Planning a layover in China and wondering how to book a free transit hotel with China Eastern? This airline offers an amazing perk for its passengers: a free transit hotel during your stopover in Shanghai! The guide below will walk you through the process step by step — how to book the hotel, what to watch out for, and how to get from the airport to your room.
Congrats in advance on another unforgettable travel experience! And if you’ve already checked out my previous article on how to prepare for the trip, you’re basically a pro by now.
Now it’s time for the next step — reserving your free hotel during your layover!
Who is eligible for a free transit hotel with China Eastern?
The first condition is to have a ticket with China Eastern Airlines, whose main hub is in Shanghai. China Eastern is a member of the SkyTeam alliance, which may also allow you to earn and redeem miles with partner airlines.
Take a look at your ticket and find the booking class letter. If you see a “Z”, unfortunately, you’re not eligible for a transit hotel. If there’s no “Z”, then you most likely are eligible — and you’re ready for the next step.
Accommodation provided
You won’t really get to choose the hotel yourself — the airline simply assigns you one. But when the hotel is free, why to be picky about the number of stars, right?
So far, the hotels I know China Eastern has assigned to passengers in Shanghai include: Shanghai Shahai International Hotel, Hotel Shanghai Linzhen, Primus Hotel Shanghai Sanjiagang and Ramada Shanghai Pudong International Airport East Station.
Personally, I always selected non-smoking and quiet rooms — so it’s possible that if you skip ticking those options, you might end up with a more adventurous experience.
How to book the hotel
To book your hotel, follow the step-by-step video guide below. First, you’ll need to install the China Eastern app. The hotel booking feature is available only in the Chinese version of the app.
At the end of the process, you’ll receive a QR code — take a screenshot and save it. Later, if you translate the image using Google Translate, you’ll find out which hotel you’ve been assigned to.
How to get to the hotel
According to the airline, passengers are expected to arrange their own transportation to the hotel. But in practice? That’s not always the case.
At the airport (this might happen after you exit the plane, while you’re in the visa queue, or nearby), someone from the airline is usually waiting with a sign bearing your name and some basic hotel info. They’ll guide you through the process and lead you to a shuttle bus or hotel taxi. The ride is free of charge and typically departs from Terminal 6, Level 3 (Departures area).
As you exit the airport, you’re likely to be approached by freelance taxi drivers offering overpriced rides. Just smile, thank them politely, and keep walking.
If no one from the airline shows up — it may also happen — make sure you’ve got an offline map or directions ready. That way, you’ll know which public transport options go to your hotel and where to find them, or at least how much a taxi should cost (you can book one via the Didi app). You can also try calling your hotel if needed.
The return trip back to the airport can usually be booked directly at the hotel reception.
How check-in works at a China Eastern transit hotel
At the hotel, it should be enough to simply show your booking confirmation from the China Eastern mobile app.
Check-in usually takes place right after arrival (typically around 8:00 a.m.). Check-out might be around 2:00 p.m., but sometimes they’ll let you stay in the room until the evening.
Keep in mind that the hotel staff often don’t speak English, so having an offline translator and a VPN will come in handy (or use an Airalo eSIM – if you enter the discount code SIMONA9285 when purchasing, you’ll get $3 off, and so will I 😉).
After a long flight, you can finally enjoy a hot shower – and maybe even breakfast. What more could you ask for?
Getting back to the airport
You should receive boarding passes for both flights already at your departure airport and your luggage should be checked through to your final destination. (Make sure to double-check this when checking in.)
This means you won’t need to check in again in Shanghai, which makes your airport transfer much smoother. Still, I recommend getting back to the airport at least 2 hours before your flight, just to be safe.
If you wander around the airport a bit, you’ll find water fountains. Tap water in China is not drinkable. The airport itself isn’t the coziest for sleeping, but if you’re traveling with a sleeping mat, you’ll likely find a quiet corner somewhere (check out Erik’s photo at the end of the article for reference).
Travelers' experiences with free China Eastern transit hotels
Evelína (Shanghai Shahai International Hotel):
Reporting live from my transit hotel – quite the adventure. Right after exiting the jet bridge, a lady was waiting for us with my name and five others on a paper. She handed us the entry form for China to fill out.
We filled it out and she sent us to a queue where we handed it in, gave our fingerprints, and had our faces checked. She even had to call someone over for help with mine — they didn’t believe that my exhausted face matched the one in my passport.
