We’ve seen Chinese airlines add a ton of capacity to the US the past few years. From LAX alone there are now nonstop flights to over a dozen cities in mainland China, which is sort of nuts. The amount of expansion by Chinese airlines is largely what has led to lower airfare on transpacific flights, both in economy and business class.
As of December 2018, China Southern will be launching 3x weekly nonstop flights between Los Angeles and Shenyang.
China Southern generally has great business class fares, though they have some especially good fares for travel next March on flights between LAX and mainland China, as long as you take this flight. How good are fares?
You can fly roundtrip business class from Los Angeles to many points in mainland China for just $1,300 roundtrip. The catch is that you need to travel in March 2019, though there are slightly higher fares in other months.
For example, this fare is valid from Los Angeles to both Beijing and Shanghai.
You can search this fare on Google Flights or ITA Matrix, and then can book through an online travel agency or through China Southern directly.
China Southern’s A330 operating the route between Los Angeles and Shenyang features fully flat staggered seats in business class, so it’s a solid hard product.
I flew China Southern’s A380 business class between Los Angeles and Guangzhou earlier in the year, which should give you a sense of what to expect in terms of the experience. It’s not a great soft product, but is perfectly okay, especially at this price point.
The longhaul segments book into the “I” fare class, so here’s a listing of how many miles you’d earn for these tickets across various programs. For example, if crediting this to Delta SkyMiles you’d earn 100% elite qualifying miles, 100% redeemable miles, and elite qualifying dollars for 20% of the distance flown.
Does anyone plan on taking advantage of these excellent China Southern fares?
(Tip of the hat to Andrew)
Booked 2 tix LAX - CAN at $1926/each. I usually use points transferred to ANA then fly EVA or Asiana. I did fly Air China earlier this year and paid $1900 and for the money was very very happy!
My biz partner just flew China Eastern & Xiamen Air and said both were great for the money
One issue w/ Air China is flying thru Beijing, it’s always a mess.
@Justin - spot on.
@Lilly Ming - my domestic legs on CZ were great. I was even in economy on the 787 from CAN-CTU and it was totally fine. Better than any of my recent AA and UA experiences.
@michael. US airports make you do the same thing if you’re arriving into one city and continuing into another. You have to pick up your luggage, go thru Customs and then forward to final destination. Why is that a caveat?
Chinese carriers are fine when travelling long haul but domestic flights within China (especially China Eastern) are appalling. Cathay Dragon is the only exception.
I just looked at the dates, samples that you provided in your article and not seeing anything close to that.....
@Peter: That's what I'm hearing about the Chinese carriers' business class: that they're improving rapidly and now offer a satisfactory product in absolute terms and a great product considering the price. I'm flying China Eastern for the first time next month and noted that they have free car service to JFK (worth about $300 to me because I live in NJ) and they also have a new lounge in Shanghai which looks pretty decent. Combine...
@Peter: That's what I'm hearing about the Chinese carriers' business class: that they're improving rapidly and now offer a satisfactory product in absolute terms and a great product considering the price. I'm flying China Eastern for the first time next month and noted that they have free car service to JFK (worth about $300 to me because I live in NJ) and they also have a new lounge in Shanghai which looks pretty decent. Combine that with a reverse herringbone hard product and most of the core bases seem to be covered. I don't need Emirates or SQ entertainment options since I mostly just watch things on my own iPad. Would I prefer to fly Emirates or ANA? Sure... but not at a 30-60% ($1,200-$2,000) premium.
I just completed a RT journey on China Southern (4 segments total), and would not hesitate to fly them again (3 on 777 and 1 787). They actually greatly exceeded my expectations, and the flight attendants on each segment were terrific. Mediocre hard and soft product but totally suitable, especially for how cheap their fares routinely are.
One caveat: don't expect you bags will be checked to your final destination. Be prepared to claim and recheck your checked baggage at Shenyang. Otherwise this is a really great fare.
The cheap business class airfares on Chinese carriers are too low to ignore. I normally would much prefer to fly another carrier on my trans-pacific routes, but the discount for flying China Eastern, China Southern or Air China is significant. For my upcoming NY-Singapore flight, the Chinese carriers were priced at $3,000. Emirates and Etihad were between $4,000-$4,500 while the mainline Asian and European carriers such as EVA and Korean were North of $5,000.
Still have $5 champagne?
What would be the earning rate if we credit to flying blue? (can we?)
@ Ben -- Smoking permitted, right?
@Lucky, wish it works other way around also!
This calls for a round of Duc de Paris!
Haha, all good! I've been doing it all year. I suspect I'll get it right just in time for New Years! Thanks, Lucky!
I really hope you mean March 2019, because time travel might cost more than the $1300 flight. ;)
@ Hari -- Whoops, fixed!