United announced that it will be starting non-stop flights from SFO to Hangzhou (HGH) on July 13. Coach can be had for under $700. Note that the equipment is a Dreamliner like the new non-stops from SFO to SIN starting in June. The Dreamliner seats in coach are not great but you get full video plus wifi and power at your seat.

Also it looks like the Air Asia flights from HGH to CNX can be had for under $100 roundtrip depending on the date.

Hangzhou is one of my favorite places to visit in China so spending a few days there on the way in and out works for me.

Grin

Right.. flying a non Asian airline long-haul. I'm never doing that again. And especially not United.

(I do appreciate you highlighting the option though.)

Some of those cities in China have very high taxes on tickets,,,,,Delta offered to connect me there, then straight to CNX, and the taxes were 200 USD. It wasn't PEK, though, which is actually a good stopover, with Dollar beers at the gift shops. I just checked...Guangzhou...7250 THB on a one way from CNX-IAD.....compare that to 2485 thb flying through Seoul. JFK may have something to do with it.

Yeah, flying on United keeps getting worse over time. I accumulated enough Mileage Plus miles use awards to fly business or first for the last 3 years on other Star Alliance airlines. However, now that I have used up all of my miles I need one more across the Pacific roundtrip on United to get to a million miles. So I may well try the SFO - HGH route once. Being a United million miler used to be worth more of course. Now all it really gets you is permanent Star Alliance gold membership. Being Star Alliance gold is not good for much more than lounge access and maybe shorter queues but at least ANA, EVA and Singapore Airlines are all Star Alliance members.

Grin

You can fly from several cities in US direct to Korea and then direct to BKK. I like to stay one night at an airport hotel and fly next day after a good nights sleep. ICN is an excellent airport for connections

Korean takes you straight to CNX.....short layovers from Dulles, long layovers from the west coast, though. Asiana is also Star Alliance, almost as nice as ANA, and Air China, too....older planes; younger flight attendants....

I've flown Air China a few times from CNX to PEK and other flights within Asia. I was not impressed with their business class but I haven't tried them across the Pacific yet. Air China has small nap rooms in their business class lounge in Beijing and they will even wake you up for your connecting flight.

Asiana did have a bit of a problem landing at SFO that one time. Incheon is a nice airport and the Asiana business class lounge has showers which are great when you have a long layover. On an 8 hour layover you could even head into Seoul for a spell.

Grin

Need a chinese visa to stop over in Hangzhou? Maybe yes.

I go CNX to ICN to ATL, all on Air Korea. Reasonable for me.

You can get into China without paying for a visa and I have done this twice now. The first time I took a red-eye into PVG and arrived early, before the transit area was open. I wandered around a bit trying to figure out what to do and asked someone at an immigration desk. He just asked for my passport and stamped it and I was in.

I had just assumed it was a day pass but subsequently learned that it was a 72 hour visa free transit. This is available at some of the larger airports in China and is available to citizens of about 50 countries. I believe travel is supposed to be restricted to the city or cities serviced by the airport but am not sure how they can enforce this.

At PVG in Shanghai the left luggage and the MagLev both open at 7 AM so if you have a long layover you can get into the city for the day and not have to haul your carry-on stuff around.

Grin

Edit - Hangzhou is on the list of cities:

https://www.travelchinaguide.com/embassy/visa/free-72hour/

That's good to know about the transit visa in China. Also, at PEK, there is a facility for you to shower for free, open to the public...wasn't Caesar's, but it was OK. And all those "Cathay House" sundry shops have beer coolers, and will sell you a nice cold can of Chinese beer for 1 USD. If you've been on one of those airlines that charges 5-6 usd ofr a beer; it's like striking gold, especially with a relatively short leg coming up to CNX.