Does anyone know of the best and least expensive way to bring my fiancee and our daughter to the United States (Michigan) from Nanning, Guangxi, China? It would be ideal if her and our daughter could catch a flight out of Nanning but they may have to take a flight from Hong Kong. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Keith & Xiang

Let Xiang make any travel plans and book flights from her end in China, you will save a ton of money. Most important, get the departing flight out of China non stop to here, unless you will be with her to guide her through. Make it easy for her by doing that. For the China/USA leg, you can look online for the airline of your choice to get an idea who have the best schedule to do this.

I would choose the Nanning/Beijing/ORD myself (just my preference).

I can hook you up with some Domestic China flight plans if you want to just get an idea ahead of time. Just PM me and I will send you some easy links, it will work the same as if you were checking here, just that it will be only Domestic China. Let her pay cash too for the domestic side, save even more(vs/ your credit card).

No need to book way in advance for the China flights (ie: wait till she completes the interview), just let her handle it from her end and you really will save a ton of Yuan.

I agree 100%. Booking inside of China will usually save you a chunk of change. The direct flight from Beijing to ORD is also a good idea. There are Chinese speaking flight attendants, so that can be helpful for your family in getting instructions on what to do when they get off of the plane. If they change planes it is all English after that!

Good luck!

That sounds good, Xiang has been an English teacher for 16 years so she's fluent in the English language. Our problem resides with Beijing being very distant from where she lives in Nanning, Guangxi, China. What about a direct flight from Nanning to Detroit, Michigan?

I ask my fiance to check on it. She books travel for her company a lot, so she has a good relationship with some of the travel agents. The travel agent she talked to said the only direct flights out of the mainland are from Shanghai and Beijing.

Thank you, I appreciate this greatly. So she would have to take a flight from Nanning to either Shanghai or Beijing and from there a flight to Detroit, Michigan? Any idea on the cost of the airfare from Nanning to either place, then from there to Detroit? You can send me a private message if you would prefer, this may be best.

Thank you.

There are no direct flights to Detroit. There is a direct flight out of Beijing that goes to Chicago. You can also get a flight from Guangzhou that has a layover in Japan that will go directly to Detroit. It is cheaper to get a direct flight to JFK. That can be about a 14 hour ride from Detroit but the scenery is nice. On her end, the flight will cost about $600 from GZ. It is now summer rates so the prices will be going up, especially out of convention city, GZ.

Hi Keith,

I brought my wife to South Dakota from Nanning and I have had good luck using flychina.com. I'm sure your family would have to change planes a couple of times, given this, the fee would be close to $1,000.00 this time of year. Although I have flown round trip to Nanning from Sioux Falls, SD for as little as $500.00. using Flychina.com

Good Luck & God Bless You

Michael Robinson

Booking from China is the cheapest. Chinese travel agents can help. I also recommend this site:

www.elong.net

In the lower right part of the e-long home page, there is a section for specials. They have international specials on many airlines. For e-long, you book online and they will deliver the tickets to your fiancee's house in Nanning (cash on delivery).

You will probably get cheaper fares by flying out of mainland China instead of Hong Kong. I would suggest looking into Air China/United, or Northwest Airlines. Northwest often has sale fares from Guangzhou to Detroit (stopping in Tokyo). United has flights from Shanghai and Beijing to Chicago. (Assuming you still live in Michigan).

I have flown into and out of Nanning to Guangzhou to LA. On China Southern, it is a Chinese Airline. They are very cheap airfares.They will have to one use ome of the hubs, depending on airline, Salt Lake City, Denver or ST Louis to get to Detroit METRO, I used to live there. In either case they will have to get a connecting and it will be long. But I have seen whole families with very young children embarque from Guangzhou to LAX, it is a 20 hour flight. It might be a good idea to stay in LA at least one night. An even better idea is you meet them and go to Disneyland. Just a thought. Good luck

Rob

Keith, has she priced out a route from Nanning to Beijing to Chicago? I know that the PEK-ORD has been going at near premium prices but that could drop.

Best of luck to you 3!

Northwest airlines has service between Nanning and MI, but I agree you should let wife buy from China

I concur with making the arrangements in China.

My wife and daughter flew from Nanning to Hong Kong and then took a non-stop on Cathay Pacific (not the name used in mainland China) to LAX Bradley terminal. There are no direct flights to Detroit from anywhere in mainland China. All itineraries would have an international stop. NWA flies from Guangzhou to Detroit through Narita but it leaves Guangzhou too early in the morning to avoid overnighting in Guangzhou.

An alternative many use, is to meet their loved ones at the port of entry and accompany them through any domestic transfers and flights. Another reason this is a good idea is because you have an extra baggage allowance for the domestic legs. The whole thing can get pretty tricky. Plan ahead and research well.

If you can't meet them at the port of entry, then the simplest itinerary may be more important than the cost.

Well my wife and daughter are here now in Michigan, my wife was granted her GreenCard, still waiting on my daughters AOS. Thanks everyone for all the help, she was able to book the flight out of Guangzhou, China, unfortunately it was the same time where they were holding those trade shows.

Thanks,
Keith & Xiang