QF to PVG & HKG for $599 return

[Oubline]

Very excited about this deal! I've booked MEL-SYD-PVG , return PVG-HKG-MEL. I am also planning to use the 144 hour TWOV, but have to admit am apprehensive about problems checking in at MEL - will show up with lots of time to argue the case.

Feels like it will be hard to explain to QF check in staff that I'm transiting China on my way to HKG - when I'm spending 3 hours in Hong Kong and 6 days in China

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Very excited about this deal! I've booked MEL-SYD-PVG , return PVG-HKG-MEL. I am also planning to use the 144 hour TWOV, but have to admit am apprehensive about problems checking in at MEL - will show up with lots of time to argue the case.

Feels like it will be hard to explain to QF check in staff that I'm transiting China on my way to HKG - when I'm spending 3 hours in Hong Kong and 6 days in China

Direct experience is that QF is pretty good with this. they will use TIMATIC, with Australia as the origin, Hong Kong as the destination, and China as transit. if they have any issues, simply talk them through those three steps. (that being said, I would still turn up for checkin at the 2 hour mark, just in case the agent has difficulty)

chinese immigration doesn't care about how long you spend in a third country. I just did something similar recently, direct transit through Hong Kong. not an issue.

whatever you do, don't call QF reservations, they'll likely tell you you need a visa (if you prompt them and spend a good 15-20 minutes on the phone, they'll eventually come up with the right answer... but it's not worth the effort)

the Qantas on line visa tool now seems to work properly, so you can always try it yourself and take a screenshot. for many years the tool was incorrectly advising pax they needed a visa even in transit.

 

[Oubline]

Thanks MEL_Traveller! It is always reassuring to hear from someone who has applied the rules in practice rather than theory! Hopefully this sale will in itself help to make the rules better known for staff - I imagine by the time of my trip in March, many more people will have used the 144 hour TWOV.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Thanks MEL_Traveller! It is always reassuring to hear from someone who has applied the rules in practice rather than theory! Hopefully this sale will in itself help to make the rules better known for staff - I imagine by the time of my trip in March, many more people will have used the 144 hour TWOV.

The time (72 hour and 144 hour) are never an issue for TWOV. The general principle of transit without visa is well accepted as it applies to most nationalities in most countries worldwide.

The sole issue is whether check-in staff are able to apply the rules. TIMATIC must be correctly used to return the right result - origin (AU), destination (HKG), transit (PRC). Once entered correctly, TIMATIC shows 144 hours (there's no room to interpret that differently).

 

[madrooster]

Direct experience is that QF is pretty good with this. they will use TIMATIC, with Australia as the origin, Hong Kong as the destination, and China as transit. if they have any issues, simply talk them through those three steps. (that being said, I would still turn up for checkin at the 2 hour mark, just in case the agent has difficulty)

Here's the text from TIMATIC:

TIMATIC-3 / 05JUN16 / 1618 UTC
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA (AU)         /EMBARKATION AUSTRALIA (AU)
TRANSIT CHINA (PEOPLE'S REP.) (CN)
DESTINATION HONG KONG (SAR CHINA) (HK)
ALSO CHECK DESTINATION INFORMATION BELOW


VISA TRANSIT CHINA (PEOPLE'S REP.) (CN)


