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Easy buying domestic plane tickets?
Jul 30, 2009 12:00
  • SEATTLEPANDA
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Hi. I'm new here, nice to meet you all.

I have to go to Jiangshan, Zhejiang for a few days on business there in Oct. Since my company is paying for the round trip airplane tickets from Seattle to China, I plan on staying a little bit longer and travel around to Shanghai (see my cousin), Chengdu (visit a friend), and maybe some other places along the way between those 3 cities.

This will be the first time travelling to China on my own. Eventhough I was born in China, I wasn't raised there, so I'm not that confident on my Chinese speaking skills. I went back last year on vacation after my graduation, but my parents were there, so I didn't have any problems, but now I'm going solo.

I like to ask whether or not is it is better to just buy all the domestic flight tickets ahead of time online? (Any website you recommend?)

A problem with that is I don't really have an idea how long I want to stay in each city. I might want to stay a little bit longer if I have have fun there.

So, is it very simple buying domestic plane tickets in China, especially on short term notice? Like if I am in Chengdu, and suddenly want to go to Beijing in 1 or 2 days, can I just go to any city's airport and easily buy a ticket?

I haven't done much travelling in general so I'm still new to this process, the few times I did, everything was taken care of by someone else.

Thank you for any tips, advice or inputs!



Jul 30, 2009 22:07
#1  
  • LEMONCACTUS
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If you're going to be there during the first week in October you may want to be careful, as this is "national" holiday week, and is always stupendously busy.

It's easy to buy tickets in China using the following websites:

www.xixii.cn
has the very cheapest tickets, but very limited availability (obviously) and you usually need to buy some time in advance (no English)

www.qunar.com
I recently got 2 cheap tickets (less than half price) from here and found the service quick and painless; booked on 21st July for flight on 24th July. They search through loads of websites to find cheapest tickets and you then follow links and book online/via phone from the relevant airline.

www.ctrip.com
probably your best bet if you decide to book outside of China, but tickets aren't so cheap, English & Chinese interface

I rarely fly in China - except when no other transport is available - so others may have better recommendations.

Have a good trip, LC
Jul 31, 2009 02:27
#2  
  • RUSSEL
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During my last trip we bought plane tickets rather easily. If my memory recalls it correctly, we asked the hotel to buy them for us.
Jul 31, 2009 02:36
#3  
  • ANGELABABY
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You can go to the travel agent and ask for the price, or you can go to some websites which are famous in China
Such as www.taobao.com
www.qunar.com and so on~
then compare the price~~~
Jul 31, 2009 10:34
#4  
  • JABAROOTOO
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I check online for prices and schedules etc and then I go to my local agency -any will do and I usually get a better deal. Ctrip or here at TCG but do compare prices first.

As advised if you are not here during first week of October you should have no difficulty buying tickets once you have arrived and decided what you want to do. There are plenty of daily flights between major cities like Shanghai and Chengdu.

别着急

祝你旅游愉快
Aug 3, 2009 11:25
#5  
  • SEATTLEPANDA
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Thanks you for your replies. ^_^
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