Free Air China Transit Hotel: How to Get One on Your Beijing Layover (2026)

Flying Air China through Beijing with a long layover between flights? Then I have good news for you. There is a good chance you qualify for a free Air China transit hotel (known as STPC). On a longer layover in China, Air China will cover a night in a hotel, breakfast, and the ride from the airport and back. I put this guide together from my own experience and that of our clients, and I hope it serves you well (let me know in the comments how your trip went!)

I verify the facts directly with the airline. This guide also includes accounts from travelers who have been through it themselves, and I keep adding to them.

Who qualifies for a free Air China transit hotel?

Yes, you qualify if your layover is 6 to 24 hours, both flights are operated by Air China, and your ticket number starts with 999. The airline then pays for the hotel, breakfast, and the transfer from the airport and back.

Your onward flight has to be international, not a domestic hop within China. Look for the CA flight code; one leg may also be operated by Shandong or Shenzhen Airlines.

Keep in mind that transit hotels have a limited number of rooms, so nobody can guarantee you one. In practice, though, it usually works out.

What STPC covers

STPC covers one night in a hotel, breakfast, and the transfer between the airport and the hotel. The hotels tend to be three- or four-star properties near the airport. Nothing luxurious, but after a long flight it is more than enough.

The acronym stands for “STopover Paid by Carrier.” The transfer is usually by car or minibus.

Do not meet the conditions, or not sure? Then you can simply pay for a room yourself if you want to rest properly. Decent hotels near Beijing airport with a free shuttle start at around $55 a night (see my hotel picks further down, all of them licensed to host foreign guests).

How to book an Air China transit hotel

Book it in advance in the Air China app or on their website, no later than 24 hours before you land. You cannot open a new booking at the airport; the counter there only arranges the ride to the hotel you were assigned.

you very likely will not arrange it at the transfer desk on arrival (capacity may already be full, though it is always worth asking if for some reason you do not have one yet). You should be able to book ahead through the Air China app, their website, the sales line (95583 inside China, 00800-86-100-999 from abroad), or your ticket agent. You can book standard accommodation yourself online or in the app, while the better “deluxe” hotels (available in Beijing, Chengdu, and Shanghai) can only be requested by phone. Book as soon as you have your ticket, because rooms are limited and they fill up as the departure date approaches.

Booking in the Air China app

I am currently putting together a video walkthrough of the hotel booking inside the Air China app.

Booking on the Air China website

1. Register and verify your account with a phone number (the code may arrive on WhatsApp). Then open the official Chinese Air China website and switch your browser language to English.
2. Click the “Self Service” tab (hovering only pops the menu open, so you have to actually click it). Open “Additional Services,” choose “Transit Accommodation,” and hit “Order Now.”
3. Fill everything in exactly: your name as it appears on the ticket in Surname/Given name format (with the slash), your passport number, and the 13-digit ticket number starting with 999. For the flight number, enter the second, onward leg out of the transit city — so on a Prague–Beijing–Auckland routing, that is the Beijing–Auckland flight. Same goes for the departure date and the cities (departure = Beijing, arrival = your final destination).
4. Accept the terms, hit “Start Booking,” and add passengers (up to nineteen per booking, each with their own ticket number). At the end, the system assigns you a hotel at random.
5. You can check the booking on the homepage, top right, under Orders / Itinerary among your recent orders.

How it works at Beijing airport

From touchdown to hotel takes roughly two to three hours. Chinese immigration eats up most of the time and most of your nerves; the Air China counter itself is a matter of minutes.

Chinese immigration and visa-free transit

Most Western passports qualify for visa-free transit of up to 240 hours, which means no visa application before you travel — but the rules depend on your nationality, so check yours on the official Chinese immigration site. After landing, you first fill out the arrival card. It is supposed to work via QR code now, but that does not always cooperate and the airport Wi-Fi often does not either. You can head straight to a kiosk and fill the card in by hand. Your own data eSIM from Airalo (enter discount code SIMONA9285 on your first purchase and you get $3 off, and so do I) connects you the moment you land, so you are not at the mercy of the airport Wi-Fi.

