CTrip tickets and travel
 

Hello!

I booked my internal flights on Ctrip.com. I payed with credit card (I had to send a copy of my credit card, passport and the authorization as well) and the status of my tickets are concluded (I bought the tickets on Sunday and sent the documents on Monday). But so far I didn't get my E-Tickets (I think they're going to send the tickets per e-mail, aren't they). When and how are they going to send my E-Tickets?

Does anyone have experience with them?

Thanks for the replies!

I'm assuming "internal" means that you're flying within China, if that's the case, you just walk up to the ticketing counter at the airport, show your passport, and you're all set. You might want to bring a printout of your itinerary just in case, but I've never had a problem just showing up. There is no notion of "print-out-boarding-pass-at-home" like there is in the States.

Hope that helps!

This is my most recent Ctrip email confirmation. Providing you got something like this you're good to go. You just turn up at the airport and present your passport. I'd print a copy of the email just to be on the safe side

nickyboy


Flight Reservation Confirmation

Order No：741337814
Dear ******** (Account:**********):

Thank you for using Ctrip.


Changsha - Sanya
Flight Flight No Departure Arrival Departure time Arrival time Class Fare
(CNY) Tax
(CNY) Fuel
tax
(CNY)
1 CZ3643 Changsha (CSX) Sanya (SYX) 2008-11-28 21:00 2008-11-28 23:10 X 490 50 150

Passenger name(s) ID/Passport number Insurance
******** ********* 0

Total amount Total amount: CNY 690.00
Fare: CNY 490.00
Tax: CNY 50.00
Fuel tax: CNY 150.00
Delivery fee: CNY 0.00
Insurance fee: CNY 0.00
Cancellation rules Cancellations and changes are subject to airline rules. If you have any questions, please contact Ctrip at 400 619 9999.
Modification rules
Endorsement rules
Delivery address need not be mailed
Delivery time
Payment method Credit card
Notes .

Please call us with any questions regarding this confirmation.

Thank you for choosing Ctrip.

Flight Reservation Department
Ctrip.com
400 619 9999 (toll free within Mainland China)
(86 021) 5251 4569

Remember in addition to your passport and booking reference also have the credit card handy, the one you used to book the ticket.

Enjoy your trip!

Why? In case you learn that you really didn't have a ticket and need to buy a new one?

I don't know about China, but in Macau with Vivamacau you won't be able to check in if you don't have the credit cart at hand.
I bought a ticket to Jakarta for my domestic helper and had to accompany her to check in to show the card. The only other option is to pay the tickets again in cash and get your credit card charge refunded.

I also remember in Hong Kong when flying out on TG they asked to see the card. Maybe too much fraud going on.

In China, the check in people don't handle money (or credit cards). Once someone sells you a ticket and accepts your form of payment, you own it.

I used ctrip few months back. I recall it worked with IE browser only. If it is still the case, then be sure you have your IE browser security updated. See
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...computers.html

Thanks for the answers!

Ticketing counter you mean the check in counter of the airline I am booked on?

Yes. If you have time to kill at the airport, you can also stop by the ctrip counter (usually in arrivals area) in order to pick up your e-ticket receipt, which can be sort of useful if you end up having to switch airlines. BTW, as a general rule, you should always book tickets in China segment by segment (e.g. for a PEK-SHA return, get two separate oneway tickets). Doing so doesn't entail any additional costs, but often yields benefits when changes are necessary.

I'm quoting myself in order to elaborate on this point. During past years, I was an advocate of booking one-way tickets only because TAs in origin cities always had the upper hand in terms of price.

Since these differences are no longer quite as pronounced (i.e in the rare cases that they still persist, we're talking about $20 rather than $50), I'm now willing to endorse the idea of booking all flights from a single TA.

That having been said, splitting up segments is still important.

By way of example, I used to do PEK-XIY (return) two or three times per month.

Typically, the outbound was full fare and the return was a 30-40% discount. When booked as a single ticket, changes require(d) that coveted piece of paper and resulted in all sorts of hassles.

However, by splitting them up, I gained tons of flexibility.

Ultimately, none of this matters much because you can always extract full value from multi-segment itins, but you might have to wait for over a year and call the airline/TA often.

Thanks againg for the replies!

I thought CTrip was a small internet based company. I didn't know they have a counter at the airport! :cool:

Ctrip is a nasdaq listed company w/ market cap of $3 billion.

More like $1.5B as of close on 12/19. :D

In early May, it was about $5B.

CTRIP refunds?
 

Anyone with any experience/tips?

I had a trip booked with CTRIP on Air China, FOC to PEK, paid for with US credit card. At the last minute, I found I needed to return to the US a day early. CTRIP would not let me modify my booking online. So I bought a new ticket on China Eastern, FOC-PEK for the previous day. I tried to cancel the original flight at the Air China desk at FOC and the CTRIP desk in PEK, all with no luck. That night, already in Beijing, I called CTRIP and cancelled the original flight (this was the night before the original flight). I didn't get an confirming email, so I called again - this time the agent opened the file and confirmed that the booking had been cancelled but that it would not be processed till the office reopened the next morning. The next morning I flew back to the States.
Several weeks have passed, no refund.

Any FTers have experience/tips about the best way to proceed?

[Original ticket was the semi-discount, so there is some charge for refund - I don't really mind about that]