Warning and Rant: Transit through Shanghai
 

Just had a terrible travel and Customer Care experience. Quick warning - DO NOT TRANSIT THROUGH A CHINA AIRPORT WITHOUT A VISA. That said, below is the rant I just sent to United Customer Service. Would love opinions on whether I am being unrealistic here, and if not, what kind of compensation I should look to get from United:

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I have just had one of the worst travel experiences followed by an even worse interaction with United Customer Care.

My itinerary (confirmation number ******) was booked by United going from SFO --> PVG --> SIN --> DPS. There was a 7 hour layover in Shanghai, but I was okay with this, expecting it would be like any other long layover. It was anything but.

Apparently, Shanghai does not handle transfers like any other airport. They are not able to seamlessly transfer your checked baggage to an ongoing flight, and as a result, you are supposed to pick up your bags and then check in again for your next flight. For short layovers, this is not an issue as someone from immigration escorts the transferring passenger to pick up their bags and then to the check-in desk for the next flight. However, my problem is that I had a 7 hour layover, and the check-in desk for the connecting flight did not open until 3 hours before departure.

As a result, I had to wait in Immigration for 4 hours. I was watched at all times by Immigration security. I was not allowed to walk around the airport and there was no food or drink available. When I needed to go to the bathroom, security had to escort me.

If I had had a transit visa, this would not have happened. However, United’s information on this states (and I quote):
Visa Information – Connecting country: China (People's Rep.) (CN): Visa required, except for Holders of confirmed onward tickets for a max. transit time of 24 hours. Transit incl. two stops, with a total transit time of 24 hours, within China (People's Rep.) is permitted.

I had a confirmed onward ticket and therefore naturally assumed that I did not require a visa of any sort. This led to my 4 hour stay with Chinese Immigration.

Given this experience, I would expect United to either not book passengers for connecting flights through China, or to let them know that a transit visa is required.

However, that is not even the worst part of the experience. As I was waiting in Immigration, I called United Customer Care and spoke to [XXXX]– apparently a Customer Care Manager. She was completely and utterly devoid of any compassion. Her first response was that this was my fault for not confirming the transit requirements with my embassy before traveling. When I responded incredulously that this information was provided by United on your website, she claimed that United had zero responsibility because this information was provided by a third party (IATA) and was listed as such. While I am sure this would be an appropriate response from a lawyer trying to protect United, it shocked me to hear it coming from a Customer Care Manager. Surely United takes some responsibility for the accuracy of information it provides on its own website!?!

[XXXX] then shocked me even more by stating that technically United had not really provided incorrect information. She said that it was true that no transit visa was required and it was up to each country’s immigration authorities to determine how transit through the airport would be handled – basically suggesting that a 4 hour stay in the “sterile area” (her words) should be viewed as acceptable. She declined to answer directly when I asked her if she would expect United to book exactly the same ticket tomorrow and provide the passenger exactly the same information or if she would at least acknowledge that something somewhere had gone wrong. At this point, I hung up out of disgust.

While I understand that IATA provided the transit information, I think United needs to bear some responsibility for booking this flight as an acceptable routing (your reservations agents suggested this route – I did not custom design it), and more importantly, I think you need to give some direct feedback to Ms. [XXXX] on her customer service attitude.

Wow. Just wow...... :(

Call me heartless, but I really don't see a problem here. If one enters a country that requires a visa, but does not requie one for connections/transit, who in the world would think that they would be free to roam around that country during the connecton. To enter China, one needs a visa. I would assume that without one, I would be in a sterile area until the next flight departs, unless of course, I have a visa to exit the sterile area and enter the country.

Am I missing something here?

I recently transited Brasil without a visa, but I transited the town of Tabitinga, which is considered the frontier of peru/brasil/colombia and knew that I could not go beyond the towns border without a visa. My ticket was on 1 world (AA/LAN). They didn't tell me that I couldn't leave the town (unless I left to go go Peru of Colombia) and I was there for 3 days. I did my homework, and knew what the restrictions of my immigration status were. You bought a ticket to connect, not to exit the sterile area. If youhad a stopover or a stay in China, they would have made sure you had a visa to do so, but as you booked a connection, they complied ith both the letter and the spitrit of both the law, and your ticket. No fould here!

Never rely on the airline websites for VISA information. ALWAYS go to the state department website or the equivalent for the country visiting/transiting. If you had done just a tiny bit of research before leaving you would have known you needed a transit VISA. Sorry, lack of preparation is not the airlines or the airports or cities fault.

What is your nationality? normally for europeans, transit visa is not necessary, you get throught immigration when showing your flight confirmation. We were not watched or escorted, and could freely go to check in for the connecting flight.

