Whatever it was, it presented no issue for us. We had seats and even got a 90min ATC delay thrown in for free.

Not sure how I missed this before: apparently, the Ministry of Railways in conjunction with the Bank of China is now issuing special ID cards that will potentially allow us lowly foreigners to once again use the automated ticket vending machines in train stations.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2...t_15606832.htm

It's not entirely clear exactly how this thing works from the China Daily article, and I can't seem to find much more info anywhere, and I'm going to try looking into this more next week when I'm back in BJ and try actually applying for one, but in the mean time, does anyone else have any experience with this?

No personal experience, but those who read Chinese can have a look at this, which seems to be the card the article talks about. Basically a UnionPay prepaid card with name, picture, and passport/ID number on the back.

I will answer my own post just in case anyone in the future has similar questions.

Kicked out of F check in and sent to Y check in.

No lounge invite/access.

Boarding was a free for all, so I don't expect that even pax holding a full F ticket got F boading.

Seat was F, meal was bad. No booze.

I think all in all I got what I paid for and did not miss much.

Had 2 F flights on MU and 1 Y. Overall a much better experience on MU.

I've heard similarly little to you and Scifience, but this is also my impression: that the card will be a glorified stored value card with one's ID embedded. I don't know anybody who's gone for one yet, but it could be useful for those living in China (or frequent visitors) who ride the HSR regularly. If we get some data points--from FT'ers or otherwise--that show this is viable, I'll add into the big post on general intercity train travel.

Flying on the Discounted F Ticket
 

Differences in airline aside, I think when it comes to domestic F tickets even paid ones, ground servicing is never going to be what you expect elsewhere. You're mostly paying for a better seat and chance to get off the airplane first. And also, an additional bonus of frequent flyer miles for whatever program you subscribe to. Food in any class of service in domestic Chinese is a lottery--usually you lose. :p Of course, even if denied lounge access with a discounted F ticket, you should still be able to access a lounge if you have suitable elite status with the relevant alliance. (Doesn't work for alliance-less Hainan though).

I don't think I've ever seen discussed on FT, the bennies (ground or otherwise) for discounted F flyers on the various domestic Chinese airlines. Particularly how they'd be treated differently from regular F flyers. Moondog, any insights on this? Is each airline a little different on this in typical policy, or is it very much pot luck and just depends on who you deal with on day of travel regardless of airline?

MU/CZ/FM/CA: Discounted First Class ground handling: Everything, but fast track security in Beijing. All other airports completely same treatment as full fare F. I think ground services are excellent and better than what I am used to at my home airport MUC.

HU was a once and never again experience for me, in Y though.

So Chinatrvl, are you saying the experience is more related to airport than airline? Because I've heard others on discounted F tickets on other airlines, describe pretty much what planecrashlaw said....though most of these data point sources were at PEK so maybe that is the rub. In effect, a "second class" First Class experience on the ground! Regardless of ground treatment, I still think flying on a well-discounted first class ticket would be better than Y in all cases.

It's quite simple. MU/CZ/FM don't give access to fast track security in Beijing (albeit my success rate is >50% - and the problem should be solved with SkyPriority). But it has so far no problem to use the first class security lane in many, many other airports (in particular PVG, NKG, CAN, SZX, SHA) - and it is also not excluded in the ticket conditions.
All other treatment is exactly like full fare F, including lounge access, priority boarding, on-board service.

My "data points" on this topic (discount first) with SkyTeam carriers is a three digit number of flights; but minimal with CA.

I am aware that HU (and maybe other small carriers) exclude everything on the ground and even don't give first class baggage limit, but this is clearly stated when buying the ticket on ctrip.

Stored value card is not worth anything to me, I just want to use an automated machine again...

The idea is that the stored value card also stores your ID so that it functions as a Chinese ID substitute at the automated machines.

I'm still waiting to be able to use the HK Octopus card for Shenzhen transit (nevermind the few Cafe de Corals by the train station that accept it).

Also, any ideas as to when the Dongguan-Huizhou light rail will open?

I am happy to see this topic kicked around, as there was little info available before I left. Case in point is that no where on Ctrip was my baggage limit stated for this fare basis, and as far as the HU website....forgetaboutit. So we just assumed we got the F allowance beforehand, they accepted our very heavy bags w/o any problem (in the Y lane) and it was not an issue. But I went in blind, which I don't like to do.

Hmmm, will look into it. I am normally taking HSR at least 1-2 return trips a week so this would really save time and reduce hassle.

3 different questions about transport
 

Hi, we're going to travel in China for a month, and before we depart (and after reading this super-useful thread) I have a few questions regarding transport issues:

1. Night train from Beijing to Xi'an
We have booked tickets using a China-based friend-agent for the Z53 on Sep 18th. Following unexpected changes in our itinerary, we would like to change the date of this ride to the 19th. Is this possible at all, and how do we do it? Assuming that our agent is no longer in Beijing (he went travelling). We arrive to Beijing on the 17th in the morning.
Do we need to go to the station personally, or can we use one of the "kiosks" to change the date?

2. Booking a low fare flight from Guilin to Beijing
We want to fly sometime between the 11-13 of October. I saw tickets on ctrip for a late-night flight on the 11th for 190$ (incl. taxes). Should I keep looking for a lower fare, or is this as good as it gets?

3. Booking Chengdu-Guyiang train tickets in Beijing
We'll be leaving Beijing on the 18th (or 19th), and we want to buy the Chengdu-Guyiang sleeper tickets for September 29th. Is this possible, assuming it might be 11 days prior to the departure date? If it's not possible, can we book these tickets the next day when we're in Xi'an?

Thanks :-: