Job Discussion Forums

Matthew H · Joined: 08 Mar 2009 Posts: 28 Location: Kashiwa

Ok so the time has come for me to book my flight here to China and I had a question. The airport that will be my ultimate destination is quite a small rural one and there are no direct flights to it from outside of China. This means that I will probably fly into Beijing from London and have to get a connection. This is no problem and not unexpected but I was wondering something.

Very few websites even list the airport I will be flying in to (Nanyang) and the ones that do don�t list very good prices for flights. So I would like your opinion and advice. Should I go with the more expensive flight all booked together or should I book a simple cheap flight to Beijing and then also book a separate cheap internal flight separately.

Up front this is cheaper but there is the risk of my flights being messed up and the hassle of getting my luggage and then re-checking in to another flight. So what I want to know is how easy will it be to do this? Will that give me any visa problems if my visa only allows me to live and work in one place but I get off and go through immigration in another?

Help and advice will be greatly appreciated! Thank You

randyj · Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 11:08 pm Post subject:

Matthew, you will no doubt need a connection. A one-way flight to Nanyang from either Beijing or Shanghai costs around 1,000� or so ($150 US), looking at Ctrip. Nanyang does not qualify as rural, but it does lie a bit off the beaten track.

Chinese immigration does not care about your final destination within China, and it does not matter whether you land in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, or enter via Hong Kong.

Doing the entire trip in one sitting strikes me as grueling. Consider staying the night in the entry city, and then continue the next day. This might avoid any possible confusion regarding your baggage. Or consider going to Nanyang by train (fourteen hours from Shanghai).

Good luck.

dean_a_jones · Joined: 03 Jul 2009 Posts: 1151 Location: Wuhan, China

A few things worth considering:

The first (more expensive) option means that you have one 'ticket' to claim, assuming you have a flight allowance. If you do the second, you might find the school only gives you a refund on the international part of your flight.

What is the price difference? What is your international flight allowance? If your allowance covers the former (or 50% of it, so you still have money to return home), I would go with that. Some schools will pay for both tickets, but be warned plenty will see it as a chance to get out of paying something, or at least make you fight for it.

choudoufu · Joined: 25 May 2010 Posts: 3325 Location: Mao-berry, PRC

elong and ctrip both list one flight per day,
departing beijing at 17:05, at 800 RMB.
PEK->NNY

booking online with elong or ctrip is
relatively painless. pay with your credit
card, get an email confirmation.

even if you book the flights together, you'll
most likely need to collect your luggage in
beijing, go through customs/immigration,
and then on to the domestic portion.

don't forget to check the luggage allowance
on the domestic portion.....

your next option is the train. 7 trains per
day from beijing to nanyang. much cheaper
at 250 rmb for hard sleeper. but a long
12-16 hours.....

and you can enter at any airport or border
crossing. i arrived by bicycle from laos,
then took about a week to reach kunming
to begin processing the RP.

Matthew H · Joined: 08 Mar 2009 Posts: 28 Location: Kashiwa

Thanks to everyone for your great advice. Its helped me to make my decision.

My contract pays me a pre set amount of 15000rmb which I get in two amounts half after 6 months and the other half at the end of the year. So that isn't a problem I was just trying to reduce my setup costs.

On that subject how much do people think I will need for setup costs? My contract comes with a free furnished (to an unknown standard) apartment at the university I�m working at. Taking into account my location, how much money do you think I will need until my first pay check?

It looks to me then that the best option is to book it as two flights so I can save some money and some hassle. I did think about taking a train but I think that will be a real pain with all my luggage to carry around.

So thanks again for the advice. Smile

Miles Smiles · Joined: 07 Jun 2010 Posts: 1294 Location: Heebee Jeebee

Can't the carrier that takes you to China handle your domestic flight as well? Mine can.

Contrary to popular opinion, booking directly with the carrier can sometimes result in a price that's competitive with agencies, especially when the flight is booked less than a month before your departure. You might not get a great seat, but it's worth a shot.

randyj · Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2011 11:29 pm Post subject:

Miles Smiles · Joined: 07 Jun 2010 Posts: 1294 Location: Heebee Jeebee

dean_a_jones · Joined: 03 Jul 2009 Posts: 1151 Location: Wuhan, China

Miajiayou · Joined: 30 Apr 2011 Posts: 283 Location: Nanjing

I would go a step farther than Dean and say that if you don't have enough savings to get you through a couple of months AND a medical emergency here, it is better to put it off for a year.

Matthew H · Joined: 08 Mar 2009 Posts: 28 Location: Kashiwa

Thanks again for the information and the advice I have booked my planes tickets now separately so your advice was very helpful.

@Miajiayou; thanks for the advice. It�s more that I am a person that is very careful with money than a lack of it. I just would rather not bring lots of money to china with me if I don�t have to in case I lose it or whatever.

@Dean. Thanks for the info. Yeah I have already done this living abroad thing once before so hopefully I am a little wiser this time around then last...

Thanks