How do we do it?
 

We are a family of five--- my question, is there a good spot to lay over in order to break up the travel time between Chicago and Beijing? I have been trying to figure out the normal flight path-- but wondered if anyone has already figured out a good way to it. I believe the great circle path is the track we will be on, but wondered if it is possible to stop over in Hawaii, Alaska or somewhere to make the flight more enjoyable.

Thanks!

DG

IMO there is no good spot for a layover. I would strongly recco going with non-stop flights. IMO it does not make it any easier to stop en-route, drag bag, baggage and kids to a hotel for one night and repeat the exercise the next day (including check-in, security, possibility of delayed flights, etc). United/Air China/CO have a non-stop flight which departs O’Hare at Noon and arrives at 2;30 pm the next day. This is a good departure and arrival time, and the flight time is 13.5 hours. It goes surprisingly fast, in my experience. Much less tiring then spending one night en route. Bring video games for the kids, a book for yourself.

If you want to include Hong Kong as a gateway in or out, you can take US Air/ United/CO which offers a non-stops.

If you are going to spend a few days someplace rather than just an overnight, that is a bit more workable. However, to the best of my knowledge you cannot fly from Hawaii to Beijing, you will have to change planes in Tokyo, just adding more time. (The Chinese have not yet discovered Hawaii.) I believe Hawaii would be a rather expensive option for a few day layover, and to just see Oahu seems like a waste (any other island requires another flight). I am not aware of any nonstops from any Alaskan city to Beijing. Vancouver may be a workable stop and is a pleasant city. Los Angeles or San Francisco should work. London, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Paris or Zurich may also work. Dubai may work (you would have to pay me to stay over there, however).

I agree with Cicerone. A layover just makes the whole trip longer. You are fortunate to have a non-stop option. Take advantage of it.

The non-stop flights fly over the N. Pole. Absolutely best way to get there.

The United flights from Chicago to Beijing, and Shanghai to Chicago really aren't as bad as you might expect. Sleep as much as you can based on your time of arrival and take some snacks.

I paid the extra to get Economy Plus seats and I was lucky enough to reserve a front row (bulkhead?) seat on the way home. I'm kind of short but I couldn't even reach the wall in front of my feet. :)

Depending on the age of your kids, that floor space is a good spot for them to play a bit out of their seats. Economy Plus was a lot nicer than just normal Economy, but without the huge jump in price to Business.

Coming out of Chicago, you fly about 300 miles from the north pole, north of Alaska, down over Siberia, Russia and Mongolia.

I would say just take the non-stop flight. :)

And yet another agreement for the non-stop flight! I stayed up the night before (and cleaned house vigorously) so I slept for most of the flight, which of course wouldn't have happened if I'd been up and down for layovers. It's really not bad--and I hate flying, so I don't just mean "It's really not bad if you love being in an airplane".

Thank you all.. I will gut it out and do the non stop! Much appreciated. DG