Need help with inter-China flights
 

Hey guys.

I am getting ready to embark on my China trip and had some questions. What would you guys say is the cheapest and best airline to do a day trip from Shanghai to Beijing in 2 weeks? Also, Shanghai to Hong Kong?
My friend and I are trying not to spend too much money, but we want to try and leave in the morning and come back late.


What do you guys recommend?

I would choose MU, CA, or FM in that order for PEK-SHA/PVG flights. Prices range from 600's to 1100's for one ways.

For PVG-HKG i usually go with MU. A lot cheaper than KA or CX and service is fine (only 2 hour flight).

BTW, i definitely do not suggest day trip to Shanghai. Much more to do at night than daytime :)

Is that US dollar!? I hope note! Well, our home base is Shanghai, so we will be spending the majority of the trip there.

that's RMB (CNY). 7 RMB = 1 USD.

look on ctrip

They are convienent and inexpensive. Lots of options and quite reliable.

RMB prices, you can find them on various websites incl. ctrip

Is Ctrip now the best one to book with? No problems with foreign credit cards and such these days? Any other sites worth comparison shopping? And I assume the internet is now as good as trying to find a deal at a local travel agent after you arrive?

Thanks for sparing me the search through the archives. My knowledge is now almost 2 years old, which is like ancient history in China. :)

BTW, what's the max out you can book a rail sleeper these days?

There are a few good sites out there all mentioned in the China forums. For domestic flights though, my local agent will (almost) always beat online prices by a bit.

AFAIK, 7 (edit - 11) days max out for rail sleeper.

I use ctrip but there is elong as well which are pretty good.
I just find them convienent. Buy online and they will deliver the tickets to your hotel or you can pick them up at their booth at the airport.

Is C-trip pretty reliable for private drivers? I was going to book one on the website to pick us up from the airport and drive us to our hotel.

OK, thanks. So if I comparison shop ctrip and elong I can get pretty close to the best fare and not have any ticketing hassles? I'll be flying during around China in August (during the Olympics), so I don't want to leave it for the very last minute.

As you may know, I use ctrip often. While I don't have enough data to proclaim "the best", I am fond of their service.

When I book with the agent downstairs, I'm kind of stuck with him for refunds and what not (not a big problem since I always come back here).

By comparison, ctrip offers 24-hour customer service in English. They have the ability to change my 8a flight from CA to MU at 6a. The guy downstairs can't do this because he is sleeping then.

For August travel, you're going to be paying full fare anyway (yesterday was completely sold out by noon), so I suggest you deal with a big agency.

Thanks for the info, Moondog. I just read somewhere today the elong still makes foreign customers fax them a copy of their credit card and such before completing the transaction. Is this true?

It certainly sounds like ctrip is the easiest. And I like the idea of English-language customer service!

Another one to consider is www.9588.com. I've booked with all three (elong, ctrip and 9588) at different times, and haven't had any probs yet.

Elong was a bit of a pain - yep, they made my fax in a copy of the cc, and it was a paper ticket, so I had to meet someone at Shanghai airport to collect the ticket. But they got the ticket to us ok, so all was good in the end. (that was in November 06, don't know if it's still the case).

I've booked a private taxi through ctrip, and was happy with the driver and the price.

Have fun :)

2 annoying things about ctrip's new cc policy
 

-you need to book online
-24 hour advance required

The latter is especially troubling for me. Friday, I was at the office and needed to get one of our guests back to SH. The entire schedule was SOLD OUT, which meant that Sat AM was the best we could do.

Ctrip was of no use, so we ended up doing things the old fashion way.

PS- He insisted on flying CZ due to his CO addiction, but ended up on MU. I'm glad we splurged for full fare (20% discount was on offer for his flight).

"Cheapest" and "Best" Don't Always Coincide
 

Suggest DragonAir between Shanghai and HK. Terrific service and very decent equipment. They're owned by Cathay Pacific.

As you've tacitly admitted, KA and CX tend to be much more expensive than FM and MU. I think MU is usually good enough. From PEK, the economics are bit different because CA, CX, and KA have a bit of cartel thing going. That leaves CZ to pick up the scraps. Given my intense dislike for CZ, I usually find a way to fly KA or CX. CA is acceptable too, but since its fares are usually close to KA/CX, it doesn't make much sense to fly them.

Also consider airline websites
 

I know Air China (CA, http://www.airchina.com.cn/en/index.jsp) and China Southern (CZ, http://www.csair.com/en/) both have websites where you can purchase the tickets from (not sure about the others). I've only tried CA in the past and didn't have any problems. They could well be cheaper than third party sites or travel agents. For the CA site, at least, you can also select your fare by booking class if earning miles with Star Alliance members is important to you.

IME, the fares are the same (maybe a little higher) than online and offline travel agents, but they don't nail you with a credit card surcharge. I think travel agents are better for people on the fly.

I used the China Southern site (http://www.csair.com/en/) twice last month, and both times found advanced purchase fares that were a small fraction (i.e. 25%) of what was being offered at either ctrip or elong.

Since I was using a US-based credit card, I needed to email or fax an authorization form through to CZ before the etickets were released. That is always a bit of a hassle ---- not nearly as nice as having an elong agent hand deliver tickets to your hotel room ---- but the savings were very significant, and the purchase of CZ etickets from the site allowed us to print out boarding passes and choose seats (exit rows) online.

btw, I stopped by 2 CZ ticket offices in Shanghai, one at the airport and one in-town, and both encounters made me extremely grateful that a) I had taken care of the purchases and boarding passes online, and b) there were no operational problems. I felt that matters such as refunds, modifications, or other changes would have been impossible to accomplish at either office....

Yes, it took me 18 months to process my CZ refunds (I created a thread on my story, which is over now, fortunately). As such, my goal is to never fly them again, even with NW miles.

If HU's rebranding campaign (they are now Grand China Airlines and their new planes sure look nice from the outside) results in meaningful improvements, I think CZ may well replace them as the true cellar dweller in the realm of Chinese airlines.

Sorry for the rant. I think it will be a while before I can look at a CZ thread without venting. But, I'll try to make a different negative comment every time. :)