using qunar.com for bookings
 

I always scan this site when I have time off from work and need a place to travel to....I find it good to find fares domestically in China, but I'll never use any of those strange travel agents that come up...I've only used it when it links me to the official airline websites and is cheaper than CTrip....

Now for my situation: Looking into a week in Osaka in the summertime and saw on the qunar international specials ex-SHA a 480rmb r/t to Nagoya. Only problem...the site is one of those strange Chinese travel agents which I'm a little nervous about going through....however, all the other flights are overpriced like usual, and I'd probably end up using miles if this doesn't go through....And the best part is that the flight is on CZ, not even 9C

Any advice? is it safe?
I know there are limitations on some of these fares - I'm a Chinese resident, not a Chinese citizen....

Thanks!

As long as you're eligible for the fare, qunar should be fine--lots of people use them (though tends to be Chinese speakers/readers as qunar isn't geared for English language or international processing support). Just make sure you make your decision based on the complete "all-in" price with taxes, fuel surcharge, etc. included. I can't possibly believe that 480 RMB price to Nagoya is all-in!

ETA: I have no knowledge of how qunar's after-sales support is, in case you need to cancel, make changes, etc.

They don't offer any support tmk, just like kayak.

yes, it's obviously not a/i....it's something like 650 for the fees....but 1100's not bad at all to japan....

now for the tricky part, figuring out if my chinese friend can get a tourist visa

Unless your friend writes something really stupid on the visa application, it should be a slam dunk. Japan is one of the few countries to which China offers visa free entry, so the Japanese tend to reciprocate pretty well.

Wow - Good news!

This is completely not what my friend told me - something along the lines of there being many illegal Chinese living in Japan so they require you to have a lot of money.....

But then again, this friend has only left China once before and that was to Korea so I can't really say.

These qunar.com international specials are just great - I just booked a weekend trip to Korea for 950rmb a/i

Your friend is correct however they changed the guidelines a few years ago.

I have quite a few friends who use this no visa necessary to maintain two passports. They leave China using their Chinese passports, enter Japan with their Chinese passports, leave Japan using their Canadian passport, enter Canada with their Canadian passport.

This way, they can maintain both passports.

Maybe we're getting off topic, but my point was:

-the PRC's current visa policies towards Japan are exceptionally kind; Japan passports are among the shortlist that are permitted to enter China visa free
-PRC nationals do need visas to go to Japan, but they are readily available for most tourists these days

Can you talk more about qunar.com and the international specials? First time I heard of it (here on FT, what a surprise) and want to head to Korea myself. Tickets are around 950 RMB but add in tax is about another 850 RMB. Are you sure your ticket/tax only came to 950 RMB? Does that include hotels?

Sorry for getting off topic....thanks for the advice everyone - will definitely stop by the Japanese Embassy and try to get a 3rd opinion on this before booking.....

As for the tickets to Seoul....my 950 a/i is gone, but there are plenty of 1200 a/i's....try dates May 26-May 29....it's 1200 a/i and I moved dates around from the CZ site it took me to for booking and there is LOTS of availability then....looks like the rate goes into April but not March...

Not sure about mileage accrual though...probably 25% or 50% since its a discount fare

Can you please confirm 950 a/i as in including, or excluding taxes?

YES - 100% a/i, taxes, fees included....it was only 100rmb each way +750 in taxes.....look on this site:

http://air.tenpay.com/pages/international/tejia.php

i can't find any more 950's. but there are plenty of 1200's with everything included

EDIT: This site actually doesn't list the good prices for seoul, only for Busan and Daegu - but they DO exist. Just click on any of the specials and change the cities to PVG - ICN and it will show 240 each way for a total of 480+700 tx+fees

Hope this helps!

Thanks for confirming. I actually saw qunar on CCTV the other day (the Chinese version) and from what I could interpret it is an up and coming website getting a lot of hype and positive attention from Chinese travelers. I'm trying to plan a trip to Korea myself, so will check this out before buying the tickets I want on ctrip...