shatin

wondering why the seat plan shows all the non-premier seats booked and few seats in E+, C or F.
curious about how quickly this route got approved and whether FT people will be on the inaugural flight on 20th May

SEA1K4EVR

Welcome to FT! It means is that there are very few elites booked on the flight already, but there are plenty of non-elites booked. Business class only has 4 occupied seats... looks like it would be a very easy flight to upgrade.

azepine00

assuming paying a very significant W premium

kb1992

No.

Not only NY0, but also NC0 NF0

On top of that, only H class is available.

Very expensive flight as E- is already full.

anacapamalibu

What does USA have planned for their first flight Los Angeles nonstop to Mainland
China.

AA:
We were on the inaugural LAX-PVG. Lots of hoopla at the gate: the mayor was there, vips, decorations, food, drinks and cake. There was also cake in the lounge. On the ramp was a special AA plane.

Don't recall UA did much of anything on their first and the US's first direct flight to China SFO - PVG or was is SHA in 01.

cranford

washington to beijing was a great fun inaugural event with heaps of press and smoke and dragons and drums and presents at the other end...
i will be on the los angeles to shanghai inaugural just for the sake of balance..the one, the political meld; the other, the economic meld.
hope to see some FT people there

1kBill

With the flights started, does any one know where immigration & customs are handled?

Bigbit

I'm curious about that too. If no one answers before Friday, I'll let you know because I'm presently in Shanghai and scheduled to take that flight Thursday evening.

My guess is that we'll get dumped off at TBIT, but I'm crossing fingers that we don't.

MIKEM

Just took PVG-LAX yesterday and here are some fats:
1) If PVG-LAX lands on time (5:25PM) immigration is T7. If it lands after 6:00PM then TBIT. Yesterday we took off late and landed at 5:35PM going through T7.
2) The seat map showed the new configuration 777 right up until the day of flight. The day of flight it was switched to old WW2 777. Moreover, I was unable to choose my seat as on the day of flight control swithed to the airport. When I checked in I had little choice for seats in C.

calvinpeng

I hope UA still keeps the new configuration 777 when I am on it next week

Bigbit

Well, here's another little disappointing factoid about UA878 and customs / immigration clearance. It's not good if you arrive early either...

Yesterday, we had an on-time departure out of PVG and made good time due to tailwinds, arriving in LAX at 4:00, about an hour early. The pilot came on and announced that because the customs folks don't arrive at T7 until 5 PM, they're going to bus us over to TBIT. Bradley was a mess. Immigration didn't take too long, despite the foreign travelers getting into the U.S. citizens lines, but after baggage claim, the lines to leave through customs were past baggage claim and darn close to the immigration exit. It took me near a half hour after getting my bag to get out of the hall. Someone said that about 5 flights arrived in TBIT at about the same time, which was a big part of the problem.

Not a lot of fun...

tuolumne

Indeed it was;

George Washington even flew in United First

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hmxT5zrwFI

9gromit9

My data point: Our flight was ~2 hrs late arriving on Saturday night, and we were processed at the united terminal, not tbit.

1kBill

Just found out the hard way today when I arrived at PVG about 3 PM. Agents said they cannot process early check-in for LA flight because "bag might be sent to Chicago." So I had to wait until 5:10 PM and not a minute before to check in then.

Also, lounge was as dismal as ever and the shower wasn't working.

On the plus side, 77Q was in service, we arrived LAX a few minutes early, cleared C&I at T6/7 and bag came out in first 20 or so. ^

Markie

I was wondering whether I will clear immigration at T7 at LAX or TBIT from Shanghai.