Lesson learned: take your passport photo without makeup and with greasy hair for extra realism.
Then she announced that our checked luggage would stay at the airport — but only after I asked. She wouldn’t have mentioned it otherwise. Her English wasn’t great, but if you slow down and use enough hand gestures, she gets it.
Then came a funny moment. She said we were all taking a bus to the hotel. After the face-checking part, we all met up and she told the group:
“You wait here, you go by bus.”
Then she looked at me and said:
“You are Evelína? You go to another hotel, you go by car.”
I tried to ask why, but she couldn’t explain. She was clearly frazzled, panicking, and totally confused. Poor thing. She led me to a driver, he loaded me into the car, and off we went.
At that point, I genuinely didn’t know whether I should write my will because I was being kidnapped and sold into slavery — or if we were actually going to a hotel. He didn’t even know how to say hello in English. I showed him the hotel name you sent me, and he just nodded like, “Yes, yes, we go.”
The hotel was a comedy in itself. It says “International” in the name but nobody speaks any international language — i.e., English. Oh well!
Luckily, I was prepared: translator app fired up, and I was good to go. I didn’t even need a VPN since I had international data through the Airalo app, which I can totally recommend — 5 GB for 17 USD (Quick tip from the editor: if you use the code SIMONA9285, you’ll get a few bucks off — and so will I!).
At the reception they asked for a booking code. I showed them the screenshot with QR code, and that did the trick. They gave me a room key, breakfast voucher, and asked me when I had to be back at the airport. I showed them my boarding pass and the receptionist said:
“Ajjj that’s late. We will take you by car. Be here at 21.”
There was no time limit on my room — I could stay from 8 a.m. until 9 p.m.
Meanwhile, the others at the other hotel got kicked out at 2 p.m., I later found out. At least they got driven back to the airport — also by car, not bus as we were originally told.
I got a good rest and when I came down to reception, two guys rushed toward me: one in a suit, the other the driver. The driver grabbed my suitcase, the suited one asked me which terminal. I had no idea, so I showed him my ticket and he explained it to the driver. Of course, the driver didn’t say a word, so again — I had no idea. But he brought me to the right terminal. Uff.
I was both super excited and totally confused, like… is this a dream? Did I pass out on the plane and I’m imagining this? Because otherwise, wow — it felt surreal and a little VIP.
The hotel was a solid 3-star. Fancy chandeliers and elegant public spaces, but the rooms were a different story — worn carpets, old windows that didn’t close properly, noisy mini fridge.
Still, for me? Top experience! All that was missing was someone to greet me with a bow and open the door, and I’d have felt like a VIP princess. Haha!
Ondra (Shanghai Shahai International Hotel):
Flights and the layover went smoothly. From Budapest, we left from gate B13 right on time. There was already a pillow, headphones, and blanket waiting at our seats. About an hour into the flight, they served food.
Choices were:
Beef (which was actually noodles with pork — and I really liked it)
Seafood (shrimp in sauce with rice)
Plus a little bowl of fruit, some juice, a cookie, a small Caesar-style salad, and a bread roll.
About three hours before landing, we got another meal — more or less the same: beef with mashed potatoes or chicken with rice, again with bowls of fruit, veggies, and juice. We landed on time at gate 144.
At the airport, I didn’t go to transfer, I went to exit the airport. Everything was pretty intuitive. I filled out the temporary visa form and got in line for immigration.
Then I noticed this one lady who was running around holding a piece of paper and actively looking for someone. She came near me — and yep, my name was on that paper. She told me (well, she didn’t really speak English, she just spoke into a translator app in Chinese and showed me the English version) that my original hotel booking had been cancelled and I was now being sent to a different one.
It was around 6:30 a.m. at that point. She explained where the shuttle would leave from (platform 6) and at what time (7:55 a.m.). She even helped me finish the visa form, writing in the hotel address in Chinese. Then I entered the country with no problem.
The airport was clean and easy to navigate. I went to Subway to try out Alipay, and it worked fine — I’d linked my Revolut Visa card from home. I didn’t end up withdrawing cash, but if I were to go again, I’d probably take out a bit. There’s an ATM at the airport — I only canceled the transaction at the very last step when I saw there’d be a small fee.
The airport Wi-Fi worked, including for Messenger (but not WhatsApp). Once I turned on ExpressVPN (I used the free one-week trial) or Thunder VPN (free), everything worked just fine.
