Hi Julia

I'm thinking about booking for Inspirational China in the Autumn (probably the October departure) but I'm ashamed to say that I lent my brochure with the full details to a friend and haven't had it back yet, so I've got a couple of questions!

Does the holiday depart from Gatwick or Heathrow?

Roughly what are the departure and arrival times in the UK? The reason is that I will be travelling from Jersey. As always, I need to think about connecting flights and overnight stops if the flight times don't suit same day onward transit in order to calculate how many days leave I need to take from work.

Finally, roughly what is the length of the flight to China and also the internal flights, once there?

Many thanks as always

Mandy

Hi Mandy,

I'm more than happy to help whilst your brochure is currently on loan.

The Inspirational China tour flies from London Gatwick - approximate times (and obviously these would be confirmed in your final documents) are depart UK 13:15hrs, return UK 05:50hrs.

And, on to flight times - please note these are approximate

UK to China: approx. 10hrs flying time if direct

Beijing to Xian: approx 2hrs if direct

Xian to Chengdu: approx 1hr 30 min if direct

Chengdu to Shanghai approx 2 hrs 40 mins if direct.

Shanghai to Beijing approx.2 hrs 10 mins if direct.

Hope all of that information helps.

Kindest regards,

Julia

Hi Julia

Many thanks for this - very helpful as always.

I'm pretty certain I'll be able to get the time off (for the 8th October departure) but probably won't get confirmation of that until early next month. How are the bookings looking at the moment? Should I be worried about getting a space if I can't book for a few weeks yet?

Two more questions whilst writing:

- I understand we need visas for China - is this something the JY team can help with or would I need to sort it independantly? If so - any idea roughly how long they take to come through?

- Are the flights BA or another airline? (I'm thinking about leg room - I'm quite tall)

Many thanks once again

Mandy

Hi Mandy,

Not a problem.

So, for the 8th October departure there are now 8 booked on the main tour only and 10 booked on the main tour with Yangtze add on. There are only 5 places available if you are looking to take the add-on but 12 places available for the main tour only. If you are looking to book the main tour only - you should be fine, but it's always worth asking me regularly for an update.

Yes, our team are able to help with the China visa for you.If this is something you would like us to do, we would add the charge to your booking and send you a visa pack about 15 weeks before departure, it takes about 3-4 weeks to be processed sometimes it may be much quicker than this, occasionally a bit longer.

In terms of flights, I understand that this departure uses Air China between London Gatwick and Air China.

Kindest regards,

Julia

Just noticed this thread and I feel that I should post a quick update. Due to Air China withdrawing their Gatwick to Beijing route for the winter our 22/10,03/11 and 12/11 dates will now be departing from Heathrow still with Air China. As the flight schedules are different it will mean that the main group will have an extra night in Shanghai at the end of the tour, Any passengers doing the Yangtze cruise add on will now spend an extra night in Chongqing at the end of their tour. The duration of the holiday remains the same it’s just that you will be in a nice hotel rather than being in an airport or being in flight.

Any customers that have already booked these dates will be contacted in the next few days by our Customer care team to confirm the changes in the departure airport and updated flight details.

Thank you Julia and JYJames, both your updates were really helpful. Fortunately, I've been looking at the 8th October departure so won't be affected by the Heathrow switch.

I'll thrilled to say that I also had my leave dates confirmed at the office this morning so I hopped on the phone to the JY Team straight away and booked. China here I come! (after my JY Trip to Rome in May obviously......gosh I'm treating myself this year!)

Thanks again for your guidance

Mandy

Hi Mandy,

It's great to hear that you've had your leave confirmed - if you have any further questions regarding this (or your other) Just You holiday please don't hesitate to get in touch.

Kindest regards,

Julia