Asia - Questions on intra-China air travel

Some air travel questions from a novice to intra-China air travel:
What is the easiest way to get intra-China air tickets before I leave for China? The web sites I’ve seen (wacts, elong, ctrip) want to deliver tickets to my hotel – problem is, I want to fly into Kunming from BKK and connect in KMG to Lijiang.


What is a reasonable connection time in Kunming? My inbound TG flight is scheduled to arrive at 14.05.


Assume that I buy a full-fare ticket for the KMG-LJG portion. If I need to change flights (especially change from one airline to another), what is the procedure for doing so?

I have no Mandarin language abilities except for hello, thank you, etc.

Some air travel questions from a novice to intra-China air travel:
What is the easiest way to get intra-China air tickets before I leave for China? The web sites I’ve seen (wacts, elong, ctrip) want to deliver tickets to my hotel – problem is, I want to fly into Kunming from BKK and connect in KMG to Lijiang.


What is a reasonable connection time in Kunming? My inbound TG flight is scheduled to arrive at 14.05.


Assume that I buy a full-fare ticket for the KMG-LJG portion. If I need to change flights (especially change from one airline to another), what is the procedure for doing so?

I have no Mandarin language abilities except for hello, thank you, etc.

My wife and I flew from Lijiang to Guangzhou via Kunming. Kunming is a reasonablly sized airport with very primitive security measures. I think when we transfered we did not go through security again, and just ended up in the waiting hall (which seemed to be shared by all the China Southern and some other domestic flights). Both flights we took out of Kunming were 30 minutes late or so, but probably not wise to count on that. I would think that an hour would be fine, perhaps more to allow for flight delays inbound.

As for the tickets themselves, we have always purchased them from a travel agent in China and had them delivered to us once in China. There may be a travel agent that can do intra-China tickets. Air Brokers was able to do a few intra-Vietnam tickets for me. If it's China Southern they must have a ticket office in LA, since they fly to LAX. That won't help you if you're not in the U.S., of course.

You'll have to listen very carefully to gate announcements, as the English there is terrible. My strategy was to stroll around looking for somebody local (or apparently fluent in the local patois) on my same flight and watch what they do.

I can't help you with the changing of tickets/flights. I haven't had much trouble changing flights on the same Airline, but given that it's China any transfer to a different airline is likely to be brain surgery, perhaps followed by a comedy of errors.

What is the easiest way to get intra-China air tickets before I leave for China? The web sites I’ve seen (wacts, elong, ctrip) want to deliver tickets to my hotel – problem is, I want to fly into Kunming from BKK and connect in KMG to Lijiang.

Whilst in Zhongdian, I bought a Kunming to Beijing ticket from eLong. An English speaker at eLong phoned me and arranged for a fax to be sent to my hotel for the credit card authorisation - I had to sign and fax it back to eLong. I then collected the eTicket at the relevant ticket desk at Kunming airport. I believe eLong can also deliver the ticket to you at the airport.

Some air travel questions from a novice to intra-China air travel:
What is the easiest way to get intra-China air tickets before I leave for China? The web sites I’ve seen (wacts, elong, ctrip) want to deliver tickets to my hotel – problem is, I want to fly into Kunming from BKK and connect in KMG to Lijiang.


What is a reasonable connection time in Kunming? My inbound TG flight is scheduled to arrive at 14.05.


Assume that I buy a full-fare ticket for the KMG-LJG portion. If I need to change flights (especially change from one airline to another), what is the procedure for doing so?

I have no Mandarin language abilities except for hello, thank you, etc.

Booking domestic China tickets from outside China can be a bit of a challenge. I have run into the same problem you mention with most of the sites that are online. There is however one site that I just recently found that should work for you.

http://airtravelcenter.com/china-flights.htm

This is a US based ticket agent who has a partnership with the China booking agent Yoee.com. You can book an e-ticket online and then when you arrive you just have to go to the ticket counter with your receipt and claim your ticket. This does limit you to China Southern or Air China as China Eastern does not have e-ticket capabilities in Kunming. China Southern has a flight at 5:25 pm which should work for you.

Coming in to Kunming you will need to clear customs which sometimes can take a little while, depending on where you are in the line. You will then have to claim your bags, exit international, and then go up the stairs right to the left of the international exit to go upstairs to the departure level, and re-check in.

I would suggest allowing about 2 hours for this connection. There are not that many flights to Lijiang so I think the 5:25 flight is probably the next one that you could catch anyway.

If for some reason you miss it, it is generally very easy to switch to another flight. Just go to the ticket counter and they will assist you to change your ticket to the next available flight.

