I am looking at a non stop flight from Bejing to Shanghai. China Southern is now on the Continental mileage program and they have one nonstop to Shanghai. It is to Hongqiao Airport, not Pudong. Is there any problem with booking this way? Also, does anyone have suggestions for airlines for N/S from Shanghai to Hong Kong.

Hongquai is actually closer to the city, it's the old international airport that has been replaced by Pudong, I would have no worries flying into it, and it's a quick cab ride into the city. For flights to Hong Kong, I prefer Dragon Air if you can, just a better airline with a better on time record. (China Southern does have some on time issues, as do most intra-China airlines, but see how it all works out; even Dragon Air gets delayed sometimes.)

There are many more flights PEK-SHA than PEK-PVG. Just go ahead and book it, but I wouldn't care which airline. Only the highest fares get 100% CO miles, the 10-15% discount ones get 40%, while the often avaialble 20-60% off gets nothing. Also, it's a short route.

Therefore, just book the flight for the best fare or best timing. Forget about the CO miles.

For PVG-HKG, I agree with Cicerone. Fly Dragonair if you can. This route has serious on-time problem on any airline as the airspace in China is controlled by the People's Liberation Army, and there's only one single, overly congested, route PVG-HKG. 3-4 hours delay are common on all carriers.

rkkwan: Does the commom 3-4 hours delay apply to HKG-PVG route ? Thanks

Yes. Both ways.

And here, the difference between Dragonair and one of the Chinese airlines is that on Dragonair they're more likely to update you what's going on, while you just sit there with no info on a Chinese airline.

I agree with all the comments, I like Hongqiao Airport, so convenient to get to city center. Please keep in mind the PEK-SHA flights do not have the greatest on time record either, I experienced a take-off delay that was longer than the flight time!

I'm with shangahinese et al on both the relative convenience of Hongqiao and the high potential for delays on this route (the later in the day, the higher the risk)

Thanks for the info. Also, RK and Shanghainese, I think you both and others have posted before that we should wait until we are in China to actually purchase the ticket. How much discount do you anticipate it would be rather than having the ticket purchased here? That N/S from PEK is attractive as there are only limited N/S flights available, and it's very reasonable buying it here - about $170 each. Also, any advice on getting to PEK from Japan? I'll be leaving from Kyoto (Osaka) at KIX airport. And fares seem really high. Thanks again.

I don't know your PEK-SHA travel date, I put in 10/10 in www.elong.net and got 450rmb which is $60, couldn't tell if it's nonstop.

Full fare PEK-SHA is 1,130RMB. You can get pretty deep discounts, depending on the day you're flying.

For 10/10, actually, I found an even lower fare than Shanghaiese does. One pretty early flight and one pretty late one (both Air China) are 340RMB. Which is a special "T" fare that's even lower than then 60%-off "E" fare of 450RMB.

All fares add 130RMB taxes.

US$170 is the full fare of 1,150RMB + 130RMB = 1,280RMB.

Bravo on the low fare, rkkwan,how do you tell whether it's nonstop or not?

All these PEK-SHA fares you find on elong.net or yoee.com, etc are non-stops.

Thanks for confirming, rkkwan.