Originally Posted by
jiejie
Expedia is not the right tool for this job, as it normally shows only full Y fares which is all that they load into the system. Chinese airline websites (at least the English language interface) don't necessarily show all available fares either. You paid the full Y fare; whereas most people pay discounted fares. Unfortunate waste of cash, but now at least you know for future reference. Hopefully, you were able to earn some frequent flyer miles on your favorite *A program, though. The
Master Transportation Thread in the China Forum has links to reliable online travel agents, based in China, that will allow foreigners in or out of China to easily book discounted domestic Chinese tickets using a foreign credit card.
Expedia is getting better at displaying competitive fares, but I still wouldn't use them because -- well -- when things go wrong (often), you need to deal with Expedia. Even if your ticket is refundable (most are at least to some degree), getting a refund is a royal PITA.
I only use Expedia when paying with Expedia points or Thank You Points. In the case of the latter, the 25% discount on plane tix is really nice.