The first time ctrip pulled the same trick on me (maybe 5 years ago), I was angry... to the extent that I raised a bit of a fuss (it should go without saying that my fuss went nowhere). IIRC, I boycotted them for a month or two in protest. But, then a true "bricks and mortar" TA left me in the cold (literally), so I decided to make peace with ctrip.

Takeaways:

-this sort of dishonesty is the norm in the China internet travel space
-ctrip is cool because, assuming you are a decent customer, it is the ONLY point in the PRC travel process that you can push for resolution when things go awry

The second point is key. Perhaps Elong is similarly situated; I wouldn't know it because I don't use them. But, with ctrip, you have a company with resources to bail you out of jams that are unmatched by any other players.

While I've yet to receive any true air-side assistance, I predict they will be the first to make such happen.