Best airline to fly from China?

[Robert S.]

I keep waiting for somebody to do a very romantic thing and take a cruise ship back to the US after his honey gets the visa.

 

The only time I flew to China was on Emirates Air out of Abu Dhabi, with two stops, one in Oman and the next in Bangkok. The plane was full of Omani guys with those colorful hats on the way to Bangkok to see the ladies. By the time we got to Hong Kong we were running late. Air China had a girl holding a sign waiting for me and Ping when we got off the plane and she told us they were holding our flight for us but we had to run-run thru the airport. We made a surrealistic marathon at 3 AM thru the nearly empty beautiful new airport, both of us loaded down with several carry-on packages and huge cans of dried milk Ping bought from the duty free shop in Abu Dhabi. I never would have made it but for those helpful moving sidewalks. For the flight to Dalian we were fortunate that the stewardess was able to get a man to move to another seat so we could sit together. I thanked him very profusely when we were getting off the plane.

[Tina_&_Jarrod]

Carl,

 

You are absolutely right..."fastest and leastest"! But I place a higher premium on a nonstop direct flight as opposed to price. On a couple of occasions, I could have saved a few hundred dollars flying from San Francisco to Shangahi with a connection in either Vancouver, Narita or Seoul. But that would add at least 2 to 3 hours to the entire trip, and since I am always anxious to see my SO ASAP (like all of us are), I sucked it up and paid the extra cost.

 

But I do recommend to everyone to at least think carefully about which airline you choose so you can accumulate mileage. 2 trips to China or roughly 25,000 miles get you a free ticket to virtually anywhere in the lower 48.

 

Jarrod

[jimglot]

I must say I really enjoyed my flights with Korean Air. Even though the trip was a nightmare with weather in DC causing me to miss flights. Korean Air we very good at getting me on later flights and took a genuine interest in my plight. Flight over the pond was on a 747-400 with TV monitors in the seats. the food was good the service was excellent. I flew into Inchon airport (A awesome new airport) then on to Shenyang from there.

 

If there is a friendlier cabin staff I have yet to meet them. Also a nice FF program if you will be flying them back to china. Since we will be keeping a home in China and flying back once a year we should be able to get one free ticket a year.

 

Jim

[Robert S.]

I must say I really enjoyed my flights with Korean Air. Even though the trip was a nightmare with weather in DC causing me to miss flights. Korean Air we very good at getting me on later flights and took a genuine interest in my plight. Flight over the pond was on a 747-400 with TV monitors in the seats. the food was good the service was excellent. I flew into Inchon airport (A awesome new airport) then on to Shenyang from there.

 

If there is a friendlier cabin staff I have yet to meet them. Also a nice FF program if you will be flying them back to china. Since we will be keeping a home in China and flying back once a year we should be able to get one free ticket a year.

 

Jim

This endorsement of Korean Air is interesting to me, I had wondered about them, they seem to have some good scheduling and are competitive in their prices. With good service that would put them ahead of a lot of others, especially with good food. My wife is also from Liaoning province, down on the peninsula in Dalian. She also has an apartment she bought which she is keeping. I wonder if Korean Air flies directly to Dalian. Or perhaps we could fly into Shenyang and go from there sometime. I am glad you found CFL. Good luck with your case and I'll be looking forward to hearing more from you.

[jimglot]

I dont see any Korean air flights going into Dalian, i do know that they have two dayly flights to Shenyang. And check here for connecting flights.

 

 

China Northern Airlines Adds New Flight

A new China Northern Airlines flight between Shenyang and Dalian in northeast China's Liaoning Province will commence Friday.

 

The new flight, no 6691/2, has been introduced because the Shenyang-Dalian expressway is currently being repaired.

It will fly on both August 9 and 10, and will operate every Monday and Thursday after August 11.

The airplane departs from Shenyang at 8:05 a.m. and arrives in Dalian at 8:55 a.m. The return flight leaves Dalian at 9:45 a.m., and arrives at Shenyang at 10:35 a.m.

 

It looks like these are additional flights on top of their regular. I wiould guess you would have no problem finding flights.

 

The one downside to my trip with Korean Air was i had to jump through some hoops. DC to Jfk, JFK to Inchon, and Inchon to Shenyang. Weather problem can make it a nightmare. total flight cost 979.00

[sting88]

I have always tried to take Northwest to accumilate miles. I have never had problems with Northwest. I just purchased a ticket for a flight in November from San Francisco to Guangzhou for $651 on Northwest.

[Robert S.]

I have always tried to take Northwest to accumilate miles.  I have never had problems with Northwest.  I just purchased a ticket for a flight in November from San Francisco to Guangzhou for $651 on Northwest.

Wow, darn good price!!! Have a good time!!!

 

"Expressway" from Shenyang to Dalian is not an accurate description. It will be four lanes for a while then drop down to two with a wicked S curve in the middle of the narrow part. I hope after they get it repaired it will be a fully functional road. Don't know how safe it will be though, between the black Mercedeses going as fast as possible and the old junker trucks so loaded down their axles are about to break it was a scary bus ride back to Dalian from Shenyang after we went up to the consulate there.

[Phil & Ningning]

I have booked flights for my two trips to China through Yahoo Travel on EVA airways from LAX to Macau on a 747 and had the tickets in my hand both times for under $700 round trip. The food is not too bad and comfort level is reasonable. The airport in Macau is very nice and quite small. In fact it is so small that the runway is in the harbor on reclaimed land, surrounded by water. Quite an experience. Layover in Taipei is about three hours. The border crossing from Macau to PRC can be a bit time consuming, but Sweet Ning meets me at the airport in Macau, so we can wait together and then ride the bus back to Zhongshan together. Left to my own devices, I would surely get on the wrong bus.

The nicest airline experience I have ever had was a trip to Bangkok (no, not for that) on Singapore Airlines. It was on a 777. The food was excellent, the staff very friendly, comfortable seats and the private video screen for every seat (even in coach) with movies on demand, videeo games, news, and music. The problem with Singapore airlines is that all of their flights go through Singapore, a bit off the beaten path to PRC. The trip to Bankok was LAX>TPE>SIN>BKK. Too many stops.

A side trip from Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Malaysia airlines was delayed for over an hour while mechanics in Bagkok replaced a hydraulic pump. We passengers were waiting on the plane at the time. The plane was an aged 747 that looked like it was about to retire. I just hoped it would happen as a planned circumstance.

[John & Hai Yan]

Just booked a flight with United leaving thursday, from Phila to Chicago to Beijing. Cost is $1,054. Flew to Hong Kong last time via Chicago also with United. Cost was $1,079 in January. FF miles will be helpful down the road.

 

An important issue with me is departure and arrival times. I am able to depart 8:50 AM from Phila and arrive in Beijing 2:30 PM. My return trip departs Beijing 12:45 PM and I arrive in Phila 9:02 Sunday night. The scheduling is perfect for me. I had no complaints about the service.

[ndjarrett]

United? Ugh. I refuse to use United any more. I have never had an "on-time" take of or landing with them. I have almost been screwed outta ticket twice by them as they like to overbook their flights and NOT issue seat assignment until you get to the departure gate. But, that is just my experiance.

 

I typically take AA inside the USA (but then I get lotsa air miles for them with my AA MasterCard...lol).

 

I have flown Cathay Pacific & China Southern out of L.A. The service was pretty much the same. But, I will admit, the CS flight had a tad bit more leg room. Which is very nice during a 14, or so, hours flight.