Review: Chengdu Airport Domestic Lounge

A few years ago we flew Thai from Bangkok to Chengdu and then were connecting to Hohhot. I was amazed how big Chengdu Airport was. They said we could pay to take a trolley between the two terminals for our connection but we ended up just walking the 1km as we couldn't get change for our big bills.

Re: the writing in the picture with the UA 767, it says (in yellow): paid upgrade at boarding gate (blue) first class/business class (red) please wait.

You can scan the QR code for more information, which likely comes as a WeChat page.

"Scan QR code to get more information: Paid Upgrade at the gate to First/ Business (please be prepared for it)" should be the literal translation on the sign.

Why do you credit to skymiles and not Skypass or AF???

The words say 'Pay to upgrade at the boarding gate - First class/business class (Coming soon)'

@Varun

I think it's because this was part of Lucky's DL Platinum challenge.

@François - Why does Lucky need DL Skypesos? Skypass and FlyingBlue are better programs with better availability and redemption opportunities.

@Paul

there is free shuttle between terminals

@Lucky

are you ashamed to visit a country you have a heated hatred on ?

Bryan Ee has the correct translation. It's an advertisement for paid upgrades at the gate that's coming soon.

@H Xu I never got the impression Lucky has a hatred of China. He's given honest appraisals of many Chinese carriers -- some are great, others aren't. It rather seems that he's had an excellent time on this particular trip (and others), so I'm not sure where you got this from.

I understand Chinese, but why use a photo of united's product for advertising? maybe Xiamen has a identical product?

I am also puzzled by the Skyair part. The Chinese is clearly XiamenAir. Why using Skyair as English name?

Thanks for this post. My family and I are planning on visiting Chengdu in the spring while travelling through Asia because we love Sichuan food. I think we'll spring for the business class tickets 🙂

@Lu Probably because they don't care to get the image or the English names right. I imagine Westerners making up such a small amount of business when it comes to travel in China, that hiring employees with good English skills simply isn't high up the priority list.

Above the "Civil Trip, Polite Plane!" sign, it says "Military personnel by law may use priority [boarding] lane". While traditionally this was honored, but not long ago this became a law, so at transit centers (bus/train/airport), there's usually some priority or special treatment for military personnel.

@JL - Military personnel board the plane before anyone does, this is the norm back in the US too.

@Lu - Since XiamenAir is part of SkyTeam, maybe they accidentally translated "Sky" from "SkyTeam" when they were translating the name. They may have been using a translation website or translation software and copied the wrong text. Though the other SkyTeam airlines on that list were translated properly so I'm not sure...

@Andy 11235 He may feel this way because of the stupid things Ben says about Chinese people. How many other checkin agents around the world does he describe as "competent", as if he was expecting the Chinese checkin staff to be incompetent? What other language does he always always always render in pidgin when describing what airline staff say to him?

Ben, you missed an important feature of Chengdu's Shuangliu International Airport -- passport holders from more than 50 countries who transit through CTU to another country can stay for up to 72 hours (3 days) visa-free. Unlike some other Chinese cities that offer visa-free transit stayovers (such as Beijing), passengers transiting through Chengdu are allowed to travel through all of Sichuan Province.

@Ben - if you read it in context, the "competent" was meant as a compliment to the employee and the service in general. The employee was a contract employee who has to be familiar with several different airlines, and it's not uncommon for contract employees to not be trained as well as airline employees.

I like the panda motif scattered through the airport!

I find it amusing when people of Chinese descent accuse others of discrimination towards them, because as an African who has lived in many countries, currently living in an Asian country I find the Chinese the most discriminatory towards people of darker skin complexion. Anyway I was also surprised to see xiamen air labelled as skyair

Looking at the sign with all the airlines serving CTU, there is just one thing I wonder: when will you review Lucky Air?

@Andy 11235

go back to his post about how he wrote when his China visa was revoked

@B
Doesn't that same thing happen in Africa with Africans complaining about such discrimination? And personally speaking, I've never known the Chinese to be major complainers in this department as part of the lay low part of Chinese culture.