Hope this helps... Have a great trip!

i suggest you buy your onward ticket at the airport in kunming because that route is pretty much full-fare only anyway.

second to that, if you really want to ticket in advance, try an mu e-ticket. mu operates 8 of the 13 daily flights. mu's website should offer the deepest discount available on your travel day so you prob won't pay more than ctrip/elong.

if you have to fly on a different carrier, you should be able to use your ticket freely, if full fare. 10-20% discounts are also easy to change, but entail standing in a line and paying a fare difference, if necessary.

discounts greater than 20% pretty much lock you into the ticketing carrier, except for irregular ops (which are common).

i suggest you buy your onward ticket at the airport in kunming because that route is pretty much full-fare only anyway.

second to that, if you really want to ticket in advance, try an mu e-ticket. mu operates 8 of the 13 daily flights. mu's website should offer the deepest discount available on your travel day so you prob won't pay more than ctrip/elong.

if you have to fly on a different carrier, you should be able to use your ticket freely, if full fare. 10-20% discounts are also easy to change, but entail standing in a line and paying a fare difference, if necessary.

discounts greater than 20% pretty much lock you into the ticketing carrier, except for irregular ops (which are common).


Moondog makes a good suggestion, to wait and purchase your ticket on arrival. This will allow you to make the next flight out. Discounting in this route is not much, full fare is about 660 rmb. The max discount you might get would be about 20 %. You need not worry about not getting a seat on a flight, if you are not limited to E-tickets then there are 5 flights after your arrival at 2:05 pm. It is highly unlikely that any of them, much less all of them would be full. I would suggest when you arrive to go to the China Eastern counter which is upstairs in the departure area and ask them for the next flight. Usually if the next flight is on a different airiline they will tell you.
They operate the majority of the flights out of Kunming.

Thanks for the excellent information & advice. I'll buy the ticket at the airport.

Discounting in this route is not much, full fare is about 660 rmb. The max discount you might get would be about 20 %.

In January this year, I paid RMB 340 for Kunming to Lijiang (China Eastern) and RMB 410 for the return. I bought the outgoing ticket a day before travel at the Yunnan Air office in the centre of Kunming.

However, for the sake of the small difference involved, I would as recommended above by Moondog and AandT just buy at the airport ... unless you want to spend a night in Kunming (which I found quite pleasant).

In January this year, I paid RMB 340 for Kunming to Lijiang (China Eastern) and RMB 410 for the return. I bought the outgoing ticket a day before travel at the Yunnan Air office in the centre of Kunming.


My advice would be different in the event a y340 flight was on offer on the OPs travel date on MU and e-ticketing was possible. That's $30 of extra pocket money that carries minimal downside risk. The only drawback is that he'd be locked into MU, but with 8 flights per day, I don't think that's much of a problem.

That said, Lijiang is very popular during the summer so fares like that are rare enough that it's probably a non issue (on the dates I checked in July and August, there were a few flights at 10% off, but nothing more compelling).

I am at the moment in Lijiang and the city is full, there's like a gazillion Chinese tourists. Flights out of here do not discount much at the moment, and it is safe to assume that neither do flights to LJG. Buy a full Y fare at the airport

I am at the moment in Lijiang and the city is full, there's like a gazillion Chinese tourists.

Cool. Last night I received a PM from another FTer that is on the way there now (from PEK),.... popular place.

I recently bought and flew three air segments in China:

1. Chengdu to Lijiang
I bought the ticket from a travel agent at the Traffic Hotel (the one inside). Because my departure from CTU was the day after my arrival, I did not get a discount, which otherwise would have been common. The flight was an Airbus A319 (I think) on Sichuan Airlines. This was the second time I flew this airline, and they strike me as the best domestic airline in China. The aircraft appeared to be brand new, it still has that "new car smell". The flight departed and arrived ten minutes early with a boxed snack meal served.

2. Lijiang to Kunming
I bought the ticket from one of the many travel agents in old town after wisely ignoring my wife's suggestion to let the hotel do it. Another tip: Real travel agents in China have computers to handle common air bookings and should be able to type up a ticket in about an hour. Because I was buying a ticket on Friday for departure on Monday (Sunday was busier), I had a choice of at about ten flights ranging in price from 490 to about 1000 yuan. Airlines included China Eastern (MU), Air China, China Southern (CZ), and Yunnan Airlines. Picked a China Eastern flight at about 610 yuan.
The flight departed Lijiang Airport about ten minutes early, and MU served soft drinks and peanuts on this short flight. Plane was a newer, but not brand, new 737 I think.

3. Kunming to Bangkok
There are only two direct flights, one in the morning by MU and the other in the afternoon by TG. The TG flight appeared to be sold out when checking at home before coming to China. I bought a tix from the travel agent at the Chengdu Traffic Hotel. No discount, but the ticket at 2073 yuan was about fifty dollars CHEAPER than what it would have cost me in the U.S. (And I did not even include Expedia outrageous $25 delivering charge for paper tix. Thanks for the advice to buy in China, Moondog!)

Arriving at Kunming's airport for the BKK departure, my wife and I were confused by the fact that the airline ticket counters for international departures are BEHIND immigration. After getting the domestic MU ticket counter to explain that to us, we found our way and boarded. Flight left on time. MU used a narrow body aircraft with all-coach seating. Box breakfast was served. Again a good flight and service by MU.

Bowgie