• expired

Beijing Return ex Sydney $247 with China Eastern @ IWTF

1240

It just gets cheaper. Not sure how good or bad the airline is, but at this price… Flights I found are for June, but there seems to be other dates available if you search. Credit cards can be used at this price with no additional fees as well. Safe travels :)

Screenshot of what I found…

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  • -5

    Need some Singapore specials within the next few days (that aren't Scoot)

  • +1

    It's a shame I haven't tried these Chinese airlines myself yet. My understanding is that China Eastern is less concerned with global service standards than China Southern in terms of delays and food etc

    • +4

      My experience so far: Air China & China Southern > China Eastern
      Apparently China Southern is the only 4 star rating airline out of the 3 major Chinese airlines.

      • Agree. Actually, China has 4 major airlines, you missed Hainan Airlines, and it's a 5-star (Skytrax) airline. I tried it from Chicago to Beijing. It's good!

        • Oh yeah! Haven't tried Hainan before so can't make any comment about their services. I've definitely heard good reviews about them, looking forward to fly with them in the future.

        • +7

          @eddterrange:

          I am the perfect person to give my opinion as I flew both MU and HU in Jan 2017!

          I took China Eastern (MU) from Melbourne (MEL) - Shanghai (PVG) and then PVG - San Fran (SFO), the SFO back to PVG.
          The planes themselves were modern, they are new B777-300ER, they even had free Wi-FI on board.
          TLDR review:
          - food was shit, worse I've ever had
          - entertainment system was nice, large touchscreen, but woeful selection of Western options (think 4 TV Shows, each with 2 episodes LOL)
          - has power + USB
          - no phone allowed, even in flight mode (China Law)
          - always on time, left on time, arrived on time
          - got me long-haul from A to B safely, can't complain

          Then on my way back I took Hainan (HU).
          Flew PVG - Changsha (CSX) then CSX back to MEL.
          PVG - CSX was on a little B737, uneventful flight.
          I had a 8 hour layover in CSX before my flight back to Melbourne so Hainan booked me in a hotel. Had airport staff waiting for me upon arrival in the aero bridge.

          CSX-MEL flight
          - old plane, A330-200
          - no entertainment system, though they provided cheap Android tablets in the backrest
          - food was excellent, similar to Cathay (CX)
          - crew were super nice (I had a super nice brunette girl)
          - kept getting snacks and drinks during the flight (reminds me a lot of CX service)

          MU is what I expected, first time with HU and I quite liked it.

  • +5

    Geez prices to China are getting so competitive it's ridiculous

    • Cost cutting is working, the drive yourself is saving them a fortune :-)

  • +8

    WTF IWTF & TA. I am out of pocket

  • +2

    This
    Is
    So
    Cheap

    • +2

      Why don't you book for all of us then mate? =p

      • +4

        no problem please copy of your passport, medicare card and driving licence i will send the ticket as soon as possible.

        please dont send!

    • +1

      Then how come you are in despair?

      • +1

        because i cannot go :(

  • damn that's cheap. if I wasn't already paying AU$893.76 for the 4 of us to go with Virgin/Singapore in september….

    • Per person, surely?

      • +5

        Back then, there was an honoured price error by VA code shared with SQ to Seoul for $300 Beijing $200ish,Rome $600. I think that is what he meant. Coz I got one too!

        • +1

          Damn, they honoured that in the end eh. Should have jumped on it, I witnessed it happening but couldn't find dates that suited me.

        • +1

          @Meconium: Im flying out to Paris on this error tomorrow, i hope they still honor it at check in lol

      • +1

        that's the total price for all 4 of us.

        • Just to Singapore though right? Just noticed that

        • +1

          @Meconium: virgin/singapore airlines flying bris->singapore->beijing—>singapore—>bris

  • Don't forget the additional $130 for Visa.

    • +18

      How much for Amex?

    • +2

      Unless you're staying less than 72h in Beijing for visa-free stopover (144h for Shanghai)

      • +1

        You can't get that if you intend to return to the originating place

      • +1

        I think the stopover starts at midnight on the day of arrival to. That potentially means a free stay for 95h59m's.

        • Tasmaniac, it looks as though you are saying I lose 2 of the 6 days and that makes it 4 days only in Shanghai. Please help me confirm, cheers.

        • +1

          @defmay:What ?, no, I meant Beijing. Were you not able to deduce that from the 95h59m ?. Anyway I read that the fly-through period begins at midnight after arrival, that means that you may be able to stay in Shanghai for an extra 23h59m to. (A total of 6d 23h 59minutes).

          Again, that's only what I read, you should call the consulate or something to confirm.

        • @Tasmaniac: thanks i'll give them a call

      • Hi guys. So I can stay in Shanghai for 144 hours (6 days without a visa?) plus i'm coming from Melbourne. Or is it 95 hours like Tasmaniac said?

        • Yes, if you fly direct to Shanghai and have a ticket to a third country. It's 72h in other cities including Beijing. You could get a cheap flight to Korea or Japan and have stopovers on the way there and the way back as well.

        • @Meconium: That means i ould buy one of these cheap tickets return, buy a ticket from shanghai to japan, back to shanghai for the return trip?

        • @defmay: That's how I understand it, although this particular flight goes to Beijing rather than Shanghai.

