UNITED OR NORTHWEST - CHINA
 

I may have to book one of these for my tour to China......does anybody have anything positive to say about either?!! From what I read Northwest is just hopeless.....and my experience w/ United is not much better! Thanks.

We used UA for a trip to China 1.5 years ago combined with Thai Airways on to Bangkok. Coach was OK, but nothing impressive. We went over Christmas, so the planes were packed full. For the San Fran to Tokyo segment we were given bulkhead center seats which was OK because no one in front, but cramped legroom. The food was the usual. The flight attendants were good about roaming the cabin with water and juice. <BR> <BR>We were among the first flights out of the new Shanghai airport and the computers went down--they had to write out all tickets, baggage claim, etc. by hand and compare names to a printed roster. That would have taken forever, but we had a guide who magically made himself about fifth in line when they opened and we sailed through. The glitch was the airport, not the airline. <BR> <BR>Tokyo layover was dull waiting in international area. We walked the length of the terminal many times to stretch our legs, bought Japanese Pokemon cards for the kids, and ate green tea ice cream to pass the time. <BR> <BR>Came back through Chicago which was its usual midwinter madhouse with various delays and crowds, but we were just slightly delayed. <BR> <BR>That's what I remember. Other than we most frequently fly Delta and although they are frequent flyer partners, you only get credit on DL mileage for domestic United segments.

Thanks for the reply Kay...I remember when I never flew anything BUT United..it was that fabulous!! sigh. Sad huh?

The problems at United and NW are not unique to most airlines. Few of them are any good. <BR>You might want to pick your carrier based on when their union contracts are scheduled to expire. There have been several stories on this recently and this may become a problem if you hit the wrong airline at the wrong time. <BR> <BR>I know that United flies a direct flight from JFK in NY to Hong Kong. I think NW connects all of its Asia flights in Tokyo. <BR> <BR>Given a choice, I'd rather fly a direct from the U.S.

Phil..good point! I'll be flying out of LA...so I will find out who flies the most directly to Beijing which is where I pick up the tour. Thanks!

Anyone else????

We are thinking about going to China (from Phila) next year, so I have the same question myself. I may be naive, but I am not so pessimistic about the airlines. <BR> <BR>BTW, my study shows that there is a NW non-stop flight on certain days from LAX to PEK, which is run by China Air. There are also NW non-stop flights from Detroit to PEK, and maybe others. <BR> <BR>PS - On which tour are you going? <BR> <BR>

Hi Dave.....Pacific Delight Im almost 90% sure! I normally dont care much either as I think one airline is pretty much like another and my travel angels seem to take good care of me. But I NEVER hear anything good about Northwest....and as I have stated I have had trouble w/ Shuffle by United myself. I was just hoping someone would pop in who had taken one or the other to China..... There are also comments on here about Air China.....and not postive ones either! sigh! <BR> <BR> So which tour are you going on? :)

We are just starting to plan this trip. We don't know if we should we go with a small or large group, or a custom tour with another couple who want to go with us. <BR> <BR>When I check the AOL site, everyone raves about PD, and China in general. A friend recommends Geoex, so I will present our thoughts to both, and see which gives the best itinerary and price, and compare that with a scheduled tour.

I used to fly all the time across the Pacific on business, but haven't done that many trips recently. <BR> <BR>I would recommend that you cross the Pacific with an Asian airline such as Singapore or Cathay Pacific. Go into Hong Kong and transfer to Peking. It'll be well worth the transfer because it's either 14 hours in heaven or 14 hours in hell. <BR> <BR>JAL is OK as are the Korean airlines. <BR>The Chinese airlines are OK too but their food leaves much to be desired. You wil probably stopover in either Japan or Korea if you take the northern Asian airlines. <BR> <BR>When flying across the Atlantic take a European airline and when flying across the Pacific take an Asian airline - as a general rule. Avoid the American airlines if possible. Singapore Airlines is consistently ranked #1 in the world by a lot of travellers - find out for yourself why - polite staff, an individual TV screen - even in coach class - general comfort and serenity. <BR> <BR>Happy travels!

We fly Northwest on trans-Atlantic flights regularly. Since we've accumulated miles and elite status, we would certainly stick with the airline that keeps us in the bennies because they are so valuable on long hauls. We've found them to be reasonably priced, too.

Maggie, thank you very much for the reply. I think I have decided on booking my own airline and taking the land tour part seperately. I'm considering Sinapore or Thai. I just cant figure out why Pacific Delight only offers american airlines to and from...when they are a chinese company! Well whatever.....their tour sounds good.