Originally Posted by
moondog
When I reviewed this thread today, it occurred to me that I don't think ctrip makes a substantial profit on airplane tickets (this is based on past conversations with its founder plus common sense). Whether they sell you a 8折 or a 4折 fare, the airline still gets to keep almost all of the money, and you get the benefits that are included in the fare purchased (e.g. the former can usually be changed once for free). Perhaps their search algorithms suck or they are simply playing conservative ball to guard against price spikes between booking and ticket issuance, but I don't believe there is any real conspiracy going on.
Since the highest surchage is, in my experience, on full fare F tickets (on some routes over 1000 CNY!) and also notable on full Y/W, I highly doubt that. Furthmore, it's also possible to compare booking classes of discounted tickets - you'll also see it's more expensive than on the airline's site.
It's a mark up or simply a fee that isn't explicitly mentioned like it is common at European online flight reservation sites.