Going on my 2nd trip in 1 month, anyone booked internal flights within China?

[seagull]

Hi Brothers,

I went on my first trip to China last year and visited a lady in Chengdu. Next month, I'll be going to Chengdu again. It will be my second trip to China.

Within China, the only places I've visited are Chengdu and nearby city Leshan. While it will be nice to be back in the 'du (as local expats call it), I am a really keen traveller. I convinced my lady to visit another city, and after some debating over which place to visit (she originally wanted to go to Hainan), she agreed to come to Shanghai with me. Now we are both excited as she has only been to Shanghai once before.

I am really happy as Shanghai is a city I've dreamed of visiting. The amazing skyline, the Bund, just being in a world class city and taking in some of the night life. But I'd like to know, has anyone booked an internal flight before? Are there any good English language web sites? Or what is the best airline to use? Is it generally cheap to travel within China?

I could ask my lady to book this, but to be honest, I'd rather do it myself. I would be worried if she left things to the last minute and that would cause issues about this side trip.

Also, for those who have stayed in Shanghai. Is it true that Suzhou is an easy day trip from Shanghai? Does anyone have any recommendations of places to see there, or nearby cities to visit? I'll probably only be staying for five nights, so won't be able to venture to far away this time.

Sorry, I know this site is meant to be about romance/dating, but with so many people here with lots of experience travelling within China, I

Thank you, or 谢谢！

[Neil]

No worries, that's an excellent question and exactly what this forum is meant to help answer.

My wife's nephew helped us buy tickets online - the website was in Chinese so I didn't get much from it over his shoulder.  One thing I did note - that particular website wouldn't accept Visa - how the hell?!? 

The airlines were very much the same as any other domestic flight in the west, as far as I could tell, except for the obvious trouble most Chinese have with standing in lines. 

[Scottish_Robbie]

Seagull, I would perhaps suggest contacting some of our chinese ladies or those in china within the forum to see if they can give you the info you need.

[Arnold]

Hi Seagull, I flew to Guangzhou and back from Shanghai and it was just like here in the US. Qing's brother had made reservations for us and the Tickets were given to me at the Hotel to my Room. It was China Eastern Airlines and I remember it was 3300rmb for two. I had the pleasure though of him also making all the Hotel reserv. as well. So if you have your Lady just buy the Ticket's.. let her and you take care of the Hotels of your Choice, as you rather do that yourself.

Suzhou IS a good days trip, but I loved it there. Make sure you take the Tea Boat ride ( about one hour ), but do watch where you eat. As I see one place they washed their Fish in the Channel Water's ... yuuuck! Stick with the Noodle Dishes!

Hangzhou ( West Lake ) try the Bicycle roundtrip around the Lake .. cheap and wonderful. If not too cold or windy. Food, try the Shanghai Pork .. Super! Both Cities are very romantic , well my Opinion anyway.

Enjoy, you'll have a great time! Also , do the World Financial Tower and/or the Pearl Tower and Yu Yuan Garden of course, there watch out for those $25 Rolex's .. hahaha

[Jason B]

I have also travelled internally in China.  Xia booked the tickets online via chinatravel or cctravel something like that.  Your girl would know, a bit like flight centre online for China.  They loved my visa card and were only too happy to have my money.  You can also book train travel on this site.  We booked flights from Shenzhen to Beijing, Beijhing to Xian and rail Xian to Guangzhou, anyway was all in Chinese including the price, so maybe a currency converter on the screen maybe helpful to get the best deal.  If your girl is travelling you will need to put in her Chinese national card number and for you your passport number.  These will also be needed to pick up the electronic tickets at the airport counter.  Not any different from booking a ticket anywhere in Australia.

The prices are reasonable and you can choose the best time and airline for your travel plans.  Remember the time you are going if it is one of the more popular mass migration of Chinese times you may struggle for a seat.

As for Shanghai, have never been there.  That is for next trip.

[maxx]

Seagull Try Cheapoair. for the airplane trip inside China.Ive used them before never had a problem.When you are buying the tickets.Make sure you use your ladies exact name.NOT Her English name.

For a hotel try Asiarooms.com. Ineedaroom.com.If it was me trying to find the room.I would just type in Shanghai hotel in my search engine.It will bring up a bunch of different hotels.All of them belong to booking companies.They usually have a map where the hotel is.And what is around the hotel to see or do.When you find a hotel you like.write down the hotels name and how much the room will be.Then look for the same hotel on the other sites.I have found a better price for the hotel on different sites.It doesn't always work.But sometimes it does.Ive never had a problem with a room reservation using a booking company.

[seagull]

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. I will look into those sites shortly, Jason and Maxx.

Does anyone know how much a domestic flight in China should generally cost? For those who have flown within China, how much did you pay for your flights between cities?

I looked at a flight with China Airlines from Chengdu to Shanghai and it was over $500. Seems quite expensive, especially since my flight from HK to Chengdu with Dragon Air is a lot less than that. I'm a bit worried this side trip is going to be a very costly affair, and I underestimated these prices, as multiply everything by two (since I will be taking my lady) and this could hit the hip pocket very hard!

