I'll be in Shanghai on business next month and will have a couple of free days to kill. I'd like to head up to Beijing to look around. Can anyone recommend the best airline to choose, where to find the lowest fares, and a website where I can make online bookings/enquiries?

Thanks.

After you get to Shanghai, find a local travel agent and they'll help you to find the best fare. Booking it here, and online, won't save you money or hassle.

And it's a short flight anyways. All domestic airline services in China are pretty much undistinguishable.

thanks rkkwan. what would be a reasonable fare i should expect to pay, ex-Shanghai?

The 40% discount currently runs Y580 and is available out of both PVG and SHA. 45% and 50% (off of full fare, which is just shy of Y1000) discounts are also fairly common, but usually harder to get out of Hongqiao. In general, the deeper the discount, the more restrictive the ticket, but IME even 50% discounts allow you to make one change for free (though you might end up buying up to the next level if no inventory available).

My long time TA, Liz, recently informed me that she can no longer book anything deeper than a 20% discount so she's started referring me to other places. Still, she's a good starting point because of her strong command of English; her number is 5424 4605. I've also started using 96113, the Shanghai number for one of the larger national agencies and have had good results, but their English was lacking.

I disagree with the suggestion that all airlines serving this market are indistinguishable. On the other hand, airline quality/comfort is far down my list of priorities (price, schedule, likelihood of using bus gate, and not having to go to PVG are more important to me). But, since you asked, here are my rankings:

1) CA 744 (only to PVG, but I take that flight when convenient)
2) CA 777
3) FM 767
4) CA 767
5) other FM
6) other CA
7) anything MU

Good luck!

[This message has been edited by moondog (edited Dec 07, 2003).]

ctrip.com (the chinese site, not the english one) is pretty useful in this regard.

On my trip there last year, I believe I flew China Southern r/t. Quite firendly service ... and I was able to purchase the equiv of F for about $30 r/t more Granted, it is a short flight, but the hot breakfast was definitely worth the extra $$$

If you like wine, there is a quite nice red grown & produced locally. The local beer is also quite nice with most of the seafood dishes.

If you travel over by the Port Authority / YanTai shipyard area, there is a great restaurant that specializes in 'Hot Pot.' This is quite a famous 'chain' (many Chineese people I know stateside tell me that this is the original and best receipe for 'Hot Pot.'

GMF

It's been a couple of years since I flew from Shanghai to Beijing, so I don't remember fares, but using a local travel agent will definitely be your easiest option. We flew Shanghai Airlines, which I believe was slightly cheaper than Air China. The flight itself is not that long but the crew were very efficient and there was some sort of meal service (the meal itself, however, was rather unusual looking and I was not brave enough to eat it!). The experience of an intra-China flight itself was the best part for me, and I enjoyed the experience. You probably already know this, but from downtown Shanghai, the Hongqiao airport is much closer than Pudong, although Pudong is much more modern and less chaotic. Safe and pleasant travels.

Back in the pre-discount days, F was deffinitely a good value compared with Y and still is on routes with only one or two flights (where deep discounts are hard to snag). But, for high volume routes,IMO C/F just aren't worth the extra coin (unless someone else is footing the bill, of course).