While not designed all that practically, Beijing Airport is gorgeous architecturally. We were quickly admitted to the Air China Business class lounge, then began the rather ridiculous process of "registering" our passports with a kiosk in order to get a Wi-Fi code. The lounge is "open air," basically overlooking the terminal from one level up.…
Continue reading: Review: Air China Business Class Lounge Beijing
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A few weeks ago when transiting PEK from UA/F to TG/C I was admitted to the CA F lounge. But their shower wasn't working, so they send me over to the CA business lounge. The shower was working, but it was the smallest shower room I've ever seen! I could barely find a place to put my suitcase down, no less open it to get out fresh clothes!
I hate PEK. Lots of nice pictures in this report though. It's Orient Thai, not Thai Orient
"The queue took about 20 minutes to get through, which was a bit of a pain given that there’s no need for such formalities in virtually any other country."
...
What?
May I remind you that in order to transit through the US, most people need not just a stamp, but an actual visa that costs $150?
And a 20 minute wait at your immigration lines is the fastest I've ever gone. At ORD, I've never had a wait under 60 minutes.
@phone-home That was exactly what I was thinking... in both US and Canada you have to go through immigration and often times customs as well... twenty minutes is not too bad
@ phone-home @ Moey -- Well yeah, and that's why I don't think anyone should ever connect in the US. It's an overly complicated experience. But I still think the immigration check is worth noting, since there's no such thing at Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo, Bangkok, etc.
I'd have to agree with lucky on this one. No one in their right mind would transit in the US, china is a logical transit point, though clearly not as easy as other Asian hubs.
How could you had taken pictures of such a lovely sky... (P.S. i'm a bj resident)
No one in their right mind would transit through PEK. They would transit through NRT, ICN or HKG. Some times you have no choice because you either want to try a new product or that's the only availability that is given on such date. Suffice to say that goes for transiting to US if you want to go to Latin America for folks who are coming Asia........ You give some and you take some...
@lucky I agree with you that it is worth noting that there is an immigration check in PEK. Although you do have to admit that twenty minutes is not too bad. Although, I wonder why they don't give out fast passes for premium class customers...
I am surprised as Slyvie is, blue sky? Are you sure this was Beijing? Maybe you were once again "lucky" as was I last Tuesday to visit on a rare smog-free day. Your description of the CA lounge is spot-on except I didn't have to jump through hoops to get a WiFi connection.
Lucky,
I have seen worse food in many lounges. Dim sum looked ok. If you were starving, I'm sure there was something edible. Buffet food, to me, requires extra effort to make it look good. Once, you get past appearances, the food usually is edible. I'm sure many Chinese would be ok with it, as Western palates are more experienced.
"Usually when you’re just transiting an airport enroute to a third country you just have to go through security and don’t have to clear immigration. Unfortunately at Beijing Airport you actually have to get your passport stamped. The queue took about 20 minutes to get through, which was a bit of a pain given that there’s no need for such formalities in virtually any other country"
Um seriously I have to go through that every tine I go to the Asia via the USA and 20 would be amazing, most of the time it takes anywhere from 1-3 hours on a good day so count yourself lucky!
Too many unrealistic complaints!
20 min waiting at immigration is super fast by any standard in the whole world, and the food is 100 times better than any US clubs (if you can find any real food there).
@ Bostonwalker -- Well sure, except there's no point in comparing an Asian lounge to a US lounge. We all know it's going to be better. An Asian lounge should be compared to an Asian lounge, IMO.
Same goes for immigration. Connect virtually anywhere else in Asia and there will be no immigration checkpoint, while there is in China.
Add ZRH to the list of transit passport review airports when connecting to a flight gated at the remote terminal building.
As for the CA lounge at PEK, it's still better than the atrocious Shanghai Airlines one at PVG. That one's so bad that LX gives its premium passengers vouchers to use at restaurants in the terminal, in addition to the lounge pass! Of course, wifi is easier to access at PVG vs the absurd system at PEK (not to mention ZRH!).
@lucky
"Bostonwalker — 'Well sure, except there’s no point in comparing an Asian lounge to a US lounge. We all know it’s going to be better. An Asian lounge should be compared to an Asian lounge, IMO.'
Same goes for immigration. Connect virtually anywhere else in Asia and there will be no immigration checkpoint, while there is in China."
I guess you haven't traveled well in Asia. There are plenty of instances where a 30 minute wait was common for me in many parts of Asia. It all depends on the timing. Has nothing to do with the airport's resources.
Just gotta love Lucky's anti-Asian comments. I guess that's what mono-lingual Europeans do...
You're complaining about 20 minutes for immigration? You sound like you've never been to the USA.
Just loved your anti-Chinese anti-Thai comments about the food. Why do you even bother visiting or transiting thru Asia if you hate the people and its culture? Shameful...
Awesome review - thank you. I can not see how your comments on the look of the food were anti-anyone. It's baffling to me that if you don't like a cheap Chinese buffet in the US, @You're an Idiot thinks you must be anti-Chinese, hate the people and the culture and should not visit the country - haha hilarious! Thank you for the frank review of your experience.
The sign that reads "Disinfection" in English should be "sanitized", if translated correctly.
It's because of guys like You're an Idiot that trolls have such a bad reputation online. One stereotypical troll loose in a forum can undo the goodwill and respect hard earned by 100s of non douchie trolls.
Why leave underneath your bridge and drag your club to the nearest Internet cafe and post on this forum if all you are going to do act like a classic troll? Shameful.
It has the worst wifi service compared to all the lounges I have been.
The wifi service they provide sucks unless you have a local China cell phone. It took me 20 minutes to get an authorization code/password for getting access to the wifi service in the loung, because I don't have a local Chinese cell phone.
Don't ever use airport WiFi to check your email - your login information is not encrypted. I had Hotmail to notify me that someone in Vietnam tries to access my email after a trip to Hong Kong. I remembered that I used Hong Kong airport WiFi to check on the email. Apparently someone used a WiFi listening device there.
Every time I have to transit through the US I have to clear customs/immigration and then security again. Once Houston Tx., we spent a stressful hour in lineups for immigration, customs and then security, only to reboard the exact same plane for a continuation of our flight through to Canada.
China is a vicious dictatorship with no freedom of any kind. If you're a liberty loving American, you should avoid it at all costs. Patronizing such a place would have your European ancestors who made a dangerous trek across the ocean in search of human rights spinning in their graves.
Ah, the typical American, living in their parents' basement with huge amount of debt, and having double standards,