Job Discussion Forums

[hz88]

I have to agree here.

When I first read the thread over and over before anyone had replied, I had a headache trying to pick out the salient points or what the OP was actually trying to achieve in the long run, so much so that I was too lethargic to reply.

Some of the other posts the OP has made certainly don't tally with someone who has had experience in China before and the OP seems continually dismissive of other people who actually are on the ground and have current knowledge.

According to one of his posts he is going to Henan, if this is the case why fly to Shanghai?, its not clear which city exactly but assuming it is Zhengzhou then its equidistant from Beijing. Why not see if there is another cheaper option there? There is almost an hourly high speed train service from Beijing to Zhengzhou and its a couple of hours at most.

The time spent dithering around on here could have been spent actually finding a suitable alternative.

A quick search found a one way ticket from DTW to PEK with a transit in Newark for $650. It arrives in Beijing just after 4pm.

Just my two cents....

[backtochina2017]

[OhBudPowellWhereArtThou]

OP:

Have you figured out how you'll actually get to China?

[backtochina2017]

[hz88]

The reason I suggested taking the high speed train was because domestic flights in China are often prone to delays.

It is almost always cheaper to buy domestic tickets within the country you are travelling in, so you could have made two seperate bookings. The only problem with this is that if your initial flight is delayed, changed or whatever you may have trouble changing the second sector, particularly if it is a promotion ticket.

Assuming your final destination is Zhengzhou, you could have flown to Hong Kong and then from there to Zhengzhou, there are several direct flights each day.

As you say, you have taken trains before, simply look or G or D trains. Avoid T,K or others unless you have a lot of time on your hands or are skint. Zhengzhou is the epicentre of China railways and there is as I said an almost hourly high speed train rom Beijing. I can see your point about luggage, it might seem daunting taking it across Beijing by subway but it is manageable, failing that you can always take a taxi.

You could have asked someone at your intended school for help with that side of things. Even for a newbie all this information is not particularly dificult to find out.

[backtochina2017]

[astrotrain]

You Americans sure got it easy on the flight cost. Spent $1300 CND on a one way flight back last summer.

I can see the gist of the OP's argument, he is trying to minimize travel expenses at the same time minimize travel time which is unfortunately very hard to do.

Travelling from N.A east coast to China is a real stressful and costly endeavor. The bullet train network is awesome when you are already in China and maybe have a friend (local) with you to deal with the ticket purchase, getting to the train station, platforms etc but if you are on your own after a long 13 + hour flight with a heavy carry on and check in baggage moving easily from Airport to train station (not knowing the route) can be even more stressful. Taxies are notorious cheats on foreigners so not the best option.

I taken the HSR more than 1/2 dozen times to GZ and Guilin but I had company and no heavy bags to lug around.

[Jmbf]

Sites such as Skyscanner allow you to search with different variables such as flight duration, departure times, flight routing (direct / non-direct). It's not that hard to find a suitable routing for a good price if you have a bit of flexibility with your travel dates.

[hz88]

Yes I can see the gist too of the OP's post but what I couldn't fathom was that he/she has previously been to China before so obviously must have had some former experience in these matters.

There are a myriad of websites that one can use to find alternative routings, I usually use matrix flights (you can't book on it but it shows you routings and availability) and then find the same flight on another website or the airline directly.

Regarding using the train, yes it can be troublesome to purchase tickets outside of China but there are several websites that can do this for you with an international credit card which charge a small premium if you wish to avoid the hassles later.

In some instances your destination might not be connected to an airport so you would have to factor in getting the train anyway.

Domestic flights in China are notorious for delays and rescheduling, of the flights I have taken, at least half have been subject to this. This is annoying if you are travelling within China but even more so if you are connecting inbound or outbound internationally.

If you buy a ticket that is all on one itinerary which includes domestic flights and are delayed before you arrive or depart then the airline will take care of the rebookings. If you have seperate tickets then they won't.

I presume I am not alone in thinking the OP could have figured this out without too much difficulty, actual travel agents still do exist so a simple phone call could have had someone help who would have experience in this.

[OhBudPowellWhereArtThou]

Judging by his PMs, his attitude is not compatible with Chinese society. He seems not to understand the way things are.

Much luck to him.

[backtochina2017]

[danshengou]

[ChrisHenry15]

[backtochina2017]

Another issue raised by someone was checking in at customs. I never really thought about this. Usually, wait time to go through customs takes 30 minutes to an hour in my experience.

When I flew last time I went to Seattle, and then Beijing. It was mostly Chinese people (90%). There was a delay and one girl going to Russia was in fits trying to explain she would miss her connecting flight in Beijing.

It was America Airlines to Seattle, and then the delay was caused by Hainan Airlines.

In my case, it is China Southern flight with I see Delta possibly doing the Detroit to LAX stint. So, considering I would be taking China Southern from there to China and then China Southern again to my final destination, would I need to get my luggage or would they just have me go through customs with my carry on?

When I flew to the USA to Seattle, my flight transfer went from Hainan Airlines to America Airlines and I did not have to get my luggage. It was transferred between airline companies.

The reason why I am bringing this up is that it can take an hour just to get your first piece of check in luggage. If the conveyor belt gets stuck, you have to wait longer for someone to sort that out. Add another half hour.

I would assume they just move your checked in luggage to the domestic flight plane. Then, less luggage would be needed for the those at baggage claim. I am curious what other people's experiences are, especially with Guangzhou CAN airport.

According to this site, https://www.travelchinaguide.com/cityguides/guangdong/guangzhou/airport.htm they state:

"There are four situations of transfer. Hereunder are the flows of these four situations:

a)From international flight to domestic one:
Get off the plane → Health declaration → Frontier inspection → Baggage claim → Customs inspection → Report to airport transfer desk → Security check → Wait for boarding in Departure Hall

b)From domestic flight to international one:
Get off the plane → Baggage claim → Health inspection → Customs inspection → Report to airport transfer desk → Frontier inspection → Security check → Wait for boarding in Departure Hall

c) From international flight to international one:
Get off the plane → Report to airport transfer desk → Wait for boarding in Departure Hall

d) From domestic flight to domestic one:
Get off the plane → Report to airport transfer desk → Wait for boarding in Departure Hall"

If you have flown into China with luggage and had the same airline company for situation "a", did you have to get your luggage?

[The bear]