UA WAS to PVG, PEK to WAS
Feb 12, 2014, 7:25 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Washington DC
Programs: United Premier Gold, AA Platinum
Posts: 53
UA WAS to PVG, PEK to WAS
I'm flying to China over Labor day 2014. UA WAS to PVG and then PEK to WAS. Best price $1594 with option to upgrade to BizFirst with 30k pt and $600 copay each way. There are only two seats at this price for the potential upgrade. Is this a fair price? Should I go with a consolidator for Biz class seats? Thanks!
Feb 12, 2014, 7:34 am
#2
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: WAS/ BOM
Programs: UA 1K, Marriott Gold, HHonors Gold
Posts: 1,567
Definitely a great price at 2794$ which would atleast enable you to earn PQM/RDM and PQD's. The baseline Businessfirst fares are running at $5700 and above. If you have seats available, I would definitely recommend confirming your upgrade now rather than waitlisting it and regretting later on what could be a 15+ hour flight.
Feb 12, 2014, 7:43 am
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Washington DC
Programs: United Premier Gold, AA Platinum
Posts: 53
Thanks for the quick reply! I checked prices throughout Aug and Sept and $1400 was the lowest but there was no upgrade available.
Routing is DCA to ORD to PVG - is a 2 hr layover in ORD adequate for an INTL flight?
Any hints to overcome jet lag quicker?
I appreciate the help!
Routing is DCA to ORD to PVG - is a 2 hr layover in ORD adequate for an INTL flight?
Any hints to overcome jet lag quicker?
I appreciate the help!
Feb 12, 2014, 7:48 am
#6
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: UA 1K 1MM, AA, DL
Posts: 7,418
People have different approaches on jet lag. My own is to get a few hours of sleep later in the flight, walk around upon arrival at the hotel, and then do my best to get a full night's sleep.
Feb 12, 2014, 7:55 am
#7
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Washington DC
Programs: United Premier Gold, AA Platinum
Posts: 53
*Correction* $2800 + 60K total
Last edited by vaflyer888; Feb 12, 2014 at 8:02 am
Feb 12, 2014, 7:59 am
#8
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: WAS/ BOM
Programs: UA 1K, Marriott Gold, HHonors Gold
Posts: 1,567
Thanks for the quick reply! I checked prices throughout Aug and Sept and $1400 was the lowest but there was no upgrade available.
Routing is DCA to ORD to PVG - is a 2 hr layover in ORD adequate for an INTL flight?
Any hints to overcome jet lag quicker?
I appreciate the help!
Routing is DCA to ORD to PVG - is a 2 hr layover in ORD adequate for an INTL flight?
Any hints to overcome jet lag quicker?
I appreciate the help!
Jet Lag avoiding tips:
1) Drink a lot of water starting 2 weeks prior to end of your trip. It helps a lot
2) Exercise, Exercise to be in a better shape
3) try to avoid drinking too much alcohol on the flight (avoid it if you can)
4) Consider taking a sleep Aid (ZZZquil) to get a good shuteye on the flight
5) Consider investing in noise cancellation headphones - you will be glad to shut out the noise.
Feb 12, 2014, 8:49 am
#9
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Washington DC
Programs: United Premier Gold, AA Platinum
Posts: 53
2 hours should be just about adequate. See if you can get there from IAD vs DCA. In case of IRROPS, IAD would be better suited to accommodate you than DCA.
Jet Lag avoiding tips:
1) Drink a lot of water starting 2 weeks prior to end of your trip. It helps a lot
2) Exercise, Exercise to be in a better shape
3) try to avoid drinking too much alcohol on the flight (avoid it if you can)
4) Consider taking a sleep Aid (ZZZquil) to get a good shuteye on the flight
5) Consider investing in noise cancellation headphones - you will be glad to shut out the noise.
Jet Lag avoiding tips:
1) Drink a lot of water starting 2 weeks prior to end of your trip. It helps a lot
2) Exercise, Exercise to be in a better shape
3) try to avoid drinking too much alcohol on the flight (avoid it if you can)
4) Consider taking a sleep Aid (ZZZquil) to get a good shuteye on the flight
5) Consider investing in noise cancellation headphones - you will be glad to shut out the noise.
Does Bizfirst get the noise cancellation headphones?
