Just found a MU fare PVG/SZX that's Y390 (+Y90 taxes/surcharges) on ctrip.com. Tried to book it and they called me to say that it's only available to Chinese nationals.

It appears to be an MU-only thing, perhaps Expo-related? Anyway it books into fare code X.

I saw these "promo" fares as well. I think they are only showing up on the "chinese version" of Ctrip, and not the english web site (at least I didn't recall seeing the fare there)? And, the chinese site does have "fare details" next to these fares and they listed only for people w/ chinese national ID/passport. It also offer student fare as well as senior fare but not sure what ID you need to have to use these fares...

Nevertheless, Ctrip domestic fares are much better than fares available using oversea booking (said Expedia), and my hubby was able to book 2 domestic segments on it under Y500, and the english site customer service is overall good.

domestic ticket: any reason to search beyond ctrip and elong?
 

I need to buy some domestic China tickets in the next couple of months. Realistically, these days, are there any better deals outside of ctrip and elong? Either with local agents or some of the less-established on-line vendors?

I need to buy like 8 tickets, so I want the best price, but I don't want to search endlessly for no reason.

Thanks.

Sometimes local brick-and-mortar shop agents can do a bit better but rarely is it significant. For online, I've had good service through www.travelzen.com and sometimes same or better prices than the big 2, sometimes not. I have had ctrip.com advertise a ticket price then tell me they couldn't sell it to me at that price (and that was even for cash paid directly at their offices here in Beijing, with me picking up the ticket!), whereas travelzen had no problem selling me the same ticket online AND using foreign credit card for the same price. Go figure.

I have never used one of these 3 (ctrip, elong, TZ) and then had to change the ticket, so can't vouch for who's best at customer service when travel scenario changes.

Ive used C-trip, and had to change a ticket at the desk in PEK - no problems whatsoever.

Thanks. What about buying direct from the airlines? I thought I might have seen a domestic fare on Air China that I didn't see from the agencies.

It also seems like it's wise not to try to book more than about 30 days out. On the routes that I'm watching, that seems to be the "discount window."

Very different ticketing strategy from every other place I've ever flown. :)

More trouble than it's worth, most of the time IME. (i.e. using foreign cards online is not easy, and many of the lowest fares are only bookable online).

Re. travelzen, while they don't charge a fee for foreign cards, if you use a foreign card, you get billed in USD at an exchange rate that is ~4% higher than spot.

Thanks. I guess my strategy will be to wait until "the booking window" opens (like 4 weeks in advance) and then hunt on ctrip and elong. If I find a fare I think is decent, I'll comparison shop it with the airline's own website and maybe a couple of the other online agencies.

Buying things in China (at least if you don't want to get ripped off) is usually a little harder than elsewhere. :)

I booked once with yoee.com and had no problems.

Interesting. Last time I used them with foreign credit card (last October)--they converted at 1.5% higher (which was acceptable to me under the circumstances of the day). But 4% surcharge is definitely more in keeping with what bricks-and-mortar agencies here charge if you want to use a foreign card.

I found some fantastic fares on China Southern last year, but they required calling in the foreign credit card info within a strict time period (60 minutes, iirc) and then emailing scanned copies of the credit card and an authorization form. However this process generated etickets that allowed for OLCI and advance seat selection....which meant that most of the time spent telephoning and emailing was gained back at the airport. [These cheap fares were not available from either CTrip or eLong.]

I just ran a dummy search; they want $179 for a ticket that costs y1220 (with no option to be billed in RMB). Based on today's exchange rate of 6.83, this represents a ~150 basis point difference, which is in line with your results (iirc Visa's rates are generally within 25 basis points of spot). The 4% difference was a phenomenon that caught me by surprise in March, but perhaps that was a fluke thing, or else an old thing that has since been corrected.

One advantage to buying through the airlines directly is that they bill in RMB and don't assess a CC surcharge. That having been said, since this generally requires either going to and waiting around a CTO or faxing annoying forms and credit card copies, I don't think it's worth the time.

I can't imagine that you really gained much time back at the airport. People that purchase tickets through other channels are equally eligible for OLCI/kiosk use. I would buy directly from an airline in cases of substantial savings, but in most cases, the differential is along the lines of y10.

BTW, I also went through the CZ fax process about a week ago because a friend needed me to pay a change fee for him. The guy that helped me was pretty cool, but I needed to fax him 3 separate times and fill out a form in order to get him all the stuff he requested (quite a bit of work for a $22 fee).

I've had to refund tickets on ctrip. Moondoggie said I'd have no problem -- and he was absolutely right. They took their sufficiently well publicized RMB10 refund charge and quickly credited the rest back to my credit card.

30 Day Window?
 

I'm booking a trip from Shanghai to Lhasa in late July and was wondering about this 30-day window. There aren't many flights to Lhasa; does it still make sense to wait until 30 days before the return flight? It's so counterintuitive to me :)

There's exactly one, isn't it; the one that has a stop-over in Chengdu or Xi'an on China Eastern? I doubt it will come down more than 20 % of full price.

Lhasa flights are expensive. Maybe it would make sense for you to stop in Chongqing for a day or so; Shanghai - Chongqing is cheap, Chongqing - Lhasa is one of the view Tibet routes that are sometimes heavily discounted.

30 days window is generally the rule; when on leisure trips I usually check 2 months out and then check back regularily. Also, you might want to check for the upcoming weeks and see how much they get discounted.