iahphx

I have some friends who want to visit China this summer. They do not have enough frequent flyer miles for all members of their party. From the WAS/NYC area it looks like tickets are running north of $1300. Would a consolidator save them money on these tickets?

I remember from a few years ago there were consolidators who specialized in "ethnic" travel who sometimes had better deals to China (I've just been using my ff miles to "pay" for my tickets in recent years, so I haven't looked). I assume these outfits still exist? Or perhaps there are consolidators who specialize in general leisure travel who have access to lower fares? Any recommendations would be much appreciated. I'm presuming at these price levels that an alternative to the published rates exists.

My friends also have a family member in China who wants to fly back with them to the USA. If you're in China, what's the cheapest way to book a roundtrip to the USA? I've never had to buy such a ticket, so I have zero knowledge about it (although I'm guessing the ticket buying process is interesting!).

Thanks for the help!

jiejie

Buying round trip tickets for journeys beginning in China is not that much different from elsewhere--choices include: going directly to airline office or airline website, physical office travel agent, or 3rd party online like ctrip.com or (more likely for Chinese readers) qunar.com. You can also look at the US or worldwide websites and play with the booking feature, and see what pricing and availability comes up when you start the journey in China.

The situation Chinese passport holders have is that they need to get a US visa which is a bit more complicated compared to US passport holders getting Chinese visas. And not a sure thing. If the family member already has a US visa that will be valid for this journey, then it's simply a matter of making flight arrangements. If s/he doesn't have a visa, best to start the process of getting one soon.

It may or may not be possible to get the family member ticketed for the exact same China-USA flights. And the fares may be different than those bought in the USA.

moondog

Back in the day, I used to buy tickets from Gateway (Louisville, KY) -- a consolidator -- and typically saved around $300 per ticket v. united.com. However, now that ticket prices are $1300+, I try to use miles whenever possible (and redeem in business class). When I am low on miles, I simply buy them (from the airlines themselves or friends), but this is rarely the case for me because it's insanely easy to pick up free miles these days. The current low hanging fruit is the Chase BA Visa with the 100k mile sign up bonus; offer is valid until May 5.

mnredfox

If folks from WAS/NYC want cheap flights to China, my best advice is to do what you would do in the US when booking a MR. Utilize ITA's matrix webpage, Travelocity dreammaps, or FareCompare's tools to find cheapest departure point from the US and get yourself there.

About 2 months ago there was a fare war between AA and DL out of MIA to China, I found RT prices as low as $500. I was trying to get some of my family to book flights from DTW via MIA-PVG. Total cost around $800. DTW-PVG direct was $1300. Why not save $500 and collect a bunch more miles and MQM's in the meantime?

iahphx

Thanks, guys. Yeah, unless I come across a crazy fare, I just use ff miles for trips to Asia, too -- that's why I'm pretty clueless as to the consolidator scene as well. I do remember buying tickets from a consolidator to HKG almost a decade ago, saving hundreds of dollars.

Gateway rings a bell. I'll try to find them. I'll also watch for MR-type fares from any US gateway (although I think summer could be tough). Does anyone have any other ideas?