          I stopped over in Shanghai en route to America last September, only because I was flying China Eastern. I liked New York a lot more than Shanghai though ;)

      • +2

        I had never heard of this before, so did some research:

        "Passengers should hold an onward ticket with a confirmed seat and date as well as a valid visa to a third country or region. Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan count as third regions in term of immigration affairs. For example, the route UK-Guangzhou-UK is not eligible because the passenger does not fly to a third country or region, while the routes UK-Shanghai-Hong Kong, Japan-Nanjing-US, Canada-Guangzhou-Seoul-UK, and Russia-Seoul-Shenzhen-Macau are fine.

        Passengers are required to enter and leave from the eligible transit ports only, but the entry port and exit port do not have to be the same. For instance, one can land in Guangzhou Baiyun Airport but leave from Shenzhen Bao'an Airport, or one can take a cruise to Shanghai and then leave by air from Nanjing or Hangzhou."

        In summary, if you only have this return ticket then you are out of luck.

  • Need to consideration before pay.

  • Yeah Eastern is definitely the worst, a lack of entertainment for anyone concerned, China Southern from experience has been quite a pleasurable experience especially with their new aircrafts a380s & dream liners.

  • -5

    Are the pilots trainees lol

    • Not yet, still work experience guys…

  • What's the legroom like? In Japan they kinda don't sell bikes for people above 6 foot.

    • +15

      This is a plane

  • Don't forget China Eastern gets you QF points (admittedly a very small amount), and if you have status, lounge access as well.

  • +1

    Fantastic prices but I already have three trips this year. Not sure that I can fit another in.

  • you can only get stopover if beijing/shanghai is not your main destination. even with free stopover, get a visa anyway. We didn't understand the rules as it was just introduced last year and got detained. Luckily, I was able to communicate with the help of nice passenger and I had to buy a forward flight right there and then for them to approve our stay. So we bought flights to HK. Otherwise they would send us on next flight home.

    • +1

      The rules are incredibly simple - I don't see why people should avoid it and pay a large sum for a visa just because you didn't read them!

      Though this flight alone won't work. Funnily enough, you have to be transiting to get a transit visa/visa waiver.

      • I have found it pretty easy. Just make sure you have your connecting flight printed.

        Your other option is to just book a cheap one way flight to get the transit visa. It may be cheaper.

        Also bear in mind you are not supposed to leave the city limits. In Beijing this technically means it is not legal to visit the great Wall.

        • Yes so we had to book a one way flight to HK there n then.

      • I checked with the embassy and the airline. We flew bris to hangzhou to singapore to bris. However we actually went to Hangzhou via SG and I didn't realize we had to change planes in SG.

        The technicality is that the flight number also changed and because it's not a flight number from australia but a flight number from singapore it fidn't count as transit. If my mandarin was good then I could have explained it better. Even the airlines allowed us to board after checking the visa free transit.

        The other problem is that it Hangzhou and because the transit visa free was very new and not many transit in Hangzhou (in shanghai there's even a separate window for visa free transit) no one knew much about it and had to check with authorities.

        I checked already but it was so new so yeah but thankfully they were nice enough and it wasn't all that bad.

        • I wasn't implying your stupid or anything - everyone makes mistakes! Its just absurd to suggest people pay extra for an unnecessary visa just because you didn't follow the rules.

  • Nice little mileage earner. Great find!

  • If you fly Air China and have a connecting flight (at least domestic connection) your checked in luggage must be collected and the first stop and rechecked in.

    China Southern and China Eastern are somewhat similar but other patrons at China Southern flight are "more calm" mannered and I would say China Southern is safer as well.

    I would choose China Southern any day :)

    • wow east and south are different, eh?
      which one more prettier?

  • i flew china eastern a few years ago, was very very average plane & service.

    anyway, whats Beijing like? ive been to shanghai, and that was ok, just shopping mainly

    • -1

      beijing, more old stuffs, like palace, museum, and things like that.
      go if you into culture and great wall of course.
      air quality is better in shanghai

    • It is the best city in China!

  • Most likely need a stopover in Hangzhou. Not direct

  • -2

    might go to Beijing for the weekend for some flied rice then come back lol

    • Wrong destination. Beijing's not known for flied rice at all.

  • +2

    As a Chinese who had been living in Sydney for six years, I have to say that all the meals from major Chinese airline are terrible..

    normally I just order fruit, salad,plain bread and skip the main dish. Qantas and Emirates are much better.

    $247 is the cheapest return price I have ever seen though! I'd recommend my hometown to you guys for scenery and food there!

    • +2

      You could eat the food on the plane, I don't even eat anything on any airlines, just drink the water. They are all terrible, I always enjoy the food at the destinations.

  • +1

    I am a Chinese. This is a very big company, generally, so so. Pro: safe, not cheap flight company. Cons: food not so good. Consider this price, absolutely deal.

  • Flew with these to Nanjing before, first airline where there they don't serve drinks with ice.

    • +1

      they do serve hot/warm water as most Chinese drink those than iced water… good for your health as the folklore says

      • +1

        Soda without ice is just awful!!

  • -6

    Make sure you pack your gas mask - Beijing is a cancer causing cesspool

  • -3

    Lol. Looks like the Chinese don't like hearing the truth about their own country & its treatment of the environment

  • Keep in mind, you are NOT allowed to use your phones at all time with any Chinese airlines!!!!

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