[seagull]

Hi Seagull, I flew to Guangzhou and back from Shanghai and it was just like here in the US. Qing's brother had made reservations for us and the Tickets were given to me at the Hotel to my Room. It was China Eastern Airlines and I remember it was 3300rmb for two. I had the pleasure though of him also making all the Hotel reserv. as well. So if you have your Lady just buy the Ticket's.. let her and you take care of the Hotels of your Choice, as you rather do that yourself.

Suzhou IS a good days trip, but I loved it there. Make sure you take the Tea Boat ride ( about one hour ), but do watch where you eat. As I see one place they washed their Fish in the Channel Water's ... yuuuck! Stick with the Noodle Dishes!

Hangzhou ( West Lake ) try the Bicycle roundtrip around the Lake .. cheap and wonderful. If not too cold or windy. Food, try the Shanghai Pork .. Super! Both Cities are very romantic , well my Opinion anyway.

Enjoy, you'll have a great time! Also , do the World Financial Tower and/or the Pearl Tower and Yu Yuan Garden of course, there watch out for those $25 Rolex's .. hahaha

Thanks Arnold, very helpful info. Glad to hear Suzhou is do-able, as will be nice to see the famous gardens that people rave about.

Your flight was a reasonable price, compared to what I've seen, I'll have to check out China Eastern for sure. If I can;t find anything reasonable, I'll have to get my lady to handle it!

[Willy The Londoner]

I would wait to book internal flights when you are here. They will be cheaper than booking from overseas.

 Elong.com is the Chinese version of Expedia and I have had some good prices from them.  No credit or debit card needed on line. just pay cash into a bank account that they give details of.

Willy

[john1964]

My wife always booked flights from within the hotels we stayed in, We never had a problem doing things this way, John.

[Jan]

From Chengdu to Hainan and back + all hotels (5 days). We paid a little under 5000CNY for all of that. We transferred the money to the travel agency via bank transfer. And we went to the airport. Gave the airport ticket seller my passport and her ID card. We got the tickets at the same desk we gave our luggage at.
I was rather scared about the luggage weights and the carry on baggage weights... But as I found out. There is none. Some girl had over 50kg stuff to put in as cargo, no problem although it took her some minutes of talking. And the Chinese also bring huge luggages with them as carry on. Hehe.

So you should buy the tickets inside China, I think the prices become half cheaper or something.

You should get your girl to ask the travel agencies for prices. Different agencies give different prices. Because it depends on who they know or are related to. Then they can get cheaper prices if they are well connected. And then they gain and their friend gains because its their names who are listed as the "seller". And get a bonus later on.

We compared 4 different agencies. And the prices varied by over 2000CNY... The cheapest one was someone her family knew and helped us a little.
Also note that not all travel agencies accept foreigners. They need some special permit to sell to foreigners apparently?

But you should get your girl to compare some agencies and get the cheapest price. It is also better to book some/all hotels via the agency. Because the hotel room prices will become cheaper as well.
As an example we got to sleep in a 5 star hotel for 1 day, 1 other good hotels 2 days, and one hotel I did not really like but was decent as well one day. For our 5 days duration of the trip. And the prices were included while we booked our flights and hotels... So I must say, it was really cheap.

Ask your girl to ask, if she knows anyone that knows anyone that works in a travel agency. If you know someone that knows someone... It becomes so much cheaper and easier. And just in case compare prices, there are travel agencies all over Chengdu and most likely all over every city in China. To find the cheapest one.
The one we used was located at Shuangliu, maybe 30 minutes away from the airport.

[Pineau]

ctrip, elong, cheapo for travel inside china. 

DON'T use CHEAPO for international unless you do a lot of research on airlines before you book it. Their reservation will book you on different airlines with connections almost impossible to make and on airlines that do not have reciprocal  baggage agreements. Meaning you need to go to baggage claim and collect your bags and recheck you baggage to the connecting airline.

elong is Expedia's Chinese partner.

Ctrip will get you some good deals.

[Vince G]

"go to baggage claim and collect your bags and recheck you baggage to the connecting airline."

yeah but at least you know your baggage made it that far?

[Neil]

Air Canada left my bags in Vancouver, last trip.  Beijing makes you collect your bags when transferring from international to domestic, but every time I've flown through Hong Kong, they have transferred my bags from international to domestic.  Hong Kong is an awesome airport. 

[seagull]

I did a search on some of the sites suggested and found some much cheaper flights. Thank you, you guys are a wealth of information.

But my latest drama...I need my lady's passport or ID card to book a flight for her.

I like to be organised and book everything as early as possible. In exactly one month time I will already be in Chengdu, ready to leave for Shanghai. I hate leaving this to the last minute leading to the possibility of missing out on getting flights or being extorted for a ticket.

The problem is my lady is really slow and disorganised when it comes to things like this. This is why I want to book this myself rather than rely on her.

I asked for her to give me her passport or ID card details so I could book the flights, and she is always so slow to respond. Now she will be in Hong Kong for the next five or so days and won't be contactable until she gets back to Chengdu. I don't know what it is with her, or why she is like this, but this is frustrating for me.

I am cutting a fine line with trying to get this sorted in time! I will have to wait and see what happens. Thanks again.