...... NORMAL PASSPORTS ONLY ......
TWOV (TRANSIT WITHOUT VISA):
VISA REQUIRED, EXCEPT FOR HOLDERS OF CONFIRMED ONWARD AIRLINE
TICKETS FOR A MAX. TRANSIT >TIRULES/R32 TIME OF 24 HOURS.
TRANSIT INCL. MULTIPLE STOPS WITHIN CHINA (PEOPLE'S REP.),
WITH A TOTAL TRANSIT TIME OF MAX. 24 HOURS, IS PERMITTED.  
 - TRANSIT WITHOUT VISA (TWOV) IS NOT POSSIBLE AT FUZHOU (FOC)
   AND YANJI (YNJ). 
 - THIS DOES NOT APPLY AT URUMQI (URC).
VISA REQUIRED, EXCEPT FOR HOLDERS OF CONFIRMED ONWARD AIRLINE
TICKETS, IN TRANSIT THROUGH URUMQI (URC), FOR A MAX. TRANSIT
>TIRULES/R32 TIME OF 2 HOURS. TRANSIT INCL. MULTIPLE STOPS
WITHIN CHINA (PEOPLE'S REP.), WITH A TOTAL TRANSIT TIME OF
MAX. 24 HOURS, IS PERMITTED.  
-  
VISA REQUIRED, EXCEPT FOR NATIONALS OF AUSTRALIA HOLDING
CONFIRMED ONWARD AIRLINE TICKETS TO A THIRD COUNTRY, IF
ARRIVING IN AND DEPARTING FROM THE SAME CITY: 
 - AT BEIJING (PEK), CHENGDU (CTU), CHONGQING (CKG), DALIAN
   (DLC), GUANGZHOU (CAN), TIANJIN (TSN), WUHAN (WUH), XI'AN
   (XIY) OR XIAMEN (XMN) FOR A MAX. TRANSIT TIME OF 72 HOURS,
   STARTING FROM 00:01 ON THE DAY FOLLOWING THE DAY OF ENTRY. 
 - AT GUILIN (KWL), HARBIN (HRB), KUNMING (KMG), QINGDAO (TAO)
   OR SHENYANG (SHE) FOR A MAX. TRANSIT TIME OF 72 HOURS; 
VISA REQUIRED, EXCEPT FOR NATIONALS OF AUSTRALIA HOLDING
CONFIRMED ONWARD TICKETS >TIRULES/R38 TO A THIRD COUNTRY,
ARRIVING AND DEPARTING FROM ONE OF THE FOLLOWING AIRPORTS:
HANGZHOU (HGH), NANJING LUKOU (NKG), SHANGHAI HONGQIAO (SHA)
OR SHANGHAI PUDONG (PVG) FOR A MAXIMUM OF 144 HOURS, STARTING
FROM 00:01 ON THE DAY FOLLOWING THE DAY OF ENTRY. 
- ALL TRANSITING PASSENGERS ARE SUBJECT TO A CHECK BY
  IMMIGRATION. PASSENGERS IN TRANSIT MUST HOLD PASSPORTS OR
  PASSPORT REPLACING DOCUMENTS THAT ARE ACCEPTED FOR ENTRY
  INTO CHINA (PEOPLE'S REP.). FOR MORE DETAILS ON DOCUMENT
  REQUIREMENTS, PLEASE ENTER CHINA (PEOPLE'S REP.) AS A
  DESTINATION.
 - NOT APPLICABLE AT BEIJING (PEK) IF STAYING IN THE
   INTERNATIONAL TRANSIT AREA. 
- LEAVING THE TRANSIT AREA IS ALLOWED.  
- TRANSIT WITHOUT VISA (TWOV) IS NOT PERMITTED WHEN THE
  PASSENGER ARRIVES AND DEPARTS ON DIRECT FLIGHTS FROM/TO USA
  AND GUAM OR NORTHERN MARIANA ISL.


VISA DESTINATION HONG KONG (SAR CHINA) (HK)


...... NORMAL PASSPORTS ONLY ......
PASSPORT REQUIRED.
- PASSPORTS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS ACCEPTED FOR ENTRY MUST BE
  VALID FOR A MINIMUM OF 1 MONTH BEYOND THE PERIOD OF INTENDED
  STAY. 
 - PASSPORTS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS ACCEPTED FOR ENTRY ISSUED BY
   HONG KONG (SAR CHINA) MUST BE VALID ON ARRIVAL. 
PASSPORT EXEMPTIONS:
- PASSENGERS WITH A HONG KONG (SAR CHINA) PERMANENT IDENTITY
  CARD. 
- PASSENGERS WITH AN EMERGENCY OR A TEMPORARY PASSPORT. 


VISA REQUIRED, EXCEPT FOR NATIONALS OF AUSTRALIA FOR A MAXIMUM
STAY OF 3 MONTHS. 
VISA REQUIRED, EXCEPT FOR PASSENGERS WITH A HONG KONG (SAR
CHINA) PERMANENT IDENTITY CARD OR A TRAVEL DOCUMENT ISSUED BY
HONG KONG (SAR CHINA) WITH "HOLDER'S ELIGIBILITY FOR HONG KONG
(SAR CHINA) PERMANENT IDENTITY CARD VERIFIED". 
VISA REQUIRED, EXCEPT FOR PASSENGERS WITH AN APEC BUSINESS
TRAVEL CARD >TIRULES/R35 VALID FOR TRAVEL TO HKG TRAVELING
ON BUSINESS. 
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
- VISITORS ARE REQUIRED TO HOLD PROOF OF SUFFICIENT FUNDS TO
  COVER THEIR STAY AND DOCUMENTS REQUIRED FOR THEIR NEXT
  DESTINATION.
WARNING:
- PASSPORT NUMBER AND NATIONALITY MUST MATCH THOSE STATED ON
  THE APEC BUSINESS TRAVEL CARD (ABTC).
- VISITORS NOT HOLDING RETURN/ONWARD TICKET COULD BE REFUSED
  ENTRY.