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FlyerTalk Forums (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/index.php)
-   TravelBuzz (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/travelbuzz-176/)
-   -   Alaska error with chinese visa requirements (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/travelbuzz/1324307-alaska-error-chinese-visa-requirements.html)

azepine00 Mar 14, 2012 12:42 am
Originally Posted by HongKonger (Post 18194890)
Will take 24 hours for an American, cannot get same day. Better hope he arrives in HKG today and picks up the visa tomorrow morning and meanwhile has a flight to PEK booked for tomorrow.
Interesting. OT in this case but AFAIK Chinese consulate in LA does same day processing for some extra $.

Taiwaned Mar 14, 2012 2:52 am
Since when does Alaska Air start flying to China????????????

I am only interested because my mom loves Alaskan and uses them on most of her flights but her flights are primarily up and down the west coast. Maybe I can encourage my mom to visit me in China using her favorite airline.

beckoa Mar 14, 2012 3:00 am
Wirelessly posted (beckoa's PWP wondrousdevice3.0: Mozilla/5.0 (BlackBerry; U; BlackBerry 9810; en-US) AppleWebKit/534.11+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/7.0.0.261 Mobile Safari/534.11+)

Originally Posted by Taiwaned
Since when does Alaska Air start flying to China????????????

I am only interested because my mom loves Alaskan and uses them on most of her flights but her flights are primarily up and down the west coast. Maybe I can encourage my mom to visit me in China using her favorite airline.
AS doesn't fly to China, but partners with many carriers that do, that one can redeem AS miles on- such as DL, AA, KE, CX, among others.

hyderago Mar 14, 2012 6:06 am
Originally Posted by moondog (Post 18195807)
Apart from Guangzhou, you can leave the airport everywhere in China without a visa. Please report otherwise, if you have facts at your disposal.
Per the Chinese consulate (Chicago) website:
"Visa-free transit:

1. Visas are not required for aliens who hold final destination visas and have booked seats on international airliners flying directly through China, and will stay in a transit city for less than 24 hours without leaving the airport."

http://www.chinaconsulatechicago.org...qz/t174774.htm

wharvey Mar 14, 2012 6:48 am
If I were "arguing" with the airline, I would come at it from the perspective that they did not check documents and allowed me on the plane. If they had checked documents, I would not have been allowed on the flight... and could have cancelled the flight and had some value left. It is still a tough argument, but makes some sense.

At the end of the day, it is always the passengers responsibility as you have heard many say... but it is disappointing when you get incorrect information and then depend on that same information.

Good luck!

emma69 Mar 14, 2012 10:50 am
Originally Posted by rkoerner82 (Post 18196881)
Thanks for all the posts. For the most part,...i will take my friend's advise and let by boyfriend post the actual details once he recovers from jet lag.(i was not traveling with him and only have the short emails he sent between flights)..however, i do want to throw this thought out there...

i understand that legally the airline may have no responsibility to him as the traveler. However, in most businesses, if one of their employees...in a position where the are clearly representing the company...tells a customer something related to the product or service they provide that then causes the customer harm...the company usually will do something to try to make up for it...whether that is financial, an apology...or help sorting it out (and i don't know as of this point how much help was provided)

The international award booking agent is clearly in a position to understand the requirements for visas better then a casual traveler (although i completely understand that memorizing this for every county would be impossible)...and i would not be surprised by a "please check our site for the latest visa requirements response". However, i am still shocked by a blatantly incorrect answer that did not come with a caveat to double check the info provided.
Could it be that the agent thought he was something other than a US citizen? I ask, because I have spoken to a Canadian airline call centre, at an odd time of day, and was (unknowingly) put through to a call centre in the US. I had a couple of questions, no issues with the first couple, but then I mentioned something about Cuba, and I was told in no uncertain terms I was not allowed to go there! You'd think even if they were American, working for a Canadian call centre, answering the phone to Canadians, they would have been told that we are indeed allowed to go on holiday there. If Alaskan did something similar, and the agent assumed the person was Canadian, then they may have said visa unnecessary (as I believe, for tourist reasons, Canadians are ok without one).

TPJ Mar 14, 2012 10:56 am
Originally Posted by MSPeconomist (Post 18191972)
Assuming he's a USA citizen, he can do the transit without visa at PEK for IIRC 48 hours en route to a third country,
Only PVG/SHA allow for 48 hours, all other airports in China - 24 hours only... But you are correct - it has to be to the 3rd country like SEA-PEK-BKK but not SEA-PEK-SEA...

