Is this typical with Air China?
 

Hi Everyone,

I am trying to make a one way reservation between PVG and PEK. I was told that I cannot make the reservation online and must do so over the phone. Specifically, I was given a form to fill out with my credit card, passport, driver's license and other info. I guess once I email/fax it back they can process the reservation.

Is this typical? Not saying anything's wrong with it, but it's certainly different than what I'm used to so I figured I would check.

Thanks very much for your help.

Phipps

Yeah, I've seen that drill before. More importantly, why are you booking through Air China? The online agencies are much easier to deal with.

As always, ctrip.com will be much easier.

I used the online agency 9588. I could use my credit card from the States, and was able even book a discounted ticket, not just the regular fare. They emailed my confirmation with e-ticket number. I called Air China to confirm the next day and to get a seat assignment. No problems.
http://ticket.9588.com

I've heard this is typical with CA. The online agencies are super easy, I usually use elong.net or ctrip.com, discounted prices and no faxing.

Agree. I just booked one way SHA/PEK and it was just over $50 less expensive than orbitz, expedia, etc or China Air. Had to pay 3% to use credit card, though.

We're trying to call them "Air China" these days (in order to avoid confusion). Moving on, if ctrip shows a cheap fare, you can find the same thing via CA's channels 99% of the time and spare yourself the credit card fee. The problem with this approach is that you'll probably need to go to a CA CTO, and doing so usually costs at least as much as the cc fee in terms of time and actual expenses.

Try going on Air China's US sites. I've bought CA tickets with my c/c online before.

Or you can try Chinese online TA's like
Ctrip: http://english.ctrip.com/
eLong (expedia China branch): http://www.elong.net/

Or call them: 400 619 9999 for ctrip, 4006-171717 foe eLong.

Chinese online TA's are different from major US counterparts in that, you may purchase the tickets over the phone as well, the phone lines are 24/7 and answered all the time, ie no 30+ minutes of holding or talking to machines, and you can also choose to have your eticket itinerary delivered and pay for your ticket in cash only when you get your itinerary.