Originally Posted by
Devedader
Since I am buying my tickets walk up at the airport and I am not particularly experienced at it, is this one of those situations where they will try to sell foreigners the expensive seats unless you specifically ask again for something cheaper or are they pretty straight forward about finding you the cheapest seat?
Just figured good to have as much info as possible before I get into the situation.
Thanks
Foreigners are now on equal footing with Chinese in terms of prices and have been for about 10 years.
IIRC, you're planning on doing a same day connect. If that's the case, here's what I suggest:
1) set up an account with ctrip, preferably linked to your China cell phone
2) before you leave --at the latest possible moment-- print out a copy of the schedule and fares for your route
3) as soon as you touch down, call ctrip (400 820 6666) and book a ticket with your credit card (international cards are ok now)
4) your ticket will be waiting for you by the time you exit baggage claim and their counter is on the arrivals level (i.e. very short walk)
If you don't have a cell phone, you can still pull off steps 1 and 2.
BTW, I plug ctrip often enough to arouse suspicions that I am an insider. While it's true that I've known the founder for a long time, I have no financial interests in the company whatsoever. In fact, I readily admit that some of their policies are downright annoying. That said, ctrip always plays a part in my travel booking process (often just for informational purposes). I don't doubt that elong/yoee could be just as useful; I've simply never felt the need to branch out. In any case, much of the advice you get from me involves ctrip because I know how to do their drill.