At 7:30 I went to wait for the bus, and at 7:45, the same woman mysteriously reappeared just to make sure I’d found it. She also told me when the last bus was leaving the hotel (didn’t end up needing it — I headed into the city later).
At the hotel, check-in was super fast. The hotel isn’t even on mapy.cz yet, but it was nice — no breakfast though. I had a shower and slept from 8:30 to 13:30, which was amazing. Then the lady at reception called a taxi for me, which took me about 10 minutes to the nearest metro station.
You can get a day pass for public transport for around 18–20 yuan, but only at the ticket window — I found that out later. I bought a card at the machine for 30 yuan with 20 yuan credit and used that to get around.
I went to Pearl Tower, then took the metro to Yu Garden (it closes at 16:30 — I arrived at 16:50, but even the area around it is lovely, so no regrets). Then I walked to The Bund, and at 6 p.m. the city lights came on — it’s kind of like a Czech astronomical clock situation; people gather to see it. After that, I got on metro line 2, walked through the shopping street, and headed toward the airport.
When I got off, I transferred to the Maglev train, which was super cool. At the airport, security was chill, and I hopped on the airport metro to gate 121.
I spent 18.5 hours in Shanghai, and it flew by. Such a great experience!
The flight to New Zealand was similar to the one to Shanghai, just a slightly older plane.
Two meals again: beef with rice (no other options), and then sausages with rice or shrimp with rice. Light turbulence.
As expected, we didn’t get our luggage in Shanghai — it arrived safely in NZ.
Biosecurity there is a bit random, but they didn’t send me for an x-ray. I had half-eaten chocolate and packed nuts, showed them both, and the officer was like, “That’s fine.”
They do pay attention to hiking shoes and gear, though.
Apps I recommend:
Alipay
AMap
Google Translate (download Chinese, English, and Czech offline)
Thunder VPN
That combo was more than enough for me.
Honza (Shanghai Shahai International Hotel):
The airline “dispatcher” lady, holding a paper with my name, caught up with me only once I was already in the visa queue. Through a mix of broken English and a translator app, I figured out that outside the airport, there’s a parking garage with taxi pickup spots, marked clearly — for example, pole D5, which is impossible to miss. She told me that a car would be waiting for me there in about 20 minutes. If I had looked really lost, I’m sure she would’ve walked me there, but she looked like she was running in six directions at once.
Thunder VPN worked fine. Everyone seemed to have mobile data, so even away from Wi-Fi, translating stuff wasn’t a problem.
Nobody I met spoke decent English. And even with the translator, it was often a bit of a guessing game trying to figure out what they were actually trying to say — especially when things got a little more complex.
On my way out, I got approached by five different people, all trying to sell me a taxi ride.
I later ran into the dispatcher lady again in the parking garage — she was escorting another traveler and called the hotel again to double-check that the car was on its way. She told me to just keep waiting.
The ride to the hotel was in a private car sent from the hotel, same as the return trip, which I booked at the reception.
Check-in was immediate when I arrived — around 8 a.m. They even had a free breakfast, served buffet-style.
Getting to the airport three hours early for a night flight was honestly a bit too much — the place was nearly empty. The security X-ray was right at the entrance, so I thought I was done, filled up my bottle with water — only to have it taken away at the next checkpoint.
There are water dispensers all around, though. Just a heads-up: tap water is not safe to drink.
From what I’ve read, Shanghai Airport isn’t exactly sleep-friendly, but you can still find a few spots where you could lie down. Not sure what it’s like during the day, though.
When entering China, you’ll need to give fingerprints, which — had I known ahead of time — might’ve made me think twice about going through immigration at all. In Auckland, everything was automated all the way through to biosecurity declaration. That’s where I finally took out the arrival card.
The only small issue was that I brought a supply of prescription meds for over three months. Fortunately, I’d asked my doctor to stamp a letter just in case — see attached.
No one asked about anything else. They didn’t even ask for proof of funds.
Overall, the airport staff in Auckland were super friendly and helpful, which is sadly rare these days. I didn’t get a stamp in my passport — everything’s handled electronically, so I asked, and they confirmed it’s all in the system.
Honza P. (Shanghai Shahai International Hotel):
After landing, I ended up spending quite a bit of time at passport control. Something about my passport didn’t sit right with them — they kept checking things over and over — but in the end, they granted me a 24-hour transit visa.
