Recent experiences with 9588.com?
 

There are some threads about the different websites to book air travel in China, but nothing recent about 9588.com. Does anyone have any recent experience with this website?

I want to fly PVG-XIY on July 26 in the morning. Of travelzen.com, ctrip.com, and 9588.com, 9588.com is the only one that is giving me one remaining seat at a significantly cheaper price, so I am leaning towards them.

Any advice? Is it still too early to buy tickets for July 26 and a flight XIY-PEK on July 28?

Did you try calling them? (I certainly would if it meant saving $50.) You could also try to book directly with FM or MU.

For both legs, I suggest you try to wrap things up fairly quickly because prices aren't likely to go down. And, I'd pay a few (10 not 50) bucks more to let ctrip handle the xiy-pek leg; xiy is one of my least favorite airports in which to get stuck.

Thanks moondog for your advice. You always come through for me :). What if I was to purchase the XIY-PEK leg directly through China Air? Is it still better (from a customer service perspective) to go through cTrip?

First of all, it wouldn't be fair to others that I've recently lambasted to not tell you that we're talking about "Air China".

In the event that fares were the same, I'd book directly with CA if I cared about the extra 4% that ctrip will tack on (assuming foreign credit card), but since ctrip has bailed me out of many jams, I'm usually happy to pay their surcharge.

Unfortunately, even with a ctrip booking, you can't simply go to the next gate and board that flight, but they can help you craft a viable walk to and from the lobby that will get you on that flight.

So I went through an entire transaction with www.9588.com to make a purchase on a China Eastern X class fare from PVG to XIY. Got to the very end, and it told me that fare was only valid for Chinese citizens with a Chinese ID card. Bummer! It was saving me quite a bit of cash over the other options ... now I know why!

The stuff you learn!

Sorry, that's what I meant ... Air China. Sometimes dyslexia takes over!

I used 9588 and got a discounted fare from SHA - PEK, with no problems. I ended up saving at least $50. Got instant e-ticket number. I called Air China the next day to confirm and get a seat assignment, it was there and had no problems when I checked in at SHA for my flight. I was satisfied.

While I'm glad you didn't throw $50 towards the wind, I feel compelled to point out that very few travelers pay an extra $50 unnecessarily.

A notable exception to this rule is US-based travelers that book tickets on Expedia/Orbitz/Travelocity. Since these sites are not registered travel agents in China, they only have the ability to sell full fare tickets.

That having been said, very few people take the Expedia bait during this day and age because they know better. Chances are, even the TA in the fanciest hotel in town could have "saved" you the same $50, if not more.

What I'm suggesting is that while 9588 clearly helped you, the vast majority of other channels would have lead to the same result.