Next you need to find the 24-hour transit desk, and be warned: it may not be where most people are queuing. Look for a “transit 24h visa” sign, which can sit off to the side of the main line. This is probably the most confusing part, and the fact that the local staff mostly do not speak English does not help. The officer checks your arrival card, onward ticket, and passport, then takes your fingerprints and stamps 24 hours into your passport. The whole thing can easily take two hours, mostly because of random checks. You should already have boarding passes for both flights from your departure airport — keep the onward one handy.

The arrival card is now digital

In November 2025, China launched a digital arrival card that replaces the old paper one. You fill it in free of charge online up to three days (72 hours) before you land, on the official NIA website, in the “NIA 12367” app, or through a mini-program in WeChat or Alipay. The form is available in English. Watch out for scam sites that charge for the arrival card — the official one is free. You will need a photo of your passport data page, your flight number, a phone number with country code, and your accommodation address. Tick “Transit” as the purpose of travel and enter Visa-Free instead of a visa number.

You only learn the address of your free hotel from the booking confirmation, so fill the card in after the hotel is assigned, or do it once you arrive. The airport has self-service kiosks where you scan a QR code or your passport and the kiosk prints the card. Paper forms are still available as a backup. Once you submit it you get a QR code — save a screenshot in case you are offline at immigration. Every new entry into China needs a new card, so you fill it in again on the way back. If you stay inside the transit zone and do not leave the airport within 24 hours, you can skip the card entirely. If you are carrying more than $5,000 in cash, that has to be declared in China, and for prescription medication it helps to have a doctor's note.

The Air China counter and the ride to your hotel

After immigration you take the train between terminal sections (just follow the crowd), walk past baggage claim (if you only have a layover under 24 hours and your bag is checked through, you do not collect it), and through customs. Then you look for the Air China counter by Exit B. Their official hours start at nine in the morning, but you can often find staff there as early as seven. Show them the screenshot with your hotel confirmation, and you get a card with the hotel name and word that a shuttle bus will take you shortly. Things get a little chaotic at the bus, because the drivers only call out hotel names in Chinese — so just show your card to the drivers and wait for one of them to wave you over. The ride takes up to half an hour. The whole transfer, both ways, is arranged by the Air China counter; you only show your confirmation and wait for the shuttle, then agree on the return time at the hotel reception. At some hotels, someone will be waiting for you with a name card right at arrivals or by the visa line and will walk you to the bus or the hotel taxi.

Checking in at the hotel

At reception you show your passport and boarding pass, and they will most likely photocopy both. They tell you when breakfast is and when they will drive you back to the airport, and hand you a room key. The rooms are standard hotel rooms, but after a long flight they are more than enough — usually clean and reasonably modern, with a kettle, tea, and basic toiletries. Breakfast is normally included. Free rooms tend to be twins (two beds), and there is a small chance they will put you in with another traveler of the same gender, although that is not common and most people end up alone in the room. If you want a guaranteed private room, you can pay a surcharge right at reception. Check-out is usually around two in the afternoon, so even with a daytime departure you get some sleep. Sometimes they will let you stay until the evening if the room is free, but you have to arrange that when you check in.

Getting back to the airport

Reception arranges your ride back, usually on the same bus or in the same car, at whatever time you tell them. I would aim to be at the airport about two hours before departure; clearing the checks to your gate takes roughly half an hour. After that you just wait for your flight.

Before you fly: install your eSIM and VPN before you land, because you cannot get them there

Google, WhatsApp, Instagram, and most Western apps do not work in China. There are two ways around it:

A good eSIM for a layover in China: Airalo — works without a VPN (the data is routed through servers abroad). Activate it before you fly; code SIMONA9285 gets you a discount.

A more reliable VPN for China: NordVPN with the NordWhisper protocol. Install and switch it on before departure, because nordvpn.com is not reachable from inside China.

Traveler experiences with the Air China layover and hotel

A Beijing layover step by step (June 2026)

This valuable account came from traveler Veronika Nováková, who flew through Beijing on her way to New Zealand.