Unfortunately, no one was waiting for me at arrivals. I didn’t see anyone holding a sign with my name. I wandered around for a while… nothing. Eventually, I gave up and arranged my own ride to the hotel. To be fair, it was partly my fault — I forgot to turn off airplane mode. I only realized once I got to New Zealand, where I found a few missed calls and one text I couldn’t quite make sense of.
Once I arrived at the hotel, everything was fine. They checked me in with no problem, and I immediately booked my return ride to the airport. I had a room to myself, and they let me stay there the entire day. I arrived around 8 a.m., and left for the airport at about 8:30 p.m. At one point, reception called to ask if I’d mind pushing the pickup time by 30 minutes — no big deal.
I ended up sleeping the whole day and didn’t go into the city — again, that’s on me.
Before the trip, I’d spent the weekend in Budapest with a friend, who talked me into grabbing a beer and hitting the thermal baths at night.I went to bed at 3 a.m., got up at 7, and caught my flight. When I landed in Auckland, I had zero jet lag and adjusted to local time right away.
Katka K. (Shanghai Shahai International Hotel):
NZETA:
They asked us to show proof of having a valid NZETA already at the airport in Budapest.
We’d sorted it out well in advance, but this might come as a surprise to some — you might assume they’d only check it when you land in New Zealand. Nope. Make sure your NZETA is approved before you fly.
Airplane food:
Probably no surprise here — airplane food was… well, not great. I followed the simple rule: when I heard “chicken,” I chose that. Unfortunately, one of those times, “chicken” turned out to be chicken organs with rice, and I still feel a bit sick thinking about it. 🙂 So don’t underestimate this part of the journey — bring your own snacks! These flights are long.
One thing that did surprise me was how they had no problem turning on all the cabin lights at 4 a.m. and serving food. I wish I’d brought an eye mask. If you’re asleep (or your seatmate says you don’t want food), they’ll put a sticker on your seat so you can eat later. There’s a little flight attendant icon on the remote by your seat if you need help.
Other meals included scrambled eggs with sausage, shrimp in tomato sauce with rice, and noodles with chicken. Each meal also came with fruit, a drink, and something like a potato salad or a small side dish.
Layover in Shanghai:
We had layovers in Shanghai both ways. Worked out pretty nicely — on the way there, we had access to a lounge (it opens 3 hours before departure, and ours was at 10 p.m.). On the return trip, we had a transit hotel.
So our plan was:
Enjoy daytime Shanghai on the way there and try to sleep at the airport
Explore evening Shanghai on the way back and nap in the hotel during the day
We were advised to:
Install a VPN
Set up Alipay (connect your card for payments)
Download the Didi taxi app (China’s version of Uber or Bolt)
All of it worked fine on our Android phones — didn’t try on iOS. I highly recommend setting it all up before leaving the Czech Republic. Also, bring cash. We brought the equivalent of about 3,000 CZK.
Airports (and pretty much everywhere in China) are freezing cold. There’s a water dispenser with hot and cold water, so buying a cup and some tea isn’t a bad idea.
Temporary entry – China:
The entry process into China was probably the trickiest part — both times. When you land, you need to go to Arrivals, not Transfers — obvious, maybe, but after 12 hours on a plane with no sleep, it’s easy to mess up. 😀
On the way there, we had to figure everything out ourselves. Eventually, the fourth immigration officer pointed us toward the correct form: a white card with a blue stripe titled TEMPORARY ENTRY. Be careful — the Arrival Card (solid blue) is not enough.
After filling it out, go to the section farthest to the right from the entrance. You’ll also need to scan your fingerprints — there are machines before you enter the immigration queue.
This is only required on your first entry — they link your prints to your passport.
Fun fact: we’re a family of Jan, Jana, Jana, and Kateřina, so the similar names caused some confusion at immigration. Also, the whole “Czechoslovakia” as place of birth thing threw them off.
On the way back, a lady was waiting in that area with a paper listing our names — but even she didn’t know which form we needed, so don’t rely on that.
Luckily, we’d already learned what to do the first time.
When we first entered China, we tried using Didi, but didn’t know what to input as our starting point. A guy with an “Uber” badge around his neck offered to help, looked kind of legit… but in the end, he just put us in a random car, and we paid around 600 CZK cash for the hour-long ride to Yu Garden. It turned out fine, although at first I was like, what have we done? Yu Garden was amazing — so many impressions, we totally forgot we were exhausted.
On the way back to the airport, we actually managed to use Didi and it worked great.
