East Coast to China question

[H2Otstr]

I have posted this on Viking China board, but have not received a response, so I thought I would ask here.

 

We do not know the airline that we will be flying with, but we will be leaving from Raleigh Durham airport on March 27.

 

Will it be daylight the whole way over to China? Also, in general, what meals will be served?

 

I quicky looked at flights from RDU to Shanghai and it looks like most flights go to Chicago and then on to Shanghai.

 

Thanks,

Sharon

[greatam]

I have posted this on Viking China board, but have not received a response, so I thought I would ask here.

 

We do not know the airline that we will be flying with, but we will be leaving from Raleigh Durham airport on March 27.

 

Will it be daylight the whole way over to China? Also, in general, what meals will be served?

 

I quicky looked at flights from RDU to Shanghai and it looks like most flights go to Chicago and then on to Shanghai.

 

Thanks,

Sharon

 

No one can answer your questions. While Chicago is a POSSIBLE gateway, Continental flies through EWR, Delta flies through both JFK and DTW. You may even be put on a plane to SFO or LAX, then onward to China.

 

I don't think there is an Asia flight out there from anyplace in the USA that is not an overnight flight. The Asian flights average about 14 hours from any US gateway.

 

No one can tell you what meals because you don't know what flights or airline. But you should get at least a "snack" and breakfast before you land. AA caters full meals at least twice to China, while some airlines only give you a "snack" and then one full meal (like brunch).

 

Sorry, can't give you better info but too many unknowns.

[paul929207]

They will give you enough food on the international flight to hold you over. This assumes you can tolerate airline food. Most likely, you will not get fed on any domestic flights.

[scottbee]

I have posted this on Viking China board, but have not received a response, so I thought I would ask here.

 

We do not know the airline that we will be flying with, but we will be leaving from Raleigh Durham airport on March 27.

 

Will it be daylight the whole way over to China? Also, in general, what meals will be served?

 

I quicky looked at flights from RDU to Shanghai and it looks like most flights go to Chicago and then on to Shanghai.

 

Thanks,

Sharon

 

Assuming you've booked cruise air, your routing will likely be different than past routings and future routings. Read the sticky on cruise air to understand how it works. Add you can add YYZ, YVR (Toronto, Vancouver) to the list of possible of North American gateways to get to China.

[kenish]

Most flights off the US West Coast leave between 10am and 2pm (local) and arrive in Asia late afternoon thru early evening. That means it's daylight the entire trip (during summer), just a *very* long day! The AM departures from the US only work from the East Coast if you have a very early flight time and a tight connection (which is fairly likely with tickets through the cruise line). The other possibility is a flight leaving the West Coast around midnight. That has the advantage of better flight times from RDU, as well as better onward connections on arrival in Asia (if you're traveling beyond the China gateway).

[The Other Tom]

Most flights go over the Pacific, which means you'll be flying in day most of the time, arriving at night. They generally serve a meal about 2 hours into the flight, a mid flight snack, and then "breakfast" about 1.5 hours before landing. If you leave out of Chicago, most likely you'll be on United.

[greatam]

Most flights go over the Pacific, which means you'll be flying in day most of the time, arriving at night. They generally serve a meal about 2 hours into the flight, a mid flight snack, and then "breakfast" about 1.5 hours before landing. If you leave out of Chicago, most likely you'll be on United.

 

I really can't figure out why both you and kenish think all the flights are daytime flights. On US airlines-maybe so. But most of the Asian airlines leave late evening/early morning. United flies LAX/PEK nonstop late night as does US (codeshare with Air China). Cathay flights (which is what I use primarily or AA into NRT, then JAL into China) almost all leave late at night. I know I have never been on an Asian flight that left earlier than about 8PM. Just curious.

[Hunter22a]

You cross the international dateline. I have a a flight on Air Canada dep YVR 1330 15 Nov and I land at 1525 16 Nov. Not a trip I would plan to arrive in country the day your ship is leaving. We cruise on the 19th.

[The Other Tom]

I really can't figure out why both you and kenish think all the flights are daytime flights. On US airlines-maybe so. But most of the Asian airlines leave late evening/early morning. United flies LAX/PEK nonstop late night as does US (codeshare with Air China). Cathay flights (which is what I use primarily or AA into NRT, then JAL into China) almost all leave late at night. I know I have never been on an Asian flight that left earlier than about 8PM. Just curious.

I usually don't fly foreign flagged airlines unless I have to (inside China, for instance). Even though the level of service is probably lower on US airlines, I just feel more at ease on a US airline. The OP is from the east coast, as am I, and there aren't that many (if any ?) direct Asian flights to China. Of course with cruise air, the OP could first go to the west coast and pick up Air China, or whaterver.

[kenish]

Greatam- We agree...I said most (not all) flights leave the US West Coast mid-day and also pointed out there is an additional bank of late-night flights as well. Cathay and Singapore for example have flights around noon and more around midnight. Almost all flights to Japan I've been on arrive LAX around 9am and depart around noon. It's nice to have that flexibility depending on whether you need convenience on the US or Asia gateway end of the flight.

[H2Otstr]

Thanks for all the replies. I should get my air arrangements from Viking in September.

[EvieMaryland]

We're going IAD to PVD on UAL (via ORD) and taking NS UAL from PEK back to IAD (washington area). We pd extra for the NS return. The original air booking was a return to ORD, then IAD.

[FlyerTalker]

We're going IAD to PVD on UAL (via ORD)

Dulles to Providence via O'Hare?? Big open jaw for the return from Beijing. ;)