gradsflyer

I'm looking at one way both award and revenue flights from LAX to KMG (Kunming China) in July and all results come back using CA codeshares from LAX to PEK and then a connection on CA to KMG. Some other options route through SFO on UA. I've tried multiple dates but UA198 to PVG never comes up as an option for award or revenue with the connection to KMG, which would be on CA. Even when I attempt to book using multiple cities and enter in LAX-PVG and PVG-KMG separately I then get an error message saying UA does not fly from LAX to PVG which I know to be completely untrue. Any tips here to make UA198 show up, preferably as an award ticket? While I have enjoyed flying CA's international services as of late, I'd rather avoid this option on LAX-PEK until more is known about the mysterious cancellations of UA award tickets on CA.

lixiaojuventus

Are you sure CA flies PVG-KMG? PVG is not a hub for CA.

hirohito888

I suspect you'll need to call in. The only date available all of July is 7/9 for an award in Y for LAX-PVG. You also need to overnight in PVG because LAX-PVG arrives in late evening, and PVG-KMG departs in the morning.

gradsflyer

Thanks! This would explain it, though not why this routing won't show up as a revenue flight, unless the overnight in PVG is just considered too long by the website for a layover. Just out of curiosity, how did you come up with the Y award inventory for this flight for the whole month? Since it doesn't even show up for me I haven't even been able to see what the inventory looks like for the month. Haven't decided whether to fly in Y or C (have plenty of miles) but might just book LAX-PEK on CA and stick with Y since no cancellations seem to have been reported there. IFE and soft product on CA's international 773ERs are actually quite good even in Y from my experience. Really just kind of wanted to finally try out the 787 since a lot of the initial teething seems to be smoothing out.

sannmann

Very few domestic flights in Shanghai fly out of PVG. Most fly out of Shanghai Hongqiao Airport, code SHA. If you want to fly via PVG, you may have to change airports in Shanghai. Note that getting between the two airports would require several hours and likely an overnight.

gradsflyer

Yes, CA has one flight per day as does SZ (also *A), both from PVG to KMG.

hirohito888

You can use the ANA tool to search for 7-day availability on direct routes. I just scrolled through 4 weeks for all of July, and there's no C, and only 1 Y on 7/9 for LAX-PVG.

As for why UA.bomb is showing an error, I'm not sure, because even awards you can do <23h layovers.

steveman518

I think you mean ZH for shenzhen airlines (SZ turns up a british airline that's out of service and china southwest airlines that merged with CA). It could be that those flights aren't codeshared and/or aren't available to partners as either cash or award flights

gradsflyer

Thanks, yes I meant ZH. Indeed maybe you're right, these flights aren't shared with *A partners, although that seems odd considering the amount of inbound international traffic into PVG and the need for domestic connections.

dsquared37

Actually is =<24 hrs.

steveman518

MU (and CZ to a lesser extent) (both ST) have a fair number of domestic flights out of PVG, if that's an option for you. CA dominates PEK in a similar fashion

travelinmanS

Lots of domestic flying out of Pudong. Most flights from Shanghai to the Northeast of China and many flights to the Southwest of China leave out of Pudong rather than Hongqiao. Not sure why this is, but it is what it is.

moondog

Chinese airlines don't really have hubs in the Western sense of the concept because connections are to be avoided at all costs over here (one horribly delayed flight is better than two, and most airfares intra-China are additive... though this is changing a little bit), but CA has been building steadily building its presence at both PVG and SHA ever since FM left *A.

Changing topics slightly, CX/KA and KE are the best options between LAX and KMG imo. They save you from the horrible PEK/PVG transfer and are not UA.

warakorn

There are mostly additive when booking on Chinese sites like ctrip or elong.
If booked via a Western site, the prices follow some very weird rules and are quite pricey.

I would recommend to spend a night in Shanghai and then have a seperate booking Shanghai - Kunming. You could book on ceair.com (Eastern Airlines), they run a shuttle-like service between Shanghai Hongqiao and Kunming.

gradsflyer

Yes, but they also aren't *A, which doesn't really get me anywhere using UA miles.