China provides TWOV for many passengers. What passport was in use in this case? Something doesn't sound right about the details here.

And never rely on a random post on FT, either. ;)

TIMATIC is a very reliable source; it also happens to be the one the airlines use. That's where I'd start. And it clearly notes the TWOV options for passengers at PVG.

If the immigration authorities don't honor the details in TIMATIC it isn't clear to me how the airline is supposed to know that will happen or be responsible for it.

http://www.united.com/web/en-US/apps...t/default.aspx

The full details from TIMATIC for the OP's itinerary - assuming US passport - are here:

I've done TWOV twice at PVG within the 8 months and didn't have any trouble either time. No transit visa required, as a US citizen using a US passport connecting to/from a third country.

Edit to add: even though it's "just a random post on FT" I've found http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/china...hout-visa.html to be very helpful.

Something is a miss here. In any case I don't see how this is a United issue. You were NEVER detained but told to wait until you could get onward BP ; this is hardly an issue considering you could have been deported back on the turnaround for your flight.

I transit through PVG quite often - last time WITH a visa, previous two times in immediate transit WITHOUT a visa. (LAX-PVG-TPE)

Did the OP had PROOF of onward travel (e.g. PRINTED e-ticket?) - THIS IS A MUST ALWAYS IN INTERNATIONAL TRANSIT - I STILL SEE PEOPLE WHO DON'T DO THIS!

This is off the Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles website:
http://losangeles.china-consulate.or...sa/t907679.htm

1. Direct Transit

A foreign citizen who is transiting through China by air is exempted from a visa if he/she will stay only in the airport for no more than 24 hours and has a valid connecting ticket with confirmed seating on an international flight.

Citizens holding passports issued by the following countries are exempted from a visa if transiting through Shanghai and staying for no more than 48 hours in Shanghai. These visitors can leave the airport but must enter into and exit from China via Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport or Shang Pudong International Airport: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the U.S.

[Singapore, Brunei, Japan passport holders are Visa free into China]

Did you NOT have a proof of ticket (on your phone doesn't count - they want PRINTED E-Ticket), did you have a passport from one of the above.

Onus is always on the passenger to check for validity to enter a country, it is on UA's contract of carriage. http://www.united.com/web/en-US/cont...f_Carriage.pdf See Rule 19 A

The OP has a very good point about about the potential pitfalls of transiting China without visa on long layovers.

It's a shame that much of it gets clouded in the rant.

And mislaid blame.

+1 Sounds like a great lesson to learn. OP, I bet four hours of a lesson would not be as bad as being locked into a private screening area for a couple of days. I knew it was not easy for the transit in PVG after two visits there last year.

I had a 23-hour layover in PEK, and as a US citizen with a US passport, I was able to exit the sterile area and wander about Beijing.

Did you have a copy of your itinerary with you in your carry-on baggage, showing an onward flight? Upon arrival in PEK, I was funneled to the "problems" line, but upon proof of onward travel (my UA.com receipt, as well as a receipt printed on UA card stock), they stamped my passport with a full-page "Transit Without Visa" stamp, valid for only 24 hours.

If you didn't have a BP, or a receipt showing onward travel with you at the time, I'm sorry for your experience, but you weren't adequately prepared to go through immigration.

I can empathize -- I was stuck in the sterile area of SkyPier in HKG for about an hour and a half because the UA desk was closed and I couldn't check my bags. I didn't do my research, and learned for next time.

Again, sorry to hear about your bad experience.

To be 100% honest if I transit through PVG or PEK I ALWAYS make sure my travel agent has a backup flight if I do NOT have a visa. We had a co worker who went through hell when his flight was cancelled and could not technically enter China (though they finally just kept giving him daily transit visa's while he waited 2 days to get on a new flight)

Now to be on the safe side I tend to just have a Chinese visa regardless; handy also if you are doing a NON China transit and you get a cancellation but can reroute through China

I wonder why you are not directing your complaint to the Pudong International Airport authorities, and/or the Chinese government, when they are responsible for airport operations and visa-issuance procedures.

The information provided by UA (via IATA or whatnot) was and still is 100% correct. You do not need a visa if you have a connecting flight within 24 hours. This past May, I went to PEK with an expired visa, and was issued a 24H visa on the spot because my flight arrived late and had to take the next day's connection. I went into town and had Peking duck that evening. Maybe China had changed the rules and/or procedures since then, either nationwide or specifically for PVG, but that's not UA's doing. Perhaps this is your lesson that in China, official rules often and do change on a whim.

In any event, it's up to you to ascertain the proper documents before departure and not base it on information provided to you at the time of booking the ticket.

I've never been to PVG, but I thought that US citizens could get a 48 hour "pass" at that airport and be able to leave the airport without a visa.. is that not correct?