I think trip.com will book you a dicount seat. The tickets on CX website usually give you more flexibility.

I never had issues with trip.com.

I've used Trip.com ( formerly Ctrip.com) many times to book trips within China - both air and rail.
I have also used them for multi-stop trips that involve 1 internal China leg followed by China-Asia leg.
I have found them to be cheaper than airline websites, especially on First/business class fares.
There are also no hassles when using foreign credit cards.
I have recently also used their website to research other Asian itineraries, although I did not end up booking through them.

Well, let's see

• To save money
• To have a more reliable point of contact than airlines or hotels (they typically don't make you wait on hold for hours)
• To use foreign plastic for services that don't accept credit cards when booked directly
• To get a broader view on flight/hotel options

That's all that comes to mind off the top of my head.

Thank you! That's what I'm looking for. What are the odds I'll end up with an O-fare if buy economy?

CX rarely markets O class fare, but never say never. Use https://matrix.itasoftware.com/search to cross-check the booking class if you have a matching fare.

CX is horrible if trying to earn miles in other programs and flying economy because of the relatively few Econ fares that credit to BA,AS,AA etc. If earning miles on Econ fares is your game in Asia then fly NH and credit to UA or fly MU/KE and credit to DL. One World in Asia is no good for crediting economy fares. JL, CX and MH all don’t credit most buckets.

I know, but that's not my point. I rather get something than nothing. I never like leaving miles on the table.

After using them to book a spirit flight I would never again as I question their security.

I booked a spirit fare and got the number and added it to spirit’s website. I then subscribed to flight notifications. However, I started getting texts about checking in, seat upgrades, and my flight leaving soon. I was very confused. I learned it was because they all were using the same weird email trip.com fills in and so I inadvertently had access to all of the reservations in spirit’s side.

Why did you use a Chinese OTA to book a Spirit flight?

Idk I found the cheapest price from google flights and that’s what they linked to.

Early Covid, a new booking class P got introduced.

CX should have informed other airlines: "Hey, we've got a new business class booking class and it should be treated as I".

Though that seems not to have been done towards BA, or the alternative, BA and CX do have an agreement in place, which BA isn't happy about and does not want to honor the additional P class, without updating the contract for their benefit.

They are useful in Asia (especially China and places Chinese people like) because they have quite a bit of clout, but this doesn't really carry over into other markets, apart from famous hotels.

I flew Spirit twice this year (and survived). In both cases, I booked on their website. I thought about using Expedia (which, I like) instead for the same price, but I guessed that having them as a POC wouldn't add much, if any, value.

When I fly MU or CX, by contrast, I almost always use ctrip because having them in the middle saves time and generates better results than me communicating directly with MU or CX.

years ago I used ctrip and bought a business ticket with a 20% discount price from what i can see on cx
later on i was told it is a reward redemption ticket

after the incident, i don't use it anymore for ticketing anymore

Is that legal?

Which law?