Not for international. But from what I've read here and elsewhere, you definitely need to bring entertainment.

DL is a partner with China Southern, and has nothing to do with Air China. No way to upgrade with DL miles.

I am somewhat confused as your title says JFK to Beijing and then you ask about Shanghai? Delta starts nonstop service from Atlanta to Shanghai at the end of this month so technically you could have flown from Shanghai to Atlanta to JFk with your miles but in rereading your thread you are on a tour so I quess that is out. I would strongly suggest wine for this long flight..........

Hi there, thank you for your kind help - we fly into Beijing but out of Shanghai and it is a tour so we do not have a choice regarding the airline but would love to hear from someone who has flown Air China.

We are considering a tour on China Air that flies into Beijing and out of Shanghai as well. This is a charter flight, and I'm worried about the quality of the plane and space in economy. I would also like to hear from someone who has experience.

I don't believe any airline run charter flights between China and the US.

You'll be flying Air China's PEK-JFK flights both ways. Only China Eastern has PVG-JFK non-stop. From Shanghai, you'll be connecting through Beijing.

Thank you for telling us we will be flying back to Beijing before our flight back to JFK from Shanghai. That was not explained to us - how long a flight is that?

Also we are on Air China - that is different if i understand correctly from China Air - am i correct?

JFK-PEK is scheduled 13:30 both ways. Actual flight time about 13 hours. Westbound will go over North Pole. Eastbound depends on wind.

Air China is the Beijing-based airline. China Airlines is the Taipei-based airline. Totally separate. No such thing as "China Air", and never never use this term.

Thank you RKKWAN so now i am going to ask a stupid question - please do not laugh! When we leave JFK do we fly West toward California and over the Pacific or East and over Europe to get to Beijing? When you have stopped laughing feel free to answer my question - THANK YOU!
Hve you flown Air China? You seem very knowledgeable - i am getting vibes that there is no inflight entertainment - is this true?

For JFK to PEK, the plane heads almost straight north, through northern Quebec and Baffin Island in Canada, sometimes cutting through Greenland, to very close to North Pole. Then it comes down via one of the set Polar Routes through Russia, and maybe Mongolia, down to Beijing.

From PEK to JFK, it depends on wind. It may use one of the Polar Route up Russia, into the Arctic Ocean, then come down Hudson Bay in Canada. Or it may cut through Russia through the Bering Sea, northern Alaska, then into Canada, etc.

Air China uses its 747-400 on this route, which I don't believe has personal video screen. There are large projector screens in front of each cabin, showing really out-of-date movies.

I have not flown Air China internationally. I took a couple of domestic flights with them this January, and I've flown CAAC many times in the 80's, also for domestic Chinese routes. CAAC was broken up into Air China, China Eastern and China Southern in the late 80's or early 90's.

Here's some pictures of typical NYC-China routes, which I took on Continental's EWR-HKG flights.

Right over North Pole, using the Polar 2 route EWR-HKG:
rkkwan.zenfolio.com/p1034994400/?photo=383786354

Polar 4 on the way back, HKG-EWR:
rkkwan.zenfolio.com/p1034994400/?photo=625102838

This one is on another EWR-HKG flight, with a different type of display. We were coming down from Russia, through Mongolia, and very close to China:
rkkwan.zenfolio.com/p955881347/?photo=282729588

A more recent trip. Polar 3 this time, EWR-HKG:
rkkwan.zenfolio.com/p69414114/?photo=524071640

And Polar 4 on the way back, HKG-EWR:
http://rkkwan.zenfolio.com/p69414114/?photo=296723069

I flew LAX to Beijing on Air china. It was also a tour. It was on time and I had no problems. We flew back from Shanghai to Beijing, then back to LAX. I know some people few from Shanghai straight to JFK, so that would have cut out the detour to Beijing, and been better. I`d have no problems flying with them again. I did like the jasmine tea they served on air china.