Feb 12, 2014, 8:52 am
#10
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: WAS/ BOM
Programs: UA 1K, Marriott Gold, HHonors Gold
Posts: 1,567
. Hence the suggestion for a good personal headset
Feb 12, 2014, 9:46 am
#11
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: LAX
Programs: UA Premier Gold, AA Platinum (but I also just pay for upgrades if I want them)
Posts: 636
when I fly to Asia, I try to stay up as much as possible. For a 13-14 hour flight, I'll sleep only about an hour or so mid-flight. That way when I land around 7/8pm, I'm decently tired and once I get to the hotel I'm pretty much ready for bed. I've never had a problem going to Asia using this routine.
one the way home, I usually try to take a night flight back to the West Coast...so something like day flight Hong Kong to Tokyo and then overnight Tokyo to LAX. I sleep for 6-7 hours on the NRT-LAX portion and arrived rested and ready for a half-day in USA before heading back to bed.
one the way home, I usually try to take a night flight back to the West Coast...so something like day flight Hong Kong to Tokyo and then overnight Tokyo to LAX. I sleep for 6-7 hours on the NRT-LAX portion and arrived rested and ready for a half-day in USA before heading back to bed.
Feb 12, 2014, 1:17 pm
#12
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Washington DC
Programs: United Premier Gold, AA Platinum
Posts: 53
Yes - I have connected that way to PVG and HKG in less time. Boarding usually starts ~50 mins before departure.
People have different approaches on jet lag. My own is to get a few hours of sleep later in the flight, walk around upon arrival at the hotel, and then do my best to get a full night's sleep.
People have different approaches on jet lag. My own is to get a few hours of sleep later in the flight, walk around upon arrival at the hotel, and then do my best to get a full night's sleep.
Thanks for the advice. There is a flight with a one hour layover but I think that is cutting it too close.
when I fly to Asia, I try to stay up as much as possible. For a 13-14 hour flight, I'll sleep only about an hour or so mid-flight. That way when I land around 7/8pm, I'm decently tired and once I get to the hotel I'm pretty much ready for bed. I've never had a problem going to Asia using this routine.
one the way home, I usually try to take a night flight back to the West Coast...so something like day flight Hong Kong to Tokyo and then overnight Tokyo to LAX. I sleep for 6-7 hours on the NRT-LAX portion and arrived rested and ready for a half-day in USA before heading back to bed.
one the way home, I usually try to take a night flight back to the West Coast...so something like day flight Hong Kong to Tokyo and then overnight Tokyo to LAX. I sleep for 6-7 hours on the NRT-LAX portion and arrived rested and ready for a half-day in USA before heading back to bed.
Last edited by iluv2fly; Feb 12, 2014 at 1:36 pm Reason: merge
Feb 12, 2014, 1:37 pm
#13
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: WAS
Programs: AA PLT, Honors Diamond, Global Entry
Posts: 477
Or you could do this on Air Canada (DCA-YYZ-PEK) in Z for $4192. You earn 150% PQMs and nearly double the PQDs if you can ticket on 016 stock given that upgrade co-pays don't count. And the hard product is superior. If you value 60k miles at $900 (1.5cpm), by flying AC you're basically paying $800 extra for ~7000 extra PQMs/RDMs, a better seat, and more PQDs. Not saying AC is clearly the better option but it's certainly worth considering.
Feb 12, 2014, 1:44 pm
#14
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: Ewa Beach, Hawaii
Posts: 10,909
Or you could do this on Air Canada (DCA-YYZ-PEK) in Z for $4192. You earn 150% PQMs and nearly double the PQDs if you can ticket on 016 stock given that upgrade co-pays don't count. And the hard product is superior. If you value 60k miles at $900 (1.5cpm), by flying AC you're basically paying $800 extra for ~7000 extra PQMs/RDMs, a better seat, and more PQDs. Not saying AC is clearly the better option but it's certainly worth considering.
Feb 13, 2014, 7:42 am
#15
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Washington DC
Programs: United Premier Gold, AA Platinum
Posts: 53
Good point!
Thanks for the detailed explanation! I need to look into it.
Or you could do this on Air Canada (DCA-YYZ-PEK) in Z for $4192. You earn 150% PQMs and nearly double the PQDs if you can ticket on 016 stock given that upgrade co-pays don't count. And the hard product is superior. If you value 60k miles at $900 (1.5cpm), by flying AC you're basically paying $800 extra for ~7000 extra PQMs/RDMs, a better seat, and more PQDs. Not saying AC is clearly the better option but it's certainly worth considering.