anc-ord772

I am trying to put together an itinerary to Tokyo and China (either Hangzhou or Shanghai) for March (16/18 to 29/30.) Tokyo is running around $700 but I don't know how to book the China portion. I know Tokyo will be my first stop. A couple of questions for the Asia gurus

1. Can I do it as one ticket with a 5 day stopover or break in Tokyo?
2. Do I need to buy two tickets and if so:
a. How can I get from Tokyo to Hangzhou (or to Shanghai and take a train maybe)
3. Is there a way to get to Shanghai while already in Asia on UA metal?
4. What is a good price range for the airfare?
5. Any other questions I should be thinking about?

This itin is in the prelim planning stage but I dont know much about how Asia and United work.

thank you, thank you, thank you for all your help.

anc

edited to add: I try and do all my own ticketing, but is this an itin I should find a consolidator for? From FT I understand they work small miracles when traveling to Asia.

JetCity

Dude. Some thoughts.

1. Do not buy two tickets. Any tickets originating in Japan will cost you a fortune!

2. The best thing to do is book a flight from the USA to Shanghai with NRT as a stop over. I'm not sure you can do this on UA .... maybe with an ANA code share. I'd book ANA all the way through if that is the only way you can get a through fare USA-PVG with a stopover in NRT.

3. I'd also check with Northwest, JAL and Korean... yes, Korean may have a fare which allows you a stop over in NRT before continuing on to PVG. Your routuing would be LAX-NRT//NRT-ICN-PVG//PVG-ICN-LAX.

anc-ord772

Thanks for the help. I want to stay on a MP or *A partner fer sheezy. I'll look into ANA, and maybe Asiana?

SFO_Runner

A *A award ticket from Japan to China will only run you 20K miles RT in Y....

anc-ord772

Hmm, that might be a good idea. I found a ticket ord-nrt for the dates I want ~$650 W (SWU upgradeable + can use 15% F&F) Then I can use a 20K RT Y between NRT & PVG or Hangzhou. What do you all think?

kevanyalowitz

OK. First of all. Go to Hong Kong, then mainland. In December I flew SEA-NRT-HKG and had a couple fantastic days in one of what is now one of my favorite cities. Shanghai is a good choice...though I flew Air China from HKG-PEK (Beijing) and spent a couple days there. I then flew Air China again from PEK-SHA (Shanghai domestic airport) and found it to be amazing as well.

The NH flights between HKG and NRT to Mainland cities are pretty pricey. I found them to be nearly 700 dollars. What I choose to do was to cash in 30K miles for a C class on Air China ticket between HKG-PEK (fare was around $500) and them PAY for a C class on Air China between PEK and SHA which only cost $150USD directly from Air China San Fran.

I HIGHLY recommend flying C on Air China as it is cheap and keeps you out of really, really tight coach seats. Not to mention, the Chinese service is quite incredible.

I have some other suggestions so shoot me an e-mail or give me a call. Wise choice on the Asia trip though ANC-ORD. I am planning my return trip as well.

chichow

I'd go with the cheapy fare to NRT and then the 20k intra asia travel.

Air China coach Y is sooooo incredibly cramped.

Karen001

I'm doing something similar, but going HNL-NRT on UAL, than NRT-PEK on NWA.
Bought the NWA tickets from a travel agent in Japan. Look at either No1 travel or HIT travel, you'll see the prices are much better than what you can buy from in the US. I saved almost 300.00 off the NWA ticket by buying it from a Japanese travel agent.

http://www.no1-travel.com/

SEA-Flyer

Tokyo-Shanghai is a very expensive route on NH. I've spent $1800 for advanced purchase economy tickets on this route.

But its a very easy route to redeem milage on - 20k, round trip - well worth the savings.

GoingAway

When you say directly, did you go into the CTO as opposed to doing this online or calling them? Was there a fare difference for doing it this way?

This is only the second time I'm buying an inter-asia (or non US carrier, for that matter) ticket so any help is appreciated. I need to buy the one way segment SHA/PVG-PEK and would like to earn the *A miles (obviously) --what's the best way to get this done?

Thanks.

kevanyalowitz

When I say I went directly to Air China, I meant that I called their 2 rep hotline in San Fran. Their price for a C class ticket (1 way) between PEK-PVG was 1/2 that of Doug Fox Travel in Seattle. Again, even for a 2 hour flight it is worth it to pay the extra 50 bucks for lounge access, food and great service.

In terms of redeeming UA miles; you must "buy" a RT ticket. That said, know that one may be able to fly UA into PVG,PEK,HKG or NRT and use that city as a "base" while traveling on RT award tickets or 1 way C class tickets on Air China.

Had I been over there for more than 6 days I may have done it that way. If ya'll have any other questions shoot me a PM.