A layover in Shanghai: do you need to collect your luggage

In short. Even on a single China Eastern ticket your luggage may not travel on by itself in Shanghai: you have to collect it and check in again for the next flight. I only learned this at check-in in Moscow, the flight was delayed, and three hours for the layover were not enough. Below is what happened and what to check before you fly.

How I missed my connection in Shanghai

There was one ticket, Moscow-Shanghai-Seoul. At Sheremetyevo I was given one boarding pass and told: in Shanghai you collect your luggage and check in for Seoul again. Nothing had been said about this at the time of purchase.

Departure was at 19:05, with a three-hour layover. Fifteen minutes from the airport, still in the taxi, I got an email: the flight was moved to 00:35. I decided to go anyway and sort it out on the spot. Then departure was pushed to 02:00. We took off at 02:30. The announcement gave weather as the reason for the delay.

In Shanghai I waited for my suitcase from a large aircraft. While I was collecting it, the flight to Seoul I had been rebooked on left. I was more than an hour late. Then came four hours in a queue of people who had missed their flights too, with no water or food. At first I was only offered a ticket for the 13th. But on the 12th I had a salon appointment and a meeting at the academy. I was given another airline, 08:05 on the morning of the 12th. A hotel was offered, but nobody could explain how to get there. I spent the night at the airport.

Why three hours were not enough

Pudong is huge and the distances are long. Three hours for a layover, when you have to wait for a suitcase and queue for check-in again, is cutting it fine even without a delay. And a weather delay, as I was told when I complained, is not compensated by the carrier.

How I got out of it. I wrote to the Korean salon straight from the departure area: I asked them to move the appointment and did not name a specific date. It was moved to the 18th. I sent a complaint to the support of the website where I bought the ticket. I focused not on the delay but on what does not depend on the weather: there was no warning about luggage at purchase, staff said different things, the hotel was out of reach.

What you should do

• look at the itinerary receipt to see whether the luggage is checked through to the final destination, and if it is unclear, ask at check-in in Moscow;
• if you have to collect the luggage yourself, take a layover longer than three hours;
• do not schedule anything important for the day after arrival;
• if there is a delay, write at once to those who are waiting and ask them to hold the slot without naming a date;
• in a complaint, write about what does not depend on the weather.

This was my flight on 10-12 August 2026. Carrier and airport rules change, so check again before your own flight.

If you are travelling to study in Seoul

The main takeaway for a trip to the training in Seoul with Hong Jihoon: arrive with time to spare before the first lesson and do not plan anything important for the day after arrival. My salon appointment was set for exactly that day, and it had to be moved.

What else to check before the trip: K-ETA, how to search for tickets to Seoul on your own terms, how to pay in Korea without Visa and Mastercard.