I haven't used them, but the reviews online seem generally positive.

I do have a question about how this would affect the visa process (assuming you need one).

SFO-PVG and then
PVG-SFO-PVG

would look like multiple entries, followed by no departure at the end of the 2nd entry.

I use Ctrip for domestic China travel, and so far I have not had problems with them. My trips on CA have always been credited with UA within 1 or 2 days after travel, so I wouldn't worry about UA not crediting miles for UA tickets bought on Ctrip.

I suggest that you read the fare rules carefully. Since it's PVG-SFO-PVG, the rules are likely to be more flexible than SFO-PVG-SFO that most of us are familiar with.

Good question. For our return to PVG on the PVG-SFO-PVG ticket, we'd obtain a separate onward ticket. Or, as I mentioned, I'd explore simply changing the SFO-PVG return to an Asian destination other than PVG, if the rules and the cost of the change permitted it.

I use C trip all the time and have booked many of these cheap biz class fares using C trip where they generally are much cheaper than booking with the airline directly. Their customer service is better than any airline I've interacted with. Top notch in every way. I've never had a problem with these fares or with C trip and I probably run about $50K a year through them with my business and personal travel.

We complain about Ctrip more and more here because its service levels have declined over time, and they have increasingly resorted to trickery (e.g. meaningless insurance that is difficult to opt out of and impossible to use hotel currency bundled with airplane tickets). That having been said, I still MUCH prefer dealing with them than airlines.

Hello all - I have a few questions about ctrip. Saw it mentioned in the CX forum and indeed they offer extremely attractive fares. Quick question is - is there any way to find out the fare class of the ticket prior to purchase? I don't mind buying a consolidator fare that will earn 0 miles, I just want to know that's what I'm buying before I buy it. Also how is their customer service? OK for a foreign English speaker to use? Appreciate it - thanks!

Just curious - how do you find out the fare class? I'm looking at some USA-Europe itineraries and cannot find the fare class listed. I imagine ctrip also sells consolidator fares which are ineligible for mileage accrual.

I rarely care about fare classes, bit when I do, I simply call them.

So right after I posted my question, I played around on the site a bit more and found the online chat option. Asked them there - they said exactly what you did - you have to call to find out the fare class. HOWEVER, they did say that if you call to book a ticket by phone, the fare will be different than what's online! Can't figure out for the life of me why that would be, but hey when you're getting airfares as cheap as they're advertising, can't really ask questions can you? :)

Interesting that fare class doesn't matter to some of you. Here it's the question of earning 0% or 25% vs 100% of flown miles - especially for us mileage accruers/redeemers, makes a world of difference.

Within each airline, the discount level maps to a specific fare class, but is not uniform across Chinese airlines. I can't seem to locate my handy cheat sheet, but in general, full fare economy maps to Y (all airlines), 5% discount maps to B (most airlines), and 10% and 15% the letter code varies but maps to the next two highest fare classes. Usually these do get some sort of mileage accrual in their own and alliance partner FFP's. 20% discount level is on the bubble and also may depend on the specific partner FFP. Any discount higher than that and you can pretty much kiss goodbye any accrual. Premium economy may or may not get you any more mileage than Y fare class. Business and first should be pretty safe for accrual though heavily discounted premium fares might accrue lower.

Interesting - any experience with US carriers, specifically AA? I'm looking at US-Europe itineraries which are significantly cheaper on ctrip as opposed to other OTAs. Thanks!

Do not use ctrip for international flights that do not originate in China. Particularly if you are not located in China. Full stop.

Duly noted. Just curious why? I can imagine in case of IRROPS and needing customer assistance that it would be a nightmare. But what else?

I'm curious about this as well.

They have recently started selling some very good fares in non- China markets.

HKG-LAX rt in biz is currently quite popular, for example:
CX.com = $6500
Aa.com = $4500
Ctrip = $2200 (for the AA flights)

While I realize that some people believe that native AA customer service is worthy of paying a premium v ctrip, I happen to disagree, and I'm guessing even most pessimists would join me when contemplating a $2000 difference. I believe the Ctrip fare is D class, by the way; a two minute phone call would clarify this.