[Flight reports] HKG - SHE - URC - GYD - PEK - HKG (extremely long)

Preample
I attended part of an international conference in Azerbaijan, and initially booked the following pairs of flights:

Ticket 1 HKD 4966.95:
J268 2017-08-06 01:15 PEK - 05:15 GYD class T
J267 2017-08-11 19:35 GYD - 06:20 PEK class Y

Ticket 2 HKD 1379:
CA110 2017-08-05 17:30 HKG - 21:20 PEK class T
CA111 2017-08-12 09:30 PEK - 13:05 HKG class T

The organizer recommended us to take EK, QR and SU flights, with quoted price of HKD 10607 for EK and QR and HKD 7249 for SU, but I found out that the tickets I bought were vastly cheaper than the recommended flights and the arrival / departure times at Baku are better for my need, so I bought the tickets immediately.

However, I later found out that the HKG-PEK route is a trap - the risk of delay is too high, and, if the flight J268 is missed, the next available flight is 2 days later, which the conference would be already half way through. I then bought the following ticket:

Ticket 3 HKD 1396:
CA102 2017-08-05 12:45 HKG - 16:20 PEK class T
CA109 2017-08-12 13:00 PEK - 16:25 HKG class T

After consulting the delay history, I thought 8 to 9 hours to transfer would be OK, but still hellish experience came.

Flight 1: CA102 HKG - PEK (diverted to SHE)
I received an email saying that the flight would be delayed by 30 minutes when I was heading for the airport - that's normal. The preceding flight CA101 was delayed. Finally, we boarded the flight and it was set to depart at 14:06. The aircraft was an A321. However, after the cabin door was closed, the weather at PEK started to go bad and traffic control took place and we couldn't take off. (The previous HKG-PEK flight flown mostly on-time)

After about an hour of waiting, the crew served the meal while the plane was still at the gate, expected to have a long wait, and ordered for replacement meal. In the process, the captain told us the earliest part we could take off would be 18:40!!! Afterwards, we were returned to the terminal and waited for further instruction. We finally boarded the plane again and took off at 18:40, which I think I would still have 3 hours to catch flight J268. Because the delay time was not enough for a replacement meal, during the flight the crew served us bread and biscuit.

When the flight nearly arrived, the captain told us the plane could not land because there was thunderstorm at the airport and the airport was closed, and diverted to SHE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The flight landed at 22:15 and waited for further instructions. The final decision was to pass immigration in SHE, be sent to a hotel, and return to the airport next day to fly back to PEK, while the passengers whose final destination was SHE could leave.

SHE was a small airport and the international area was already closed when we arrived, therefore, the immigration officer was called to work overtime temporarily. The baggage arrived fast. We were sent to a hotel and asked to check out at 05:00 to return to the airport, while the departure time of the supplementary flight from Shenyang was not decided yet. After we were sent to the hotel at around midnight, I checked the status at PEK and found that the airport was reopened, and my booked flight J268 was already boarding!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



I then became in great trouble as I missed the flight J268, which departs only 3 times a week. I contacted the support staff in Hong Kong and the other delegates already in Azerbaijan, and decided to buy a last-minute one-way flight ticket on another route, intending to claim my travel insurance on that. In the hotel, I found out I could arrive Baku on the same day by routing through URC on CZ, and got the following ticket.

Ticket 4 USD 899.07:
CZ6491 2017-08-06 09:00 SHE - 15:45 URC (stopping at LHW) class W
CZ6023 2017-08-06 20:15 URC - 21:05 GYD class E

We then returned to the airport, and the supplementary flight CA102D was set to depart at 08:30 and arrive PEK at 09:30. I had a buffet breakfast at the price of CNY 49 only. I didn't check-in the supplementary flight and flew directly to URC instead.




Flight 2: CZ6491 SHE - LHW - URC
I was checked-in directly to Baku, without the need of collecting baggage when changing flights. My checked baggage, which passed HKG security without problems, needed manually inspection at SHE because it contained a pocket knife and a set of Hong Kong souvenirs with magnets. I showed them in front of the security officer and the pocket knife was OK. The souvenirs were also OK at Shenyang but the officer could not guarantee it would pass Urumqi.



