you do land right downtown [well, PVG isnt too bad as you have the maglev train into town and that's fun, but PEK arpt into beijing is not a ride i would wish on my worst enemy].

djjaguar64

We are actually planning only a day trip as we leave PEK on Friday the 13th for BKK, and that's why cannot choose the train option

moondog

I think, but I'm not sure, that CA PVG flights are going to use the new terminal in PEK, while all other flights to SHA will continue to use T2.

Unless you wind up on one of the few flights that has lie-flat seats, CA business class is a big waste of money (even when the fare differential is peanuts) IMO. Most of my flights are on 737s and I can categorically state that 3/4D (which is almost always open because it's the "pillow seat") is the best on the plane. Whenever I end up in F, I usually envy the guy in 4D; while he isn't getting doted over like me, he's drinking the same warm beer and his legs are fully extended.

I prefer narrow bodies now because boarding/deplaning is much faster on them.

There is no such thing as discounted C/F in China; iirc, C costs ~33% more than full fare coach and F, 50%. A major downside to C tickets is that whenever flights are canceled or delayed a long time (very often), they don't have enough muscle to get me into F on 2-class planes (so I end up paying 33% more for nothing; the fare difference is refundable, but the refund process is annoying).

aaac

I am also planning to take the same flight but this one shows up as using an Airbus 340. Anyone had experience with these particular plane of the Air China fleet?

goodison

I am doing the same flight soon, is it possible to upgrade at the airport either way? If so then how much is it roughly?

moondog

Officially, you need to pay the difference between your fare and business (only a handful of flights) or first. Unofficially, the price is often (well, 10-20% of the time) considerably cheaper. IME, rather than asking, it is better to just utter the words "first class" (in English) with a dignified smile.

goodison

Thanks, I might give that a go. Do you have any idea how much it is to upgrade at the airport?

moondog

Y300 is a common (unofficial) figure.