Originally Posted by Red259 (Post 25040437)

I need to buy some train tickets. I know I can't use credit card at station. Is the cheapest way to pay with credit card the websites like ctrip etc? How much am I saving by paying in cash? Just the commission?

Originally Posted by qpr (Post 25067341)

At ctrip or other companies you pay the regular ticket price plus the service fee.

At DIY, for example, you pay $ 10 more for the ticket as at the train station.

If the train station ticket office is too overcrowded, you can also buy tickets at ticket offices outside the train station.
There you have to pay an 5 Yuan fee.

Originally Posted by moondog (Post 25067487)

Ctrip doesn't charge a service fee for train tickets, BUT they try to get you to buy insurance and pay a delivery fee (both of which can be opted out of).

Originally Posted by JPDM (Post 24964589)

As to whether 1st class is worth it, 2nd class seats in high speed trains has pretty good leg space, similar to business class on a flight. The biggest difference is seat width, 47cm compared to 42cm. and seats are more cushy. For real luxury, you have Business class or VIP on some trains. To visualize it, check this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvytUaRs2dU
If you take the train back from Guilin to Shenzhen, there is a bus from the train station to HK, This video is about Shenzhen north train station. At the end they show you where to get the bus to HK:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7rBBozruos

Originally Posted by Red259 (Post 25104411)

Trying to buy a train ticket at the shanghai train station was ridiculous as two agents in a row kept claiming all trains to beijing sold out come back tomorrow. This sounded completely absurd to me given all the trains that run shanghai to beijing and finally I got the guy to go into his little computer and find a second class seat on a train later that day. I ended up having to wait around 3-4 hours for a later train and taking a second class seat instead of the first class seat I wanted from Shanghai to Beijing.

Originally Posted by qpr (Post 25104470)

When people give back their ticket, it goes back in the system.

When a train is sold out, maybe with some luck you can buy a ticket 1h later as someone gave it back earlier.

Or if you really need to catch a train, there´s another way to enter a train.

G104 tomorrow morning 07.00 am from Shanghai to Beijing is sold out in 1. and 2. class.
But for the same train there´s still tickets available to Nanjing.
Buy a ticket to Nanjing and when you enter the train buy a standing ticket to Beijing from a staff member.
Of course, you have no seat but sometimes you have luck to find a seat for some parts of the journey.
It is not very comfortable but it´s a way to arrive at your destination although the train is sold out.

Originally Posted by Red259 (Post 25104411)

Just as an after trip note I ended up getting screwed over by ctrip in that I booked my train ticket with them and the transaction appeared to go through and then they subsequently cancelled the train ticket via email.

Originally Posted by jiejie (Post 25104877)

Picking out some specific points to comment on:



This bothers me about ctrip--this sort of thing shouldn't have happened and it should have been made clear immediately that a) train was sold out, if indeed it was and b) booking online with a foreign credit card within 72 hours of departure can cause a rejected booking. Two points for other readers: for nonresidents, ctrip may not be your best option for train tickets and it's best to buy close-in tickets yourself in person rather than fool around with agents.

- Definitely agree with this advice.

I think you were being blown off by the agents, and yes, it was absurd, but possibly a lost-in-translation issue also. First point: if you have a preferred departure even on a major run like Shanghai-Beijing, don't wait until the last minute. Or be flexible. Second point: buying tickets directly at a big-city train station is my least-preferred option. Going to a satellite ticket office, which are all over most cities if you know what to look for (or get directions to closest one) is a much more sane option and takes less time... and the RMB 5 surcharge should be a non-issue.

- I would have definitely gone to a satellite office rather than buying the ticket online if I knew what to look for or if I knew that was even an option. One of the reasons I used online was I didn't want to spend so much time travelling to the train station to get the ticket and second I wanted to put the ticket charge on my credit card. For the Shanghai/Beijing situation I discovered that the ticket had not booked only a few hours before I was to head to the station, so I decided to just go there and buy whatever I could find. If you use one of these offices do they give you the ticket there? I stood in line for over an hour to pick up my ticket in the Beijing station only afterwards did I see the option to have the ticket delivered to the hotel which would have definitely been worth the money.

You are the first 6+ footer I've heard say that first class was not worth the premium over second class, for routes of this length. But it's good to have an alternate opinion out there for tall forum readers who are weighing their options and counting their pennies at the same time.

Originally Posted by Red259 (Post 25105096)

[/B]

Are you able to control if you get a seat on the side with two seats or the side with three seats? I rode on the two seat side, but my opinion may change if I was stuck in the middle of the three seat side. Even on the three seat side the aisle or window seat would have been fine with me. I think the shanghai/beijing trip was about the longest I could handle in that seat though. Fortunately my other train trip was shorter. I am tall but the width of the seat was more than enough for me. Someone who is of a bit more girth may have more of an issue but I had at least an inch on each side of me. Unlike the hong kong airlines plane where I was stuck in a seat for three hours on tarmac waiting for ATC. I was severely cramped in that seat and the shanghai princess in front of me decided to recline her seat all the way back so it banged constantly against my knees.

Originally Posted by Red259 (Post 25105096)

[/B]

Are you able to control if you get a seat on the side with two seats or the side with three seats? I rode on the two seat side, but my opinion may change if I was stuck in the middle of the three seat side.

Originally Posted by jiejie (Post 25107594)

Not really, on high speed trains the computer assigns the seats sequentially....but often you can find fellow Chinese passengers who will switch with you, especially if they have >2 people in the party who got inadvertently split up.

As to satellite office question: when you buy at one of these, the actual ticket is issued on the spot, there is no "pickup at the station" as when you buy online. I rarely spend more than 5 minutes when purchasing at one of these.

Purchasing through official site 12306.cn is only available to those with China-issued bank cards, and it is Chinese-language only.

Originally Posted by moondog (Post 25107635)

I always ask for (and receive) seats on the 2-seat side of the aisle.

Originally Posted by jiejie (Post 25107652)

One can ask, but may not necessarily receive, especially if purchasing online vs in person, and if the 2-seat side is already sold out.

Originally Posted by moondog (Post 25107692)

On 12306.cn, you can choose seats (just like an airline website). On ctrip, you cannot.

I usually buy tickets in person, and have gotten seats on the 2-seat side 100% of the time.