We land in Beijing. It is just past four in the morning. While we taxi, I try to activate my China eSIM from Revolut. It was free, 1 GB for 7 days. Worth checking your app, it works. Getting through the airport is a bit of an experience. First a bus takes us to a building with self-service kiosks inside where you have to fill in the arrival form. Apparently you can do it via QR code, but it will not load for me, the Wi-Fi is overloaded. Several staff are standing around and nobody can really tell you which kiosk to use. It is not obvious. There are two types — one for fingerprints and one for the arrival form. Some Czech guy told me that if it is my first time here, I have to do the fingerprint one too. I later found out that was completely unnecessary; the arrival form is enough, and even that I could not manage on my own. There are plenty of staff around, but hardly anyone speaks English. They come over, you gesture at whatever you do not understand, they switch it to Chinese, click a few things, and you move on. So even in hindsight I have no idea what all got filled in. The kiosk then generates a QR code that you have to photograph on your phone. You go on to Health Quarantine, where a machine takes your temperature and lets you through.

The self-service kiosks and the arrival form. This is where you get the QR code for the next checkpoint.

To the right of the kiosks is a walkway where they check your temperature.

Next comes the 240-hour visa request, and thankfully there is a sign pointing the way. You hand over your passport and they ask where you are going, where you will be staying, which hotel, and when you fly out. That was the first person who spoke English. You get a stamp in your passport, and after they leaf through the whole thing, you can move on.

The 240-hour visas are issued on the right.

From the visa desk you head straight down the stairs to the train.

A corridor takes you right to the train, you cannot get lost. You board the train, which takes you to the exit and the baggage claim at station C. I did not pick up my bags, though; they went all the way to New Zealand.

You ride to station C, where you collect your luggage if you need to and where you can head outside.

I walked down a corridor lined with a huge number of people holding name signs. Mine unfortunately was not there, which made me a little nervous. Finding my airline's desk was a real puzzle, but I got there in the end. It is just a small round counter in the middle. A couple of airline staff were sitting there and showed no interest whatsoever in helping me. It was around half past six in the morning. And their English was genuinely terrible. But we eventually sorted it out with a lot of gesturing.

Look for this counter in the middle of the hall. The airline sign on it is fairly small.

I was given a tag with my hotel name and pointed to a spot nearby where I waited for the transfer. Nobody could tell me what time it would leave. I sat there with other people holding names of different hotels. Apparently you can request free transfer tours somewhere at the airport, but I could not make myself understood with the woman at the counter. I do have my own tour booked, so we will see whether I make it. Unlike the other ones offered on GetYourGuide, this one starts at 10, not 8, because I would never have made that. After about half an hour an airline employee turned up and told us to follow him. He led us to small minibuses and seated us. I got on my minibus alone and a few other people were already inside. We drove about 15 minutes to a place where everyone else got off and I was told to stay on the bus. The driver's English was about the same as everyone else's. Another 15 to 20 minutes later she dropped me off at a different hotel.

The room at the Lanwan International Airport Hotel.

I took a shower and went looking for breakfast. The room card said it was on the ground floor. Unfortunately it did not say it was in a different building. So it is the building to your right as you leave reception. I do not remember the exact times, but I think it was between 7 and 10. Breakfast was good and plentiful.

I ate and got ready for my tour. It was hot, so I put on a dress, took plenty of water, and got ready to leave. You can call a taxi in the Alipay app. But I decided to double-check at reception that coming back around 8 in the evening would be fine. Communicating was very hard. At first they looked like they knew nothing about an airport transfer, but then they wrote something in a notebook and said 9:15 pm at reception. And apparently I could stay in the room until departure. I also asked the receptionist to call me a taxi to the nearest metro stop. It took some doing, but he ordered one in the end. I wanted to pay in the taxi because I did not yet know exactly how it works in the app. The way it works is they take your app, switch it to Chinese, show you the price, and the taxi arrives. The license plate is in the app, so you cannot get the wrong car. The driver did not want any payment from me, so to this day I do not know whether I rode for free or what happened, but it was only 3 km. Then came another puzzle. The metro. I had instructions from a friend who had been here. I walked up to the machine and had to select a destination station. I could not find it in the jumble of names. A Chinese security guard came over and helped me. I showed him where I wanted to go, he switched it to Chinese and tapped it in. I paid by QR code through Alipay and out came my ticket. You go through the turnstile and off you go. My route had a transfer. I rode about half an hour to the transfer station. On the way I unfortunately started feeling ill — faint, dizzy, nauseous — and decided to turn back. It was over 30 degrees and I could not picture spending a whole day in the sun feeling like that. Do not take a hot shower after a long flight! At the transfer station I looked for the way out and back. That is where I found out that going back costs nothing, you simply board the train back. I slept almost the entire day. The room has great blackout curtains. In the afternoon I called my family and decided to find something to eat. Everything near the hotel was the kind of heavy food I did not want to risk given the state of my stomach. I found a shopping center about 5 km away. By then I could order a taxi myself. In Alipay it is called Didi. Incidentally you have to pick the basic fare, and I never worked out how to avoid being pushed toward a nicer car for an extra fee. Apparently there is a way. At the shopping center I found a baguette and fresh juice. You pay everywhere by QR code in Alipay. Nobody wants cash, you do not need it. You should only need it at the Great Wall.

About 5 km from the hotel there is a shopping center, in case you want a wider selection.

I got back, ate, and reception called to say it was time to go to the taxi to the airport. The same minibus picked me up, and it dropped us at the airport along with a few other people. On the way in they swab everyone for drugs, no exceptions, and only let you inside after a negative result. Unfortunately nobody gives you any instructions about where to go. To my dismay I ended up in exactly the same place I had arrived. An older lady followed me saying she was flying to Auckland. She looked very lost, so I sort of adopted her and we searched together. We wandered back and forth for a while working out where to go. After asking about three people who did not speak English, someone finally pointed us the right way. You have to take an elevator, if I remember correctly to H.

Going back: first they swab you for drugs at the entrance, then you look for the elevator.

That really was departures. The board shows the desks for bag drop and boarding passes. We both already had ours from the previous airport. That is where more adventure and asking around began. Someone sent us to entrance A, someone else somewhere different. In the end we went to C, figuring they would redirect us if needed. Right down the corridor past the baggage desks. Surprisingly, that was correct. Passport control and security happened there. Then on to the train again. Thankfully by then our flight was listed with a GATE number. Ours was E13. So we took the train to section E. Then I think there was one more passport check. It was easy by then. Just follow the signs.

By the train, thankfully, the flights are listed.

After the train there is another check and then you enter the hall with the individual gates.

All that is left is finding the right gate, filling up your water, and boarding. We are off.

From there on there are signs everywhere. You can borrow a luggage cart for free anywhere, which I recommend. The airport really is enormous.

You find the right gate.

And you board successfully. Safe travels.

Thank you so much, Veronika. If you have flown through China too, write to me — I would love to add your story. And because we have more wonderful travelers who described their experiences, you can read them in the entries below.

Sandra S. · Beijing Fuyong Yulong & Lanwan International Hotel

The trip was absolutely perfect, everything went smoothly. Not a single flight was delayed. We had a bit of trouble finding our way around Beijing airport while filling in the arrival forms (we had 24 hours for the layover, but it makes a difference whether you stay at the airport or leave it and head into the city or onward) — there is a form for everything. On the way out we filled in paper; now computers and QR codes have replaced all of it. We filled in some form, apparently incorrectly, so they moved us to a different desk just for 24-hour temporary stay and we did not have to fill in anything. We got a stamp in our passports. Then we walked up to the hotel transfer desk, showed them which hotel we were assigned, waited a few minutes, and they were already walking us to the bus.

Both hotels worked the same way: Beijing Fuyong Yulong International Hotel and Beijing Airport Lanwan International Hotel

At the hotel we showed our passports, they immediately told us when breakfast was, gave us room keys, and told us what time to wait at reception for the ride back to the airport. At both hotels they spoke perfectly good English, no problems at all.

The rooms were beautifully clean, modern, and quiet. Every room had a kettle, tea, coffee, something to drink, and the usual toiletries (toothbrush, toothpaste, and so on), soap, shampoo, and conditioner in the shower, plus room slippers.

When it was time to fly, we came down to reception, the driver walked us to the bus and took us to the airport. We went straight to the checks and waited for our flight. Again, no problems. Everything was quick.

Petra B. · Kaisheng Xingfeng International Hotel

In Christchurch the Air NZ lady at check-in could not tag our bags all the way to Vienna — apparently because of the long stopover she could only do Auckland or Beijing, so we agreed I would collect them in Auckland and try to sort it out with Air China there. Luckily we were at the airport early, so she put us on an earlier flight to make it, which was just as well, because in Auckland we queued at check-in for over an hour and then went straight to boarding. (And the bag did get checked through to Vienna.)

In Beijing we got through customs quickly; with a small child they let us skip the line, and a woman helped us with the immigration form on those machines of theirs (I had forgotten you can do it online in advance, which I recommend). Right opposite the exit from the official part of the airport (past baggage claim), heading toward the metro, there is an information desk and next to it “transfer service” — I gave them my name, showed my boarding pass, and they told me to wait on a bench, that a driver would pick us up shortly. (See photo)

We waited about 20 minutes and then rode with maybe six other people in an older, slightly beat-up little shuttle bus to the hotel, about 20 minutes.

The hotel looked a bit worn from the outside too, but fine. It is free, so I cannot complain. At reception they just asked when we wanted to head back to the airport, managed to show me where breakfast and the shop were, and a few hours later, when I got an email about my last flight being delayed, extending the stay by two hours was no problem. Basic English plus Google Translate got us through.

Breakfast at the hotel: rice, eggs, fried chicken, and tomatoes.

They gave us a nice room on the third floor with a view of planes landing, though some of the rooms we saw faced the inside of the hotel and had no windows. The bedding and towels were all clean; only the carpet was a bit grubby with age and smelled of it. The hallways smelled faintly of cigarettes, because seemingly everyone we met was smoking, but it was fine. The beds were comfortable and clean, and there was a hairdryer, a kettle, two bottles of drinking water, a toothbrush and toothpaste, soap, and so on. The bathroom was clean apart from a bit of mold in the shower, but fine. The curtains made the room completely dark, which was good for sleeping; only occasionally noisy people came down the hallway who had probably not realized others were sleeping during the day.

The room at the Kaisheng Xingfeng International Hotel — clean, with a view of landing planes.

The bathroom with a glass shower. Bedding and towels clean.

Breakfast was good too — a buffet with fresh tomatoes, salad, oranges and mandarins, hard-boiled eggs, fried eggs, fried rice with vegetables, popcorn chicken, meat on skewers, “pizza,” various Chinese sausages and hams, Chinese pancakes, fried vegetables (bamboo, garlic, beans, cabbage, and so on), steamed buns, white toast, jam, some pastries, dried fruit. There was even a chef the Chinese guests were ordering soups and other dishes from, though I did not try that — Google Translate might have got me somewhere. To drink there was only coffee and cow's or soy milk, no tea, water, or juice. I asked for water and the lady poured me a little from the tap, which the information in the room says is not recommended for drinking.

Right next to the hotel there is a tiny shop, and two more a few meters further along — something like a corner store. Small, but you can buy drinks and food, mostly just cookies and snacks, instant soups, toiletries, and so on (all cheap: water or ice cream for 3 yuan). There are also a few restaurants right next door; again, Google Translate helps, and the food is decent and cheap (beef noodle soup for 20 yuan). The area is full of logistics companies, so there is not much to walk to unless you take a taxi. With the little one we just walked around the block, and it looked like a safe, respectable neighborhood.

Apparently the hotel had Wi-Fi, but I never managed to log in — the verification code would not come through to my New Zealand number. I had roaming from New Zealand, though, and through that everything worked, including Google, Facebook, and so on. When I flew through Beijing two years ago, I did manage to connect to the airport Wi-Fi, but then Google and similar sites did not work, while Czech sites and email did.

At exactly midnight a driver picked us up and we rode a larger bus with about twenty other people, again around 20 minutes, to the airport.

The flights were fine; the last one was delayed about an hour. The first two were completely full, the last had a few empty seats, though everything around us was taken.

(I am sending photos, I do not have more suitable ones — with the little one I cannot get my phone out much.)

I hope this helps others! I would certainly have wanted this information myself — mainly I was a bit worried about where to find the shuttle at the airport. Online I read the transfer desk is only open from 9 to 5, but we were there before 6 am and they were there.