The officer at the entrance of the security area questioned my identity, because I bought the ticket using my passport number, and it is not allowed to be used for domestic travel in mainland China, and I have to use my Home Return Permit (document used for Hong Kong based Chinese citizen to enter mainland China). I explained that I bought my domestic and international flights on the same ticket and had to enter my passport number, and showed both identity documents to the officer. The officer let me in after consulting the supervisor.

The ticket I bought just a few hours prior from departure was in premium economy class in an A320, which offers extra leg room and in-flight entertainment (on which I watched a golf show) when compared to economy class. Although the flight was only 6 hours and 45 minutes, there were 2 hot meals offered - one before stopping and one after stopping. On one of the legs, I was offered an extra main set because there were too much sets prepared, so I totally consumed 3 sets on the flight!

When the plane arrived LHW, we had to get off the plane and wait in the terminal, and board again. The stopping passengers boarded first, then passengers joining the flight at LHW. Both segments of the flight was on-time.



There is a waiting area specifically for connecting flights by CZ, and facilities for serving buffet are inside, but they are not active when I was there. I waited for a while there, however, WhatsApp was not working in Urumqi and I couldn't contact my group as I couldn't got a SIM card on arrival at Shenyang, while WhatsApp worked in Beijing and Lanzhou.



The signs to transfer domestic flights were clear, but there was completely no sign for transfer from domestic to international, as in my case. I asked at the counter and I needed to exit the restricted area and enter the international zone from the terminal lobby.

Flight 3: CZ6023 URC - GYD
The airport was heavily guarded. There were a lot of Muslims at the airport for charter flight for Hajj, and we had to wait for them to clear security before we could enter. The security was very strict, we had to take more things out from my bag, like cameras which was not needed to be checked separately at Shenyang. we also needed to take off the shoes.



I returned to a discounted economy class ticket on this flight. It was not full, that's why I could still buy a discounted ticket on the day of departure. That flight mainly served local passengers of Azerbaijan, and the aircraft was a B738, without in-flight entertainment in both premium economy and economy. The plane flew on time, with a set of hot meal served.

After getting off the plane, I passed immigration at Baku. There was a special counter for conference participants and I could use it, therefore, I passed it quickly. The poster of the conference were put in a very visible position, and there was a welcome counter at the airport lobby for the conference. As I missed flight J268, I approached the airline office and check if the return segment J267 could still be used, and the manager confirmed it.



To be continued in the next post for the return journey.

Flight 4: J267 GYD - PEK
I travelled on the return portion of my Beijing - Baku ticket on flight J267, class Y. The plane used is an B767. Contrary to the URC-GYD flight I have taken, this flight only served relatively few local passengers. The flight was slightly delayed because it had to wait for connecting passengers in a tour back from Europe to China, which made up the majority of the passengers on the flight.



There was a hot meal and a breakfast served on the flight. The in-flight entertainment was uninteresting on this flight, and movie was played in the ceiling television. After the plane landed on Beijing, it taxied a long way to terminal 2.



I passed through immigration quickly, collected the baggage, and took the free shuttle to terminal 3 for my Air China flight back Hong Kong.



Flight 5: CA111 PEK - HKG
When I arrived terminal 3, there was still about 50 minutes left before the original scheduled time for my return flight CA111 on ticket 1, which I hadn't used the outgoing ticket. I approached the manager counter immediately to check my ticket validity, and he checked me into a premium economy (class E) seat with my economy (class T) ticket. The queue at the counter was extremely long, and there were many people waiting holding a ticket of my flight. However, just after I checked in, my flight was full already because it accommodated a lot of leftover passengers from previous cancelled flights due to thunderstorm. The staff had to check them into an afternoon flight CA115, and people started complaining. (There was two CA115 flights afternoon that day, one was delayed from the previous day and labelled with CA115D in the system)



I then run into the restricted area immediately, and the security queue was extremely long, and I tried to jump the queue as the flight was due soon. However, in the queue there were also many people holding due flight boarding passes, and I stopped jumping the queue, as the weather was bad and the flights were delayed. The security was also very strict.



My flight was delayed due to weather, however, Air China could not provide revised departure times for most of the delayed flights, while other airlines revised the departure time to be delayed by about 4 to 12 hours. At about 16:00, we were finally able to board the flight. As a premium economy passenger, I was served a cup of drink immediately just aboard the aircraft, and a pair of slippers was provided. However, the plane didn't fly immediately because 13 passengers temporary cancelled the journey after checking in, and the crew had to dig through 300 pieces of luggage to remove them.

