How to Fly To China
 

We'll be travelling to China (flying into Bejing from FL) in late September for a wedding. Now that we have dates, we've started looking at flights and are overwhelmed! Which airline? Worth it to try and fly business class? Is there any way at all to get a deal?

Would love any tips from FT gurus -- thanks!

From another thread

Thanks -- I don't need someone to do the work, but if there is anyone who flies this a lot and has tips, that is what we'd love to hear!

Welcome to FT. The general advice you seek is to:

1. decide what's important to you - miles, connections, any particular places you want to connect it, or length of trip.
2. do a search on Kayak for your dates and see what prices look like.
3. Generally, non-Chinese Asian airlines are the best bet. European airlines are nice in premium cabins (and still nicer than the US airlines). I'd steer clear of US airlines if possible.

Tell us more info, and we can tell you more.

I would very much disagree with steering away from US airlines. Gross generalizations are not helpful to those asking for help.

How to Fly To China
 

Please fly a Chinese airline. Enjoy your trip!

How to Fly To China
 

Just flew out of Beijing on Asiana though ICN. Great service in J.

I took a flight to Hong Kong with 4 day stopover in Beijing a couple of summers ago.I was able to get a special "stopover,shopping" Beijing tour through a Chinese travel agent for approx CAD 300 each.The 4 day tour included stays in "luxury" hotels,coach tours with guide to the Forbidden city,Tiananmen square,Summer palace,Great wall,Theatrical show including pick-up from and to the airport.The price was deeply discounted compared to "regular" tours because it included many stops at shopping outlets,where the company gets a percentage from the sales off the clients they bring in.My girlfriend did the booking and knew what "type" of discounted tour to ask for.We didn't use this company....but this looks like an example of what kind of "special" tour I'm talking about.

http://www2.jadetours.com/content/ch...ng-or-shanghai

Your question is a common one but it really fits into the category of "how long is a piece of string?" There are so many variables that need to be looked at.

Is this the only time you are going to fly?
Do you want Frequent Flyer points?
Where else do you fly?
How are you with cuisine from other countries?
Are you taller than average? Heavier?
What's your budget for tickets?

How to Fly To China
 

United, delta and Japan airlines all have a round trip air fare of around 1125$ out of Orlando. All nippon air (my favorite) has a flight for just 10 more dollars than the others. (The statements are subject to tax, fees, and rude FAs.)

Since the OP gave us virtually no information, gross generalizations are all we have!

I disagree with this statement.

For the purpose of having an enjoyable flight, go with non-US carriers.

We flew into Beijing on ANA via Narita. Asian carriers IMO are far and away better than US Carriers.

Do not forget to get a Chinese VISA.

I found that the public transportation (Subway) was excellent, and could get you where you want to go very cheaply.

That is a ridiculous statement.

Worse than ridiculous, IMO.

Cathay Biz class. Did it this summer.

Not really. I fly to Asia all the time and unless its F and nothing else available I avoid US based airlines. They don't come anywhere near Cathay, JAL, ANA, Singapore or Thai. He/she is right 100%.

In my firm, when you beat down a plan without offering an alternative, we call it "bullsh**" and your point of view "worthless". As is the case here.

The obvious alternative (in light of your stated location) is to fly DL nonstop and shave 8+ x 2 hours off of your trip. While I realize that DL charges a hefty premium for the nonstops, many firms that value their employees time are willing to pony up.

I have been flying US<->PEK twice or more per year for the last 10+ years, however my experience is limited to Y so I'll post some tips should you choose to go that way.

If you choose to stick with flying economy I haven't found the experience to be substantially different between all the available options - in this case, I would fly whoever offers the best routing (assuming you have no status). Your one-stop options from FL will probably be limited to US and Chinese carriers: UA (via ORD, IAD, SFO), DL (via DTW, SEA), AA (via ORD), CA (via IAH, LAX, SFO, JFK), HU (via BOS, SEA).

UA and AA often fly older equipment to PEK that have limited entertainment options in the back (UA's 747s have wifi-based movie streaming but no power on most planes, 777s now have AVOD; AA's planes only have non-on demand entertainment). CA tends to fly newer or newly-refurbished aircraft to the US which have a decent economy product onboard.

I don't think the OP has told us where he is originating from yet.

He said "FL", which means that he's looking at at least one connection, no matter how he plays it. Chances are, the logical single connection options will be UA, AA, DL, and UA-CA... maybe AC as well.

Personally, I double connect in this case in order to go via HK on CX, but I always make sure to justify the HK stop with business related stuff, because it's a serious detour otherwise.

For a business class flight without FFP considerations I would take the cheapest 1-stop itinerary with a connection time less than ten hours. oneworld operators BA and QR will take you from MIA to PEK with only one stop. QR come in from just under USD 6k each.

B6/hu can be done for around 3500 in j... Much faster than flying east.