I’m sharing in real-time style about my SAS EuroBonus SkyTeam Million Mile challenge this week. Click here for background and route information.
Upon reaching Shanghai Pudgong (PVG), I faced a decision: try and see if I could find a transit desk for Korean Air, or rush out through passport control and get to the check-in desk before check-in cutoff.
International Transit In Shanghai Pudong (PVG) When Connecting On Separate Tickets
We landed in Shanghai ahead of schedule at 6:43 am and our connecting flight to Seoul–on a separate ticket–left at 8:50 am. Yes, this was one of my tightest connections of the trip.
Unfortunately, Korean Air (and to my knowledge, most, if not all, other carriers) does not offer online check-in for international flights departing from Mainland China.
I don’t know if China has airside transit when you are not checked in for your connecting flight…it’s certainly not like Singapore or Hong Kong. There’s also a fairly difficult language barrier: I asked, but no one spoke English (or German). So rather than waste time trying, we hopped on the train which took us to the immigration area.
International Transit Process In PVG
First, I had to register my fingerprints in a kiosk…Augustine did not, ostensibly because he was a kid.
Next, I had to fill out an arrivals form which had not been distributed onboard.
I still have a 10-year tourist visa for China that is valid for a couple more years, but I did not even need that: China offers a courtesy 144-hour visa-free transit in Shanghai, which is greatly appreciated.
There was no line at the immigration counters and upon reaching the front, we were directed (with hand signals) to go back and fill out one more arrival/departure form.
After filling that out, an agent processed our entry (it took about five minutes) and then printed out Japan-style landing stickers and voila, we were in.
And it was 7:20 am…
We proceeded downstairs through baggage claim, out into the arrivals hall, then upstairs to the Korean Air check-in counter, where we checked in for our final two flights to Seoul and then Los Angeles, then “departed” China almost as quickly as we arrived:
Yes, I would have preferred airside transit, but entering China went about as smoothly as I could have expected.
Were you entirely mute during the immigration process? That would be useful to know if someone visited China as a short stopover. I can say that when stopping for a day in the Republic of China Taiwan, there is no need to speak when going through immigration and customs. Same for India. By the way, India is not part of the People’s Republic of China.
Yes, I did not say anything other than handing over my phone so that the agent could see I was departing on Korean Air in less than two hours. He did record that info.
Of my first 20 entries into China on SAS (where I didn’t use the transit process), passport control said zero words to me. It’s been pretty much the same ever since regardless of which airline I have used to arrive into Shanghai or Beijing from abroad.
Finally the main event I’ve been looking forward to ; Korean Air. Sorry for the delay there was almost a coupe d’ete in South Korea.
Tangential but for the record EK is the only airline where I’ve consistently been able to check in online and retrieve boarding pass when departing PVG.
A 2-hour connection with a real risk that you’d have to clear immigration and recheck at the counter? That’s certainly bold. Curious, what was your backup plan if the connection went bad?
So much better than LAX where after 2 hours you are still waiting in the immigration line going nowhere.
China actually allows most of the foreigner enter without a visa for 24 hours given they have confirmed tickets for onward international flights out of China within 24 hours