Hey all, since my last China Southern transit post, they changed our flight to leave the night earlier…
Anyways, we now have a 8.5 hour stop, so it looks like we'll be eligible for their free transit hotel when we get to Guangzhou - just wondering if anyone has recently done it, what the process was to get it, and how the actual hotel was?
Thanks so much in advance.
Thanks for that… Interesting, why are you not eligible?
From reading online, I booked through third party (booking.com) and apparently, you only see your booking class when you check in…. but if you booked through China Southern directly, you can speak to chat if you're 100% eligible or something…
Doesn't bother me if I don't get a free night (would have been nice though), but I booked a cheap ass $20 night hotel near the airport lol. It has free to and from airport transfer. it's called "Huahang Hotel (GZ Baiyun International Airport)".
People's experience here: https://www.reddit.com/r/travel/comments/15mjr0l/has_anyone_used_the_free_accomodation_when_flying/
Interesting stuff indeed… But I mean $20 is basically free in today's economy lolol
I did this before Christmas. BNE - LHR via CAN on China Southern, and got the free transit hotel.
* I booked the flights directly with China southern.
* I booked the free transit hotel here https://extra.csair.com/content/transitHotel/index.html#/log… This way you can choose your hotel (I chose AUSOTEL baiyun Airport) otherwise you can go directly to customer services on arrival and they will allocate a hotel.
* When you arrive follow the signs for passport control/exit, but just before PP control turn right into an area descibed as 'transit visa' or similar. get a ticket and wait for a Mr Ben to appear. You will need to fill in an arrivals/departure card, show your passport and onwards boarding pass. They will the put a sticker in your PP which is a 24 hour visa.
* Then next to that area is the PP control, go through there, then downstairs into the arrivals hall. Turn right and walk to the end where you will find the CS customer service area, with transit passengers waiting.
* Go to CS show all your paperwork and they will give you a sticker to wear while you are waiting for your transfer.
* After a while someone will come and shout out the hotel name or point at your sticker, then take you to the minibus to the hotel. Everything is prepaid, no deposits required.
* The hotel we stayed in had an incuded buffet breakfast and wifi. It also had a small restaurant/bar where you could pay with a credit card.
Happy to answer any other questions
Thanks so much for this, really helpful info!
Our main concerns are that we are 5 people (2 adults, 2 kids, 1 infant), and while I would think that pre-booking makes the most sense, when we try to pre-book the hotel online on the CS website, it doesn't let more than 2 people per booking - even though CS customer support advised that you don't need to book infants (they accompany adults for free), I'm worried that:
a) We do one room pre-booking, and then when we try pre-book the second, the hotel is no longer available.
b) We won't get a cot for the infant.
So I guess it would probably make the most sense to only book it at the helpdesk when we arrive - but is there a guarantee that they will have availability if just rocking up?…
I booked my flight to Amsterdam and I have a 14 hour stop over but unfortuntely I am not eligible. But here's a video on someone who is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwmDB5PANlo
It is 5 years old but I assume it will have similar processes as the person in the video.