Shenzhen: London to Phuket from £1,458!
 

Interesting sale on another exotic carrier... This time with Shenzhen Airlines from London to lovely Phuket, Thai via their hub in Shenzhen.

Source: My site PremiumCabinDeals

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Gosh, the arrival and departure time from Phuket is brutal!

does it still need a Chinese visa since there is no I to I transfer without visa?

You can check on Timatic (on united.com or emirates.com) but I belive Int transit in China up to 24 hours is always visa free. Many cities offer all sorts od 3-5 visa free transit options, but only the 24 hour visa free transit allows you to take domestic connections, if needed.

There's a reason why these fares are so low. Well, more than 1 reason.
Anyway, I still appreciate the posts! It might still work for somebody.

work to SIN as well!

My guess...

1. $2k USD is a relatively common fare, Europe to SE Asia. So this is better, but not by too much. For a few hundred more you can fly a multitude of carriers in biz out of London.
2. For $2.1k you can fly QR from CDG - way better option and flight times! (And it is cheap to get from London to Paris.)
3. 2-2 seating is not that great.
4. Departure/Arrival time.
5. Transiting China is a PIA.

But, again, for some, this could work just fine.

Transiting through China is a pain with a million and one exceptions to just about every policy that always seem to change. For instance, SZX is one of the few airports where TWOV doesn't apply, though there seem to be mixed reports of success.

Have a look at this helpful thread for the latest. The need for a visa really puts a damper on this fare.

But INT-INT transit should work , its not a TWOV, its just staying air-side for the 3 hour connection... or would it still require a visa?

Not every airport has facilities for air-side transfer and unfortunately SZX is one of them. I'm pretty confident though that there should be a representative from the airline to help facilitate the process as you will be booked on a single ticket on one carrier.

The wiki on that thread is out-of-date. 144 hours TWOV has been in operation in Guangdong province (including 24/144hr at Shenzhen) since 1st May this year. There are a few idiosyncrasies (for example, concerning transits to Hong Kong and Macao, and arrival by land doesn't work), but this fare shouldn't require a visa for almost all nationalities.

It is not that simple. Many airports in China with international flights does not transfer your luggage automatically due to local custom clearance. That means even if you are doing international to international transfers, you will HAVE TO PICK YOUR LUGGAGE AND RECHECK-IN. If the airport does not have TWOV or the 72/144 hours Transit Visa on Arrival facility, you would not be able to continue your journey with out the vital pick up your luggage thing.

Last time when I flew via CTU doing international transfers with Air China for both sectors I have to go out the immigration and pick up my luggage to recheck-in. It is PIA in Hell.

SZX is not known to be an international getaway hub airport unlike PEK or PVG or CAN, I would not be surprised if you have to pick up your luggage before you can continue to HKT or SIN.