China Master Transportation Thread
#121
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: UA 1K 1MM, AA, DL
Posts: 7,426
#122
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: SIN / SFO
Programs: UA GS, SQ PPS, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Titanium, Hilton Diamond, Accor Gold
Posts: 1,217
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?
Originally Posted by China Daily
Foreigners are likely to find it easier to travel between Beijing and Tianjin, municipalities in North China, with the help of "expresspay cards" that were introduced on Saturday.
Besides the trains running between Beijing and Tianjin, travelers can also take the cards to the Ministry of Railways' sales website and ticket offices that have point-of-sale equipment to buy tickets for other routes.
Applications for the cards can be submitted either to the Beijing Southern Railway Station or at five selected offices of the Bank of China in Beijing. The forms should be filled in with applicants' full names, passport numbers and telephone numbers. Travelers can call 95566 or 4008-368-368 for more information.
Besides the trains running between Beijing and Tianjin, travelers can also take the cards to the Ministry of Railways' sales website and ticket offices that have point-of-sale equipment to buy tickets for other routes.
Applications for the cards can be submitted either to the Beijing Southern Railway Station or at five selected offices of the Bank of China in Beijing. The forms should be filled in with applicants' full names, passport numbers and telephone numbers. Travelers can call 95566 or 4008-368-368 for more information.
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?
#123
Join Date: Aug 2008
Programs: HHonors Gold, Marriott Lifetime Gold, IHG Gold, OZ*G, AA Gold, AS MVP
Posts: 1,874
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.
#124
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: TVC
Programs: AA EXP/LT PLT., Marriott LT GLD
Posts: 504
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.
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.
We just got a deal of about 1/2 the going F fare (we paid 1440 each) for a Hainan (HU) flight PEK-CTU. The fare rules are a bit confusing:
"Economy class full price to enjoy First Class service on the plane, but with gate and ground service at economy class"
Does anyone have any real experience with what I actually get? Just not sure how much they limit "ground service."
I will get the F seat and meal.
I am pretty sure that I won't get the PEK lounge.
But do I get the F Check-in? F boarding?
Any advice is appreciated.
"Economy class full price to enjoy First Class service on the plane, but with gate and ground service at economy class"
Does anyone have any real experience with what I actually get? Just not sure how much they limit "ground service."
I will get the F seat and meal.
I am pretty sure that I won't get the PEK lounge.
But do I get the F Check-in? F boarding?
Any advice is appreciated.
#125
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Southeast USA
Programs: various
Posts: 6,710
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.
#126
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Southeast USA
Programs: various
Posts: 6,710
Flying on the Discounted F Ticket
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.
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 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?
#127
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Shanghai and Bavaria
Programs: Spire RA, 1865 Voyager, Bonvoy Titanium, FB LP, LH SEN.
Posts: 3,104
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.
HU was a once and never again experience for me, in Y though.
#128
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Southeast USA
Programs: various
Posts: 6,710
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.
HU was a once and never again experience for me, in Y though.
#129
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Shanghai and Bavaria
Programs: Spire RA, 1865 Voyager, Bonvoy Titanium, FB LP, LH SEN.
Posts: 3,104
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.
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.
#130
FlyerTalk Evangelist & Ambassador: China
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: DEN
Programs: DL DM/MM, UA 1K, AA Exp, HH Dia, WOH Glob, IHG Plat, Marriott Gold, NA EE, Hertz PC
Posts: 17,423
Stored value card is not worth anything to me, I just want to use an automated machine again...
#131
Join Date: Aug 2008
Programs: HHonors Gold, Marriott Lifetime Gold, IHG Gold, OZ*G, AA Gold, AS MVP
Posts: 1,874
#132
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?
Also, any ideas as to when the Dongguan-Huizhou light rail will open?
#133
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: TVC
Programs: AA EXP/LT PLT., Marriott LT GLD
Posts: 504
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.
#134
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Asia/Europe
Programs: CX, OZ, MU (+AY, DL), Shangri-La, Hilton
Posts: 7,236
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.
#135
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 7
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 :-:
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 :-: