Travel Procedures

Travel Dates:

Most families travel approximately two months from their referral date.  The holdup is waiting for the Travel Approval from the CCAA.  Appointments cannot be requested at the American Consulate without a copy of your Travel Approval.  CHI will request appointments at the American Consulate in Guangzhou immediately upon receiving the TA's.  With confirmed appointments in hand, we can finalize all the travel plans.   

Families will be notified immediately by email of the travel schedule and asked to make their international flight arrangements. CHI will give you the date when the group is to arrive and in which city; and the date and time you can depart from Guangzhou. 

Unfortunately, most of the correspondence after your referral is received will be done by email.  That way, all families are informed of every aspect of the travel preparation and all families will receive the same information.   We do apologize for the loss of personal contact, but feel free to call with any of your questions or concerns. 

International Flights:

The CHI China Travel Coordinator will contact you when it is time to make the International reservations.  You are free to use the travel agency of your choice or book your own US domestic and International flights.   

Please refer to the CHI main website for "Travel Information" with a listing of Travel Agencies and Airlines that can assist you in making your international flights.  

Procedures and tips for booking your international flights: 

Please do not book a flight returning to the US with any layover in Canada (such as Cathay Pacific).  Your child will not be able to board that airplane even if you won't be getting off the plane in Canada. 

We suggest the area you live dictate your city of departure.

East coast-New York, Newark or Washington DC-Dulles

Suggestions:

Continental Airlines -- round trip through Beijing.  CHI will make arrangements for you to fly back to BJ to catch your return flight home.  Continental also flies in/out of Hong Kong.

Northwest Airlines -- flying into Beijing and out of Guangzhou.

United -- round trip through BJ

Midwest-Chicago or Detroit

Suggestions:

Northwest Airlines -- flying into Beijing and out of Guangzhou.

United Airlines -- flying round trip through Beijing.  CHI will make arrangements for you to fly back to BJ to catch your return flight home.  United also flies in/out of Hong Kong.

West Coast-Los Angeles or San Francisco

Suggestions:

China Southern -- flying round trip through Guangzhou

Air China Airline  -- flying to Beijing

Northwest Airlines  -- flying into Beijing and out of Guangzhou 

• When arranging your US flights to the city of departure, please allow enough time (a minimum of 2-3 hours) to catch your international flight.  If need be, you may have to fly the night before and spend the night in order to catch your international flight.

• The ports of entry into China are determined by the location of your child's orphanage.    Most groups will arrive in Beijing, but if your child is located in the Guangdong Province, the group will enter China through Guangzhou.  The Guangdong Group families have the option to enter through BJ and sightseeing with other groups.  CHI will arrange flights for those families to meet their group in Guangzhou and the proper time.

• If you are entering China through Guangzhou or Hong Kong and need a flight to join your group in Beijing OR your child's provincial capital city, you will need to have your travel agent book that flight for you.  Our tickets are booked in China and we will not be able to get that ticket to you before you travel.

• It is common that the confirmed travel date may not be known until about two weeks prior to leaving.

• Families will be notified when appointments are confirmed with the American Consulate and the China arrival and departure dates are set up by our Beijing Office Staff. 

• CHI cannot make arrangements for Inside China Travel until every person in the travel group has booked their international flights, so it is very important to confirm your flights in a timely manner. 

• CHI will need to know your specific international airline flight information with carrier name, flight numbers, arrival date/time and departure date/time. Please send your complete travel itinerary by email to Karolyn@ChildrensHopeint.org

• Our China Travel Team will coordinate the schedules, so all travel can flow together with arrangements and appointments in China. 

• If you need a flight from Guangzhou (the day after receiving your child's visa) to catch your international flight (to Beijing or to Hong Kong), CHI can arrange that flight for you OR you can book it with your travel agency.  Just let the St. Louis China Travel Coordinator know your decision.

• It is sometimes very difficult to use frequent flyer mileage due to the short notice of the confirmed travel dates.

• A return international ticket for your child in his/her Chinese Name is required even if your child is under the age of two.  You do not have to purchase a seat ticket, but a lap ticket is required, and the cost is a percentage of your adult ticket.  The ticket must be in your child's Chinese Name, because that is the name that will appear on his/her Chinese passport. 

Regarding your child's Chinese Name:  In China, the last name is always listed first, the next one or two names is considered to be your child's first name.  All names on tickets must match the names on the passports. 

 INSIDE CHINA FLIGHTS, HOTELS, SIGHTSEEING, GROUND TRANSPORTATION

• All families must be with the group to begin and complete all of the adoption process. Children's Hope International will make all the inside China hotel arrangements.   Families cannot make their own arrangements or stay at different hotels.

• CHI will coordinate flights, hotels (breakfasts are included at each hotel), sightseeing, ground transportation, airport/hotel transfers, and CHI coordinator expense.  Tip money (local guides and drivers) will also be included in the invoice for GROUPS containing 5 or more families. 

• CHI will arrange extra nights at the hotels in order to accommodate your stay in China.

• CHI will automatically arrange airport/hotel transfers if arriving and departing China during reasonable hours (6:00 am - 11:30 pm). 

• CHI will email your Summary of Adoption Travel Fees for the Inside China Travel costs along with your detailed Itinerary, shortly before travel.  CHI does not accept credit cards and requests that you pay this fee by a certified check or bank check before you travel.   

• CHI books the same type of rooms (usually standard or deluxe) for all the families.  Please inform the China travel coordinator if this will not work for your family.

Standard/Deluxe room arrangements:  Most hotels have 2 twin beds and we will request a crib for a child under the age of two.  For children over the age of 2 (either adopted children or children accompanying their parents from the US) a rollaway bed and breakfasts will be included.  Only one rollaway bed will fit in a room.   Please talk to your CHI travel coordinator about the room arrangements, if two children are on the trip.  Adjoining rooms can be requested, but it will depend on the availability at each hotel.   

• Refund Policy for inside China Travel:  We cannot refund money for hotel rooms when families make changes while they are in China.  If you cancel your trip to China, 72 hour prior notice is needed in order to obtain a refund for hotels.

The final travel package will be sent after Travel Approvals have been received.  This package will include: 

• Group List

• Copy of your signed Seeking Confirmation Letter

• Your Travel Approval

• Final check list of documents to take to China

Group Leaders will also receive the check for tips and possibly all the travel approvals for your group, to be given to your CHI coordinator in China.  

Luggage Restrictions:

US Domestic and international flights allow two (2) checked bags per person up to 50 pounds per bag, and one carry-on bag per person (no larger than 14"x9"x22").  For any recent changes, please check with your airline carrier.

China Domestic flights allow one (1) checked bag per person-up to 44 pounds, and one carry-on bag.  Some Chinese Airlines will charge additional fees for over weight luggage.  Our coordinators try to have group check-ins for the luggage, sometimes eliminating any additional fees.