Did not get a free hotel? Book your own

You will find prices and ratings in this selection of Beijing hotels

If the free hotel does not work out, there are a few good options both near Beijing airport and in the city that you can book in advance. Just be aware that not every Chinese hotel is allowed to host foreign guests (they need a special license), so pick from the ones that do take tourists. Below are several I would consider myself.

If the hotel falls through: resting at the airport

If the free hotel does not work out, or your layover is too short to use it, you can still get through the night at Beijing airport. It is open around the clock and reasonably friendly for sleeping — just bring earplugs and an eye mask, because it is noisy and cold (Terminal 3 tends to be the most comfortable for sleeping). Every terminal has rest areas where you can sit quietly and charge your phone. Expect a guard to wake you in the morning once passengers start arriving for the first flights, so keep your valuables on you and count on being woken.

If you want to properly stretch out and shower, there are also paid hourly rest lounges. The best rated is the T3E Timing Lounge in Terminal 3 (section E) — an hour with a shower runs around 150 CNY, and longer packages with a shower and food are often discounted. Check current prices and opening hours on the spot.

Or sleep at a Beijing bathhouse

And then there is one more option that foreign travelers have taken to in recent years — spending the night at one of Beijing's 24-hour bathhouses. These are multi-story wellness worlds with hot springs, pools, and steam rooms, plus quiet zones with loungers and sleeping pods, unlimited fruit and food, a cinema, game rooms, and karaoke. For roughly $35 to $70 you get the whole night, a proper soak, and you leave rested in the morning. It often works out cheaper than a hotel, and on top of that it is an experience in itself.

If you want something more upscale and easy to handle without any Chinese, take a look at SHUIGUO Luxury Spa. It is a five-story complex with springs, saunas, pools, sleeping pods, a cinema, unlimited fruit and ice cream, and the staff are welcoming. They do not speak much English, but you will manage with a translation app. You can also book ahead (they will want your name and passport number), so your spot is guaranteed.

Bear in mind that you will need your passport to get in and to stay overnight, that almost everywhere takes only Alipay or WeChat Pay (hardly anyone accepts cash), and that before you head from the airport into the city you should make sure you have enough time to get there and back.

You book SHUIGUO online in advance (they will want your name and passport number), so your spot is guaranteed even on Friday and Saturday when it gets busy. More Beijing hot springs in this roundup.

Beijing airport and getting into the city

Beijing Capital Airport is the largest airport in China and sits about 30 km northeast of the center. It has two terminals, 2 and 3 (the original Terminal 1 is now part of Terminal 2), and a free automated underground train runs between them around the clock every three to five minutes. The Air China transit counter and the airport hotels are all at Terminal 3.

If you have a long layover and want to head into the city, the easiest option is the Airport Express, the airport train that stops at both terminals and connects to the Beijing metro. You buy a ticket from a machine by the metro; one way costs around 25 yuan. The other option is a taxi through the Didi app (the Chinese Uber — download the passenger version, not the driver one); Didi is also built into Alipay. Do not trust the drivers who swarm you right outside the exit insisting there is no bus. It helps to have a few yuan in cash on arrival: Bank of China has ATMs at the airport and should let Revolut cardholders withdraw for free, whereas the airport exchange counters have poor rates.

Long layover and want to see Beijing too?

How much time do you have? Let that decide whether to leave the airport at all. The trip into the center and back eats up nearly three hours on its own.

Keep in mind that the Great Wall is more demanding logistically and exhausting after a night flight. So I am including some easier options too.

Travel insurance

Do not skimp on insurance — you certainly cannot fly to China on a European health insurance card alone (and honestly I would not travel around Europe on one either). For longer trips I use SafetyWing, which you can take out even once you are already abroad.

Frequently asked questions

Air China is one of the airlines that genuinely looks after transit passengers, and sleeping in a real bed between two long flights for free is a luxury worth taking. Get everything sorted in advance — eSIM, payment apps, insurance — and your Beijing layover will be completely calm. And once you land, let me know how it went; your experience may well help the next traveler.

Flying with a different airline? If you have a layover with China Eastern, take a look at my guide to the free China Eastern transit hotel, where I walk you through the Shanghai layover.