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8 bucks and you’ll ride like you’re in the Indy 500
When you land in Shanghai you have a choice to make: do you take the Maglev to Longyang road station or not. This option compared to say, a taxi, may take you a bit of extra time, but I couldn’t imagine not doing it. The Shanghai Maglev was the 3rd Maglev ( Magnetic Levitation) put into operation in the world, behind Birmingham and Germany, and hits speeds over 260mph. They even have a speedometer so you know exactly how fast you’re going. So…what’s it like taking the Maglev?
Getting to the Maglev from PVG
It’s super simple, all enclosed, and there are plenty of signs to lead you where you need to go. From the time we exited immigration and customs to where we bought our tickets was roughly 10 minutes. You’ll go through security again prior to hopping on the Maglev.
The actual ride = 8 mins
Super smooth. Cheap. Totally worth it. There is something so surreal about going so fast that you’re passing cars on the highway like they’re going in reverse. You can find the timetables here, but they run about every 15 mins.
Going on into Shanghai
We were staying in Xintiandi at the Andaz and our taxi took about 45-50 mins. Make sure you have cash before you hop in as they don’t take credit card. Also…Uber isn’t a thing in China, although they have their own version called Didi, it’s not accessible to foreigners, or at least those without a viable way to pay.
If you’re staying in Pudong the taxi ride will be much shorter as Longyang is technically in the outskirts of Pudong.
You can also take the subway from Longyang road – it connects to lines 2, 7, and 16. We didn’t do this as we just wanted to get to the hotel and head out, but it’s a viable option and cheap. However, your cab should only be $10-15.
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Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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