There was a hot meal served in the flight, and the in-flight entertainment was the best among all the flights I have taken with in-flight entertainment available. There were a lot of films and games available, and I played Japanese mahjong and watched the 2016 Ironman documentary.



The flight landed Hong Kong with about 7 hours of delay, which marked the end of my journey, and I had to proceed to my insurance company afterwards to claim the money for ticket 4.

Thanks for the report and it must have been a tiring and troublesome experience.  It seems that PEK (and PVG as I have heard) are the most hard-hit with flight controls, and from your post the airport turns into a mess just because of a thunderstorm.  That's what the capital of the World's Factory and once Olympic-hosting city has to offer.  Sure planes get grounded in bad weather but the management leaves much room for improvement.  Your report serves as a clear warning for me to stay away from Chinese transfers at all cost, and for direct travel I may choose the CRH, if I ever decide to step foot there.

謝謝詳盡報告！

唔知樓主會議本身係點樣 claim 錢法, 同埋係咪可以 claim 足開支,
如果係實報實銷果類, 真係冇必要咁樣慳錢法。即使唔分拆航班,
北京 (及中國大城市) 不分季節周不時都 delay 好幾個鐘, 而香港夏天
都唔係冇風險。

我略略睇過 skyscanner 航班, 樓主唔想搭 Qatar 或且 SU 應該係到達同
出發時間都好差 (淩晨三點幾), 但其實價格合理少少既可以考慮搭
土耳其航空 (不過我唔肯定樓主買果陣要幾錢), 中午落機, 夜晚走,
宜家買 8 月 26 飛, 9 月 1 日返就 ~HKD 7,800-8,000:
TK31: 22:45 HKG -> 05:05 (+1) IST
TK332: 08:15 IST ->12:10 GYD

TK335: 22:05 GYD -> 00:15 (+1) IST
TK70: 01:35 IST -> 17:05 HKG

fw1321 發表於 2017-8-17 22:49
謝謝詳盡報告！

唔知樓主會議本身係點樣 claim 錢法, 同埋係咪可以 claim 足開支,

如果根據樓主所述，主辦單位建議參加者搭EK，QR或者SU嘅話，按理應該可以claim足，斷估無理由比個「建議」之後要啲參加者自己貼錢嘅

我都認同師兄所講，如無必要真係唔好經大陸轉機，不但經常delay，而且會牽涉特區護照／回鄉卡嘅問題，加上大陸安檢安排有待改善，經大陸轉機實在有相當風險
其實樓主呢一次trip已經遇到曬咁多樣經大陸轉機嘅問題

clivetock 發表於 2017-8-17 23:10
如果根據樓主所述，主辦單位建議參加者搭EK，QR或者SU嘅話，按理應該可以claim足，斷估無理由比個「建議 ...

基本上個conference係自費嘅，不過可以申請資助，而我就批咗10%資助。（其實唔單只係conference，即使我較早前代表香港去立陶宛參加世界賽，都一樣係自費嘅，不過我當時好彩揾到張價格合理，時間適當，單一航空公司經芬蘭轉機嘅機票，結果行程一切順利）

如果論成本嘅話，我覺得EK或QR會太貴，而SU價錢合理，不過機程比較長。

miklcct 發表於 2017-8-17 23:38
基本上個conference係自費嘅，不過可以申請資助，而我就批咗10%資助。（其實唔單只係conference，即使我較 ...

得 10% 資助就冇辦法呢, 差千幾蚊都唔算少, 希望你 claim 到保險。

clivetock 發表於 2017-8-17 23:10

如果根據樓主所述，主辦單位建議參加者搭EK，QR或者SU嘅話，按理應該可以claim足，斷估無理由比個「建議」之後要啲參加者自己貼錢嘅

我都認同師兄所講，如無必要真係唔好經大陸轉機，不但經常delay，而且會牽涉特區護照／回鄉卡嘅問題，加上大陸安檢安排有待改善，經大陸轉機實在有相當風險
其實樓主呢一次trip已經遇到曬咁多樣經大陸轉機嘅問題

大陸機場過安檢其中一樣麻煩嘢係電制, 冇記錯要全部拎出嚟過機,
仲要記緊叉電器有標示電流, 否則好可能被沒收 (不過呢樣就唔係淨係大陸要求),
搞到好多時個效率低曬。