Shanghai Pudong Airport

Landed in Shanghai Pudong International Airport to find out our short flight (2hrs) to Guangzhou was cancelled. Asked airport staff where we should go, she pointed us to move forward to check in. We passed by 2-3 more airport staff who pointed us in the same direction. When we get to the check in point before getting to the gate, we were told to go back to the beginning. After consulting at least 5 airport staff (FYI we spoke to them in Mandarin as my mom is from China), we were brought back to the right place and told we'd have to take the next available flight which was the next day in the afternoon and that a hotel room would be provided. We were put in an area with others whose flight had been cancelled (there was a lot of people) to wait for the shuttle buses which took more than an hour to come. When shuttle buses came, it was like a stampede. It was so disorganized and I was frustrated after being on a 15+ hour flight. Wifi did not work either so we were forced to purchase a calling card to call our family members about our cancellation. If you have alternate choices, do not stop at this airport. Even as someone who knows how to speak Chinese, you'd have trouble getting help from staff here.

We went to Shanghai in April 2015. The Pudong Airport had great transportation options. We bought transportation cards and took a metro to Shanghai city center. The WIFI did not work for Facebook YouTube and Google. We could check Hotmail and Yahoo Mail. The foods were expensive. The other facilities were excellent.

PVG is well known for delays. April 3 flying back with CZ from PVG to SHE flight was delayed 4 hours. In fact all flights going north from PVG were delayed 3-4 hours whilst flights going south left on time so what is this? Another military exercise causing vast delays or another VIP landing in PEK and creating havoc in the skies? Could not blame CZ airplane was there crew was there etc. After boarding on time we were asked to deplane and go back to the waiting hall. Just sit and wait - no announcements then suddenly I saw that my gate was boarding again without any notice or announcement. As many other reviewers say there is nothing to do in PVG - no decent food and far too expensive. Long walks to the end of the terminal while other gates are empty I think they want you to walk past all those shops with bored sales staff and overpriced items. Same comment for the WIFI as others say here. All in all PVG is not too bad - just a bad day I suppose.

I am a frequent traveller and I am highly disappointed to see the poor performance of Shanghai Pudong international airport. Their duty free shops offer a limited portfolio to choose from. Being an international city with people coming all over the world and flights coming every now and then it does not offer much to choose from. I was disappointed to see very limited options in duty free. Queuing time at the immigration is highly irritating. After you have a long haul flight and land there are long queues for foreigners with only 4-5 immigration officers at a given time attending the queues. Airport wifi does not work. Although they have tried their best to provide free internet wifi you cannot connect. Airport staff do not speak or understand English.

From Bangkok to Shanghai and connecting for Harbin. Almost missed connection because of long Immigration queue for foreigners. Chinese sailed through. Baggage was waiting because of delay in reaching the carousel. Sign-posting was poor no indication of check-in desks. Long walk to anything. Few shops. Couldn't find information desk. Return journey was better as we had been checked through and Immigration not so slow. Decor is depressing as are the staff. An airport to avoid.

Travelling from Bangkok to Shanghai we were one hour late in leaving BKK with Shanghai Airlines and were short of time to connect with China Eastern for Harbin. It took 30 minutes to go through Immigration as most officers were dealing with Chinese only. Sign-posting for check-in was poor and a China Eastern receptionist was rude when we enquired . We just made the flight which was already boarding. The airport is undergoing alterations. It's bland and depressing with few facilities. A disgrace.

What a terrible airport staff do not speak English which is not acceptable in an international airport lines are too long and very unorganised with people pushing and shoving and no control whatsoever. The rudeness of staff does not help things. I have used this airport multiple times and it does not get any better the lack of anything to do is a huge problem with only a handful of overpriced places to eat. No chemist or any essential services available either. For such a new airport Shanghai like most other airports in china leave a lot of services out and are mainly giant empty shells with long lines rude staff and no order in the queue areas. I hope it does improve one day but the standard at the moment is too poor.

Because of flight delays I had to spend hours at the airport. I asked at the information desk if there was a day use hotel at the airport and was told there was nothing like that. I wandered around though and found a massage place that lets you use the rooms for as long as you like after the massage. After my nap I went to check in and headed to the gate. There are few options for food airside so I was stuck using the very busy Burger King. The airport has heaps of water fountains which are handy but the water is warm. During my stopover on the way back I had a 19 hour stopover and wanted to store my bags. One of the baggage storage places went through all the process then told me they couldn't take my bag. I went to the other place and all was fine except they only took cash - so I had to run around the airport trying every ATM until I found one that worked. Apart from the airside Burger King there is pretty much nowhere to get wifi. Starbucks requires you to have a Chinese phone. And - be warned - there are airport staff that approach you asking if you want a SIM card to access WIFI. They say it's free but it's only the card that is free. Once they have dismantled your phone and put their SIM in they tell you that you have to pay for data. The SIM didn't work in my phone and I couldn't get it working but didn't get my money for the data that I'd never be able to use! Queuing times are not bad but people can get very pushy.

Gets the basics right although not many staff speak good English. Excellent - the signs navigation. Although having two terminals very far apart from each other - inconvenient. Lacking lots of facilities e.g. shower. And not many good restaurants. Food extremely expensive. Security staff too strict! Even checks before one boards the plane in front of the plane! Overall quite good.

Excellent modern airport with courteous staff and efficient service. No queues in check in immigration or security. I particularly like to idea in security where each passenger is dealt with individually. Saves a lot of hassle. Good selection of duty free and other souvenir shops. It was a pleasure to fly from.