Going To Be Stuck For 11 Hours In Guangzhou Airport...! Options?

[eek]

I found myself a cheap flight from BKK to London via Guangzhou Airport.

The flight back will be easy, but the flight going lands me an 11 hour stoppover at Guangzhou Airport.

Anyone been stuck in this airport before?

How is it?

Whats my options?

Any advice much appreciated. Thanks!

[Rsquared]

Where the bloody hell is Guangzhou???

Find the bar and a good book.

Cheers.

[lopburi3]

It can only be better than it was in 1978 when it was the only access route to Bejing from SE Asia and had to take a train from Hong Kong to connect for flight. Unheated several rooms with foreigners to one side and Chinese on the other and a tea shop upstairs (which you needed in the damp cold). Afternoon fight to Bejing routinely canceled to fill up hotels (you paid hotel).

But today should be fine - even on my next visit about three years later Bejing and Shanghai were modern airports so have no doubt it will be fine.

[mogandave]

Not much there two years ago, do you have a visa?

[Upnotover]

Seems you'll be just fine.....

[Dancealot]

How much for your cheap flight?

Is it worth this extreme layover?

[Xonax]

12 years ago Guangzhou airport was the most boring of all in the world. If no changes, you should spend the time slapping yourself, for being such a cheap Charlie, when buying this ticket.

[wdr]

Quite a big airport with many restaurants. If you have a visa kill your waiting time and go into the city. Fast, cheap and easy connection. Many things to see and to do.

[surangw]

look into the cost of a day pass to China Southern Sky Pearl International VIP Lounge, or maybe one of your credit card affiliates give free access.

[USNret]

look into the cost of a day pass to China Southern Sky Pearl International VIP Lounge, or maybe one of your credit card affiliates give free access.

lol, there go the savings on the cheap airfare.

Anyway, I passed through that airport to/fm BKK about 5 years ago. Airport was clean & modern, with a nice bar. I didn't see much else; for some reason, I was given an escort to "babysit" me & make sure I got to my gate. My bags were collected & inspected & I went through extra security. They said it was because I had no transit visa but I have no idea if that's a requirement or not.

[Islandcyclone]

I did the same thing for a two way flight. You don't need a visa for a stay less than 24 hours and don't leave the airport. If it is China Southern and overnight you can stay at their dive hotel with no additional charge. The authorities and airline folks will "hold your hand" to get you to the hotel via shuttle and should bring you back in time for the next flight. Or you can stay closer at the Pullman-nice hotel but will cost you about $140. (booked through agoda). I didn't go into Guangzhou, it may or may not be worth it. There is enough in the airport to kill a couple of hours but that is it. I didn't have a bad experience but I'm not sure that I would fly with CZ again or through Guangzhou. I had never gone through mainland China before, they will check your passport about five times and you probably won't see a smile or have your humanity acknowledged until you get to BKK

[Islandcyclone]

Oh yeah sorry. Going to your hotel or CZ's hotel wasn't considered "leaving the airport." I just did all this in the last 2 weeks.

[roamer]

How much for your cheap flight?

Is it worth this extreme layover?

There are worse deals out there. One involves Etihad, good airline right ? Flight duration 27 hours. But that's not the worst of it, take a look., after your 8 hour stopover in Abu Dhabi you get to codeshare on, .........AIR BERLIN ....certainly one of the worst airlines flying out of Europe, horror stories abound, but at least you have 6 hours to recover in Phuket before you fly on to BKK on Bangkok Airways. All this can be yours for a mere £542.....

[nonthaburial]

Living and working in Dongguan, I use Guangzhou Airport regularly. to put your mind at ease, GZ airport is a new, modern and clean Airport, however an 11 hour stopover is enough to make the world best airports a challenge.

As a previous post has asked, do you have a visa ? I believe that both Shanghai and Beijing airports allow a 24 hour stop over visa free, but not sure if GZ do the same. You havent stated your timing, or airline, if you are flying with China Southern, which is based in GZ, they have their own hotel at the airport, it may be worth having a chat with them.

If you have a visa, then there are a number of hotels around the airport, but a trip to downtown in a cab will set you back around 100 RMB. Take note that this week GZ is quite cool with temperaturs between 9-16C

[eek]

Thanks guys.

I am flying with China Southern Airlines.

I arrive at night in transit till the morning. I am traveling solo, so as a female unfamiliar with the area etc, dont intent to head out of the airport.

So my options are the hotel they offer, or to pay for something better?

Dont really mind if its a rough-ish one night, i did make seriously considerable savings on this flight, so just giving it a shot to see. Will know if its worth it for another time or not.

If the free hotel is truly awful, what are my other options, any ideas?

Anyone ever stay at the southern airlines hotel they offer. I hazard a guess at no wifi...right?

Thanks again.

[theblether]

If you need a visa eek the Chinese Consulate in Chiang Mai is a joy to deal with, easily the best Consulate I've ever dealt with and easy to find. it's about 300 yards along the road heading to the airport from Chiang Mai Gate.

ps. I was highly entertained at the antics of the passengers on my last flight with China Southern, switching seats at 8,000 feet to get a better view, taking their luggage out of the stowage at 3,000 feet and one guy wrestling with a stewardess because she cleared away his meal as the descent was under way. Comical, but in saying that I found the staff to be excellent and the plane landed safely, which is my minimum requirement for a good flight.

I'm easy pleased you know.

pps I do remember an American fella being pulled at Shanghai immigration as he didn't have a visa, he was astounded as he was in transit to San Francisco and he didn't know there was a visa requirement. Turned out there wasn't in his case but the Chinese can be quite brittle at times.

[eek]

Shouldnt need a visa i think??? im in transit from the same flight operator. Nothing mentioned in the flight paperwork. ...

O.O?

[marstons]

http://www.guangzhou...rport-guangzhou hotel looks good

http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/hzqz/zgqz/t84242.htm looks ok visa wise

[nonthaburial]

The Pullman hotel is connected to the Airport by a wallkway, its a good hotel but will set you back around 780 RMB and perfectly safe for an unaccompanied female. I have never been in the CZ hotel but it looks reasonable from the outside.

For your info, China Southern are China's largest airline and one of the top airlines in the world fleet wise. Whenever I fly domestic in china I prefer CZ over the others on offer. However saying that, the Chinese passengers are another matter.

[draggons]

I fly through this airport every month coming/going to Dalian from BKK. I belive you can get a temp' kind of visa to allow you to go into town depending on how long your stop over is. I've met quite a few folk who have been stuck in the airport for upto 16 hours though.

If you can get out of the international departures then it's a nice big clean airport with quite a few good eating places etc. if not.............On well. Bar, book, sleep.

[eek]

Thanks all.

Will update later with my own experience of it all, in case helps others.

[siam2007]

CAN airport is huge, new and clean, but boring as hell (it's China, after all).

The only positive remarkable thing I remember was the fact that you could buy fresh fruits by the piece everywhere airside.

to pay 20$ or so for a single-entry to one of the airline lounges would be money well spent, me thinks.

but better to spend 11 hrs at CAN than to be stuck at Cengkareng airport or NAIA Terminal 1 ;-)