DillMan Mar 14, 2012 11:06 am
Originally Posted by rkoerner82 (Post 18196881)
Thanks for all the posts. For the most part,...i will take my friend's advise and let by boyfriend post the actual details once he recovers from jet lag.(i was not traveling with him and only have the short emails he sent between flights)..however, i do want to throw this thought out there...

i understand that legally the airline may have no responsibility to him as the traveler. However, in most businesses, if one of their employees...in a position where the are clearly representing the company...tells a customer something related to the product or service they provide that then causes the customer harm...the company usually will do something to try to make up for it...whether that is financial, an apology...or help sorting it out (and i don't know as of this point how much help was provided)

The international award booking agent is clearly in a position to understand the requirements for visas better then a casual traveler (although i completely understand that memorizing this for every county would be impossible)...and i would not be surprised by a "please check our site for the latest visa requirements response". However, i am still shocked by a blatantly incorrect answer that did not come with a caveat to double check the info provided.
I completely disagree with your position, however, the tiny bit of water the argument holds (that the booking agent should know at least something) is negated by the fact that Alaska does not serve China in any way directly, therefore, why would the booking agents be informed about Chinese immigration law?

Alaska allows you to use your miles on other airlines, which is simply a courtesy. Expecting them to be responsible for the rules and regulations surrounding another company's products would be similar to expecting google to compensate you because a google search turned up incorrect information.

The easy alternative here for Alaska if people do expect them to be responsible for Delta's product would be for AS to just stop allowing international redemptions on other carriers. That would solve the entire problem :rolleyes:

Loren Pechtel Mar 14, 2012 11:55 am
Originally Posted by edscholl (Post 18197118)
Sure. Of course there's also the possibility your bf simply misheard too! :D

But wanting a caveat to double check? Cmon now, he's goi g half way across the world and he didn'teven bother googling "visiting china" to see what to expect in general (culture, etiquette, things tat will f*ck you up, etc)? If he had, btw, 1st google suggestion is "visiting china visa" and second result is all about visas...
I get the impression it was only a connection, he wasn't actually going to visit.

SeattleFlyerGuy Mar 14, 2012 11:58 am
Originally Posted by rkoerner82 (Post 18196881)
The international award booking agent is clearly in a position to understand the requirements for visas better then a casual traveler (although i completely understand that memorizing this for every county would be impossible)...and i would not be surprised by a "please check our site for the latest visa requirements response". However, i am still shocked by a blatantly incorrect answer that did not come with a caveat to double check the info provided.
While I sympathize with your boyfriend's situation, it is 100% his responsibility to ensure that his papers are in order. I understand that you would have liked AS to say something, but checking visa requirements is a basic first step in travel planning and you simply do not know if the information they have is accurate. Visa requirements can change overnight and double checking the information against an official source should have been implied as a next step. If the airline had accommodated him it would have been nice, but ultimate responsibility rests with him unfortunately. It's a very expensive lesson that he will never repeat. :(

Since the wedding is on Thursday, I doubt that you would be able to obtain a visa and fly there in time, especially if he is back in the US. If in Japan, he might contact the Chinese Embassy there and request an expedited visa. They can be had next day with the expedited service, and then fly to China.. but you still have the 6 hour train ride (no flights direct to where he needs to go?). I don't think it's logistically possible at this point, which I am sorry to say.

SeattleFlyerGuy Mar 14, 2012 12:09 pm
Originally Posted by Loren Pechtel (Post 18200098)
I get the impression it was only a connection, he wasn't actually going to visit.
My impression was that the destination was Beijing for a wedding, which would be a visit. =\

TPJ Mar 14, 2012 12:13 pm
Originally Posted by emma69 (Post 18199589)
(as I believe, for tourist reasons, Canadians are ok without one).
I think only citizens of Singapore, Japan and Brunei can travel visa-free to China.

lin821 Mar 14, 2012 1:41 pm
Originally Posted by TPJ (Post 18200221)
I think only citizens of Singapore, Japan and Brunei can travel visa-free to China.
She was talking about visiting Cuba, not China, i.e. her example of (in)competence of call centers' CSRs:
Originally Posted by emma69 (Post 18199589)
... then I mentioned something about Cuba, and I was told in no uncertain terms I was not allowed to go there!
...(as I believe, for tourist reasons, Canadians are ok without one).
That has nothing to do with requirements for Chinese visas and what drove OP's BF into a corner.

LHR/MEL/Europe FF Mar 17, 2012 1:57 am
Originally Posted by hyderago (Post 18197928)
Per the Chinese consulate (Chicago) website:
"Visa-free transit:

1. Visas are not required for aliens who hold final destination visas and have booked seats on international airliners flying directly through China, and will stay in a transit city for less than 24 hours without leaving the airport."

http://www.chinaconsulatechicago.org...qz/t174774.htm
As far as I understand this is incorrect, and as reported on the extensive thread about TWOV, you can indeed leave the airport in PEK. (the rules may be changing for CAN however, as also outlined in that thread)

holtju2 Mar 17, 2012 2:49 am
Originally Posted by HongKonger (Post 18194890)
Will take 24 hours for an American, cannot get same day. Better hope he arrives in HKG today and picks up the visa tomorrow morning and meanwhile has a flight to PEK booked for tomorrow.
You can fly to Bangkok and get it the same day as long as the application is in by noon.


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