Well, me and Incheon Airport have become well acquainted in the last few weeks, and having only returned from a trip to Singapore a few days earlier I was again on the airport bus (which happily stops right outside my apartment) for the ride out to the airport. Business class check-in for this Asiana leg was swift and had plenty of time to stop by the customer services desk to pick up my plastic Asiana club card to replace the temporary one I had been using Asiana club makes you feel like having status by calling there lowest tier Silver, but it means nothing! Still, its a useful *A miles collecting card.
The Asiana lounge is newly opened and only a short stroll to the gates they usually use. LHR Clubhouse it isnt, but quiet, spacious, and with free wifi and the usual drink and snack setup kept me amused for the 45 minutes I had to wait for my flight.
The aircraft was an older 747-400 and I was sat in the bubble. The seats were naff by modern standards, but plenty comfy enough for the 1 _ hour leg to Shanghai. And the service in the nearly empty cabin was as good as I have come to expect from oriental airlines, with a good choice of meals and wine. I had the steak!
I wouldnt have bothered writing a TR for this flight since it was short and uneventful, but I thought others might like to know about the Transit Visa rules at PVG which I tested to the limit this time.
The visa rules at Shanghai are slowly changing, and it has been possible for @the last year to get 24hour visa free transit at Shanghai with a British Passport. (A fact China Eastern are now keen to emphasize when selling good priced flights between London and Melbourne via PVG)
However, the rules are rather vague and contradictory from various sources:
Read one source and it says you can have upto 24 hours but not leave the airport.
Read another and it says you can have upto 24 hours and cross the city to the other airport.
I was armed with an unused double entry visa, but was keen to keep it for a definite later trip to China, and a possible trip after that, so despite the fact I had an overnight 22 hour layover and was planning on meeting MrsPVG in town and stay at a hotel there I decide to try my luck by saying Transit as I handed my passport and onward tickets over to immigration. It worked, and after much excitement that the trainee officer also at the desk would get to process a transit passenger I was on my way to meet MrsPVG at the city end of the MAGLEV.
Going back out the following day with MrsPVG the immigration officer this time was obviously miffed that a westerner had stolen a Chinese girl and was looking to catch me out on the transit timings as he kept looking at his watch and counting on his fingers, but I was safe by two hours, and he let me pass without trouble!
Over to the Virgin trip report now