Same on our return trip to Budapest — we used Didi both to get downtown and then back to the airport.
Airport lounge:
The lounge was by gates 36/39, past security. We showed the QR code from the app and had no issues. There were showers, but we didn’t use them — we didn’t have towels and weren’t sure if any were provided. The food was buffet-style — I’ll attach some photos. Highly recommend their soup station — they cook the noodles right there, add broth, and then you can top it with things like spicy ground meat and seasoned oil. I loved it.
Transit hotel:
Before our trip, I saved screenshots from the app to my phone, just in case. As mentioned, for the transit hotel, a lady was waiting before immigration, holding a paper with our names on it. She wasn’t sure which forms we needed, but spoke decent English — enough to get by. She ran around a bit scanning our passports at some machine, which then printed out an Arrival Card with our info — but she just left it lying there, so I picked it up before it got lost.
Moral of the story: keep an eye on your documents.
After immigration, she waited for us and guided us to the parking lot where the shuttle bus was waiting (it had the hotel name written on it).
The ride was wild and fast, and the bus reeked of cigarettes.
The hotel itself looked like a palace. At the front desk, they checked us in and told us we could stay until 10 p.m. That’s not guaranteed — we were told checkout is usually around 2 p.m. They arranged a shuttle back to the airport for us.
The hotel manager spoke good English and gave us recommendations, even offered metro advice — but we didn’t dare try that. The front desk ladies were super helpful and had a translator app ready to go.
We planned to enjoy Shanghai’s evening lights, so we didn’t use the whole stay, but for someone else, this could be perfect. One note: the room key card only worked until 12 p.m., so we had to go back to the front desk to reactivate it afterward.
They gave us 3 rooms for 4 people (6 beds total). All rooms were the same: two large beds, a bathroom, hairdryer, towels. The rooms definitely smelled a bit old and smoky.
The hotel was freezing, but luckily, we could heat the rooms easily using a thermostat.
Breakfast was similar to what we had in the lounge — noodles, soup, lots of mysterious dishes, but also eggs, toast, jam, butter, and fruit. We especially loved the “fried nothing” — a croquette with some sort of creamy filling.
Our strategy: grab a little of everything and then go back for the good stuff.
Arrival in New Zealand:
We listed everything on our declaration form — even our down jackets. No problems entering NZ, though. The whole process took a while, and we were at the airport for about 2 hours.
One tip / minor fail:
We’d booked a hotel in Auckland for our arrival night and used Booking.com’s taxi service. They guarantee that the taxi will wait up to 45 minutes after landing, but you can’t really adjust that time — and of course, we didn’t make it in time. So yeah, I wouldn’t recommend that service.
Thankfully, Uber worked perfectly in Auckland. If you’ve got lots of luggage, go for Uber Comfort — we didn’t, but our driver was super chill and punk, and we somehow managed to stuff everything in.
Anička & Terka (Primus Hotel Shanghai Sanjiagang):
When we landed at the airport, we were immediately overwhelmed — not just by the sheer number of cameras, but also by the fact that we had to take the metro to get from one terminal to the other. That definitely threw us off. We wandered around for a bit, but with the help of an offline translator, airport staff eventually pointed us in the right direction.
We went from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2, just one stop away.
Now for the fun part — getting to the hotel. We were booked at Primus Hotel Shanghai Sanjiagang. Before we even got to the visa area, I got a call from a lady who was apparently in charge of our hotel transport. We couldn’t understand a single word of her English. We tried to explain we were still at immigration, needed to fill out the visa forms, and go through passport control.
She kept talking. For ten straight minutes. Zero progress. We asked her to send us a text instead, telling her we didn’t understand her. Then she passed the phone to another woman, who also said something… again, no clue what.
She then started mumbling something in Chinese, which we took as a kind of “go deal with your stuff” moment. 😅
After ten minutes of pointless phone conversation, we hung up. We needed to get through immigration first. At that point we figured we’d just grab a taxi to the hotel — it was close anyway.
Thankfully, we ran into a fellow Czech while filling out the visa forms, and he literally saved our butts. Big shoutout to Kuba — if you’re reading this, thank you again! 🙌
We filled out the correct visa form (note: it’s the WHITE one, not the blue one — that took us two tries). Got through immigration… and lo and behold, guess who was waiting for us on the other side with a sign bearing our names? Yep. The same lady we hung up on. She must’ve waited for like two hours, so you can imagine she wasn’t exactly thrilled.
