advice or comments please on early morning Beijing traffic, airport and Air China

Hi,

Hope there's a Beijing traffic and airport expert who can help answer/give an opinion on my questions

We will be staying at the Novotel Xinqiao in Beijing next month prior to flying down to Shanghai to start our cruise.

Our UK travel agent has us booked on an Air China flight leaving 7.15am on a Wednesday from Beijing Capital International to Shanghai Pudong. It has to be early in order for us to transfer to the cruise ship in time as it leaves early evening.

We have a transfer from the hotel to PEK included, however having read that it can take an hour by car, what time do you recommend we leave the hotel. I know it will be super early.

We have never been to China before, so unsure of how long it would take at that time of the morning or how long we can expect to go through everything at the airport.

To add to this, we are also having to do check in at the airport, because Air China does not allow us to access our reservation online, due to the flight not being booked on the Air China website.

Does Air China have a good record of not cancelling this flight?

Am wondering if I need to have a backup plan, in case something goes wrong, what would the advice be?

Many thanks and look forward to any replies, comments etc

I am surprised that you put you on such an early flight. You'll arrive in Shanghai at 9am for an early evening cruise.

You should leave your hotel 2 hours ahead of your departure, just in case. The taxi ride is probably 40-45 minutes at this time of the day, You need to check-in for your flight one hour ahead (check-in usually ends 45 minutes before departure). So you have a good cushion.

Flight cancellation are not much of an issue as there is a flight to Shanghai every 15 minutes. Flights delays are more of an issue. Beijing is one of the worst in the world. This is why a lot of people prefer the bullet train as it is very reliable. In any case, you have a ton of time before your cruise. You main worry will be what to do with luggage during the day as your visit Shanghai.

Try to get the phone number of the driver who will pick you up. If he is late showing up at the hotel, you can call him. If he is too late then just take a taxi. By the way, Air China will be in Terminal 3.

You need to get to the airport no later than 5:15 a.m., and you should plan no less than an hour to the airport. Traffic can be horrible, even at 4:15!

You biggest issue at the airport will be first the check in line, but even larger is getting through security. They have real security and will require you to pull far more out of your carry on than you are accustomed. This slows down security and the lines can get long. The earlier poster telling you to get there an hour in advance is nuts, the security line can be that long!

Confirm which terminal your ship departs from. There are hotels in the area or look in the city center where you will want to tour in Shanghai. Either book a day room, or better, if you have status at one of the hotel chains they will let you check your luggage with the concierge and then go exploring.

Completely concur with the comments about security screening. Don't have even a pen or coin in your pockets, as the WTMD are set on "high". Also, you will have to take out computers, tablets, cameras, and batteries from your carryons. And those have to come out of the cases. Checkin lines can be long unless you have status or are in business class. Even then, it's not a fast process. You also have outbound immigration lines to contend with as well.

For a 07:15 departure, I would want to be at the airport no later than 05:15 and probably even earlier. PEK is a sprawling airport and unless you know exactly where you are headed, you will eat up time. All in all, leave the hotel early and know you can have fewer stresses at PEK.

PVG can be prone to fog delays and of course there are Chinese ATC issues (though 1st flights of the day shouldn't be as subject compared to afternoon or evening flights). You may consider taking the train instead, slower (5-6 hrs) but less prone to delays. As long as you have the tickets in hand, arriving 1/2 hr early at the station (there are security checks) is all you need. The high-speed G trains run CNY 553, 933 and 1,748 in 2nd, 1st and Business respectively.

BTW, no passport control for domestic flights.

I stand corrected. I kept remembering my own flights where it was leaving China from PEK and forgot that the OP was doing PEK to Shanghai.

I stand corrected. I kept remembering my own flights where it was leaving China from PEK and forgot that the OP was doing PEK to Shanghai.

It did occur to me that there could have been internal passport controls (though it'll be a quick verification rather than the procedure for foreigners) enacted either only at PEK (haven't flown out of that airport since the mid '80s if it is the same one) or since last year.

One thing I observed at Chinese airports, at least SZX and HAK, is that check in and security clearance processes are very fast despite the apparent heavy volume, even if one is flying in the back cabin and have no status.

This past May, I flew 5 domestic China flights including one from Beijing. The security check points are no less strenuous for domestic flights than they are for international ones. Most everything comes out of the carry ons. Lens were taken out of the lens cases, all spare batteries pulled out and placed in the container. The system is slow and you'd better plan on an hour to get through the security line, especially in Beijing.