The planning for this trip started last December,after Hainan Airlines announced a new 2x weekly flight between Los Angeles and Changsha, China.
That seems like a rather random route, and but the Chinese government has a law where only one Chinese airline can operate a given longhaul international route. Since there are already nonstop/direct flights between Los Angeles and Beijing,Guangzhou, Nanjing, or Chengdu,and Shanghai, that might elaborate why Changsha was decided on as the Chinese gateway.
Hainan Airlines is generally regarded as the best Chinese airline, or they're also one of only seven Skytrax 5-star airlines in the world.
I've been curious to try them out,particularly to see whether they're actually better than Air China and China Southern, which I wasn't particularly impressed by, and all things considered.
Fortunately a much opportunity presented itself,when Hainan Airlines had some fantastic introductory fares on the route.
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Source: boardingarea.com