She told us there was either a shuttle bus in a bit over an hour, or we could take a taxi. We were totally wiped, so we chose the taxi.
Problem: no credit cards accepted. Only cash or Chinese mobile payments. Luckily, Kuba was still with us and lent us 200 yuan, which got us to the hotel. (Be aware: taxis don’t give change, so you’ll need to break bills somewhere.)
The ride to the hotel cost 40 yuan, the return trip was 55 yuan. Once at the hotel, I finally had time to download their payment app (using mobile data + VPN), and from then on we managed fine. But honestly — after that whole ordeal, the only thing we cared about was getting to the hotel and collapsing into bed. So that was our China transfer adventure. The ride back to the airport from the hotel? Smooth as can be.
Looking back, yeah — we probably should’ve done a bit more research, at least downloaded the payment app in advance. But hey — there’s just so much going on before a trip that this one slipped through the cracks. Oh well. Hopefully someone reading this can learn from our experience and avoid the same mess. Real talk: if we hadn’t met Kuba, we probably would’ve spent the night on the airport floor.
Erik (Ramada Shanghai Pudong International Airport East Station):
Currently chilling at the hotel in Shanghai — and let me tell you, VPN totally saved me.
As for the hotel transfer, it couldn’t have been easier. Right after getting off the plane, a flight attendant was already waiting with a paper with my name on it and some basic info about the hotel.
I went through everything at the airport with her — she helped me fill out the forms, called the shuttle driver, and even walked me all the way to the bus. The bus ride was free, and it took about 20–25 minutes to get to the hotel.
Going back to the airport is on the same shuttle — I booked it at check-in. Check-in was super easy — just showed them a screenshot from the app.
Bit of a shame I have to check out at 2 p.m., since my flight’s not until 00:15, but hey — I’ve got a bed to stretch out on, a hot shower, and free breakfast, so I’m not complaining. Also, I’ve got the room to myself, for now at least.
Only real issue? Communication in English. Whether at the airport or the hotel, they didn’t understand much — but we somehow made it work in the end.
As for sleeping at the airport — there were a few spots where you could actually crash pretty comfortably.
Traveler experiences with the China Eastern lounge in Shanghai
D.:
Since I’d already taken this same flight once before — when I booked the transit hotel, had a shower, a nap, and all that — I thought it was great at the time. But now, spending the layover just at the airport, I realized… it was actually kind of nice. I honestly had zero energy for standing in visa lines for hours.
That flight lands super early, around 5 a.m., and there are maybe one or two immigration counters open for about 200 people trying to get out. If you’re not one of the first in line, it’s a long, tired, bleary-eyed wait. So just wandering the airport, finding a quiet corner to lie down, and not having to deal with anything — it was great.
About three hours before my flight, I decided to try out the lounge.
After showing the screenshot, the lady told me that it wasn’t the right lounge — that it was the airport lounge, not China Eastern’s. She didn’t even scan the QR code, just glanced at the Chinese text and sent me away.
I tried again at the airport lounge, got nothing there either. So I went back for round two — and this time, the lady tapped the QR code, and boom — I was in.
Inside, there was a fully stocked buffet, drinks, and even champagne and wine on tap. The food was mainly Chinese, and the vegetarian options were kind of weak, but still, there was enough to eat.
For the showers, there’s a separate reception. You give your name, get on a waitlist, and they call you when it’s your turn. I didn’t have to wait — went straight in. You get a full private bathroom, just like in a hotel, with towels, toothbrush, toothpaste — the works. And you can take your time — there’s no time limit.
When I was leaving the lounge, a different lady was at the front desk, and her English was… not great. I tried to ask whether the lounge was only accessible three hours before the flight, or if you could go in anytime. She said I could go anytime, but didn’t really understand that I had already been inside, and just wanted some info — so, not super trustworthy on that front.
For me, the lounge was honestly better than the hotel + all the airport bureaucracy, especially if you’re not planning to head into the city. You get food, a shower, tea, coffee… or champagne if that’s your thing.
You can’t pay for it with a card at the lounge desk — I saw someone try. Maybe you can pay cash or book online in advance — just don’t count on swiping a card on the spot.
Overall — I’d definitely recommend this option.
Have you had a layover in Shanghai or Beijing? I’d love to hear how it went — feel free to share your experience (even in the comments), or drop any tips or questions below!
