Hi, I'm booked on China South from NY to Chiang MaI on Nov. 2. I got an email this morning advising that my flight has been changed, the 1 hour 10 minute layover is now 17 hours! I'm kind of freaking out. I understand that I can expect a hotel room for the night but, as a woman travelling alone, I am worried about safety, the type of accommodations, negotiating airport to hotel & back again, making the connecting flight, etc.

Have any of you experienced this or have advice to offer?

Where is the layover, Chiang Mai? Or is CM your ultimate destination? I imagine the former, on the way to China.

If Chiang Mai is where you'll be spending the unexpected 17 hours, have no fear, it's a fun city and a great place for your stop. Good food, no problem whatever getting around and perfectly safe. I've spent time there several times and always enjoy it. Consider yourself lucky, it could be far worse.

You should have no issues in CM. However, you may need a visa to leave the airport.

Is there another routing on China Southern to your final destination that you would prefer? With this kind of change US airlines are required to allow a change to a preferred itinerary (with space) with no cost penalty, but I don't know whether that applies to Chinese airlines.

As suggested above, you might contact China South to see if you have any other options. Under a somewhat similar circumstance with a different airline, I was able to switch (free of charge) to a flight a day earlier, with the same originally short layover. Even if that wouldn't work for you, you might want to call the airline to find out what, if any, options you have....

Good luck!

My layover is Guangzhou, China en route to a Thailand.

You can get visa free entry to China, but for Guangzhou I don't know that I would bother.

For airport hotels see:
http://www.sleepinginairports.net/as...m#airportHotel

See also:
https://www.travelchinaguide.com/cit...ou/airport.htm

I would not worry about safety, over and above usual precautions.

Telephone the airline's representative. It is policy at some airlines that such a large change in schedule can be negotiated to find more suitable alternatives.