Chinese Domestic Airlines

[Tuddy]

Hi All,

Was wondering if someone with knowledge on the topic could provide some insight into which airline is the best to travel around China with. I'm based in PEK for a month just before Christmas and am looking at doing a serious of day trips to places like Shanghai, Xi'an etc. (and anywhere else of note that's easy to get to if anyone has recommendations...). Flights appear cheapest on MU and HU to XIY and just MU to SHA. First up, what sort of offering does MU have and will it get me there within 3 years of the scheduled arrival time, if at all? Secondly, when trying to book these flights from an Australian site (i.e. the Australian HU site), the fare is more than double what one would pay on the Chinese site (though one is required to have a Chinese identity card to book here). MU won't even let me book domestic flights on its Australian site, yet also won't on the Chinese site as I don't have a Chinese Identity Card.

Your help is appreciated.

 

[moa999]

They are all as good (or as bad as each other). On the whole relatively newish fleets given substantial expansion.
Delays are normally due to airport congestion - Beijing and Shanghai particularly

Morning flights recommended.

Try the English version of elong - eLong - Travel China, Travel Smart - China, travel, discount airfare, flights, hotels, cars -- now owned by expedia

 

[Tuddy]

They are all as good (or as bad as each other). On the whole relatively newish fleets given substantial expansion.
Delays are normally due to airport congestion - Beijing and Shanghai particularly

Morning flights recommended.

Try the English version of elong - eLong - Travel China, Travel Smart - China, travel, discount airfare, flights, hotels, cars -- now owned by expedia

ah eLong - I'll give that a go. Thanks I'd be taking a 7:30 or so PEK-SHA then an 18:30 or so SHA-PEK so hopefully that will get me some time to see the top 5 in Shanghai (whatever they may be). Good to know I'll survive.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

All major Chinese airlines will be fine - CA / MU / CZ - whichever.

Use C-Trip Ctrip - China Travel, Cheap China flights, hotels, Vacation Packages, Airline tickets & Airfares. or eLong eLong - Travel China, Travel Smart - China, travel, discount airfare, flights, hotels, cars to do your bookings - they will show ALL flts on ALL airlines on a particular route on a particular day.

From there it's up to you - schedules / pricing - you choose what suits you.

Quality of product offered will vary from excellent to shocking - this is China don't forget - always expect the unexpected.

As for punctuality - again this is China - anything could and usually does happen - there is never a dull moment.........

Note: I will be in China next week - need to get from PEK-NKG on morn Oct 11. Yesterday I booked early morn flt ex PEK 07:50 - today I find out not needed into NKG until after lunch - so I called CTrip in SHA and changed flts over phone in 2 mins - service with both CTrip and eLong PERFECT - use them with confidence.

 

[Tuddy]

All major Chinese airlines will be fine - CA / MU / CZ - whichever.

Use C-Trip Ctrip - China Travel, Cheap China flights, hotels, Vacation Packages, Airline tickets & Airfares. or eLong eLong - Travel China, Travel Smart - China, travel, discount airfare, flights, hotels, cars to do your bookings - they will show ALL flts on ALL airlines on a particular route on a particular day.

From there it's up to you - schedules / pricing - you choose what suits you.

Quality of product offered will vary from excellent to shocking - this is China don't forget - always expect the unexpected.

As for punctuality - again this is China - anything could and usually does happen - there is never a dull moment..

Do either of these sites have the 'booking fees' that I've come to expect from sites like Webjet (not that I guess it's avoidable in terms of China flights). It's MU A320s I'd be on. Yeh..I've heard interesting things about punctuality for Chinese airlines. Either they're on-time/early if they leave on time. Or they are delayed by 8 hours or something ridiculous. I guess it'd be an experience...

 

[moa999]

I would have said also consider the train (just under 5hrs at 300kph) but given you are day tripping....

Also see if you can fly PEK-PVG one way, and then take the Maglev train to PVG airport (an experience in itself)

 

[Tuddy]

I would have said also consider the train (just under 5hrs at 300kph) but given you are day tripping....

Also see if you can fly PEK-PVG one way, and then take the Maglev train to PVG airport (an experience in itself)

I was looking at the MU PVG flight for the Maglev on the way down - but wasn't sure if the distance (despite Maglev) would mean the airport>city trip would take longer. The train isn't feasible (though also would be an experience...) as the last one leaves at 5:30pm and the station is out at SHA Airport anyways..so might as well spend a bit more time in Shanghai proper before flying back.

 

[moa999]

Both airports SHA and PVG are a fair way out of city centre.
Maglev then train to Bund/Pudong, is probably similar to train from SHA.

 

[jetlagger]

+1 for Ctrip.
As for the airlines- it's a 'lucky dip" with all carriers.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Flying to SHA rather than PVG can be better depending on where you are going in Shanghai. I like SHA because it only costs me about RMB50 from Jingan (and about another RMB15 to the bund). It is also doable in about 25-35 minutes, rather than a taxi to the maglev and then the maglev which I have to allow an hour for.

There has been a fair bit of 'deregulation' on some routes in the last 18 months or so, especially routes like SHA-PEK or SHA-CAN. On these sectors there seems to be one airline that offers ultra cheap F fares - with SHA-PEK possible for around RMB1200 if you book in advance (compared to RMB2700 approx for the normal F fare). This can be particularly useful as delays on the SHA-PEK sector are common - my record for the flight between the two has been just under 6 hours - almost 4 hours on the ground followed by a couple hours flight (delays can be weather, ATC or military). Sitting in F with a nice recliner (or angled flat bed if you get the right plane) beats sitting in economy - and for around $100 over the economy fare is well worth it.

 

[yohy?!]

I'd take HU over MU personally they have a more up to date fleet and focus on service

 

[Tuddy]

About to make a series of bookings. PEK-SHA (CA), PVG-PEK (MU), PEK-XIY (HU) & XIY-PEK (MU) the credit card is going to be getting a belting!! Was going to do it on CTrip. However, reading the T&Cs, it makes mention of picking up and delivery of tickets. I assumed that following booking, an itinerary would be sent to me with relevant details, much like occurs with most airlines worldwide. Can anyone confirm what occurs following booking on this site? Also, as one who normally books direct through the airline, will the itinerary come through from CTrip or respective airlines?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

About to make a series of bookings. PEK-SHA (CA), PVG-PEK (MU), PEK-XIY (HU) & XIY-PEK (MU) the credit card is going to be getting a belting!! Was going to do it on CTrip. However, reading the T&Cs, it makes mention of picking up and delivery of tickets. I assumed that following booking, an itinerary would be sent to me with relevant details, much like occurs with most airlines worldwide. Can anyone confirm what occurs following booking on this site? Also, as one who normally books direct through the airline, will the itinerary come through from CTrip or respective airlines?

it comes from c-trip. you may have to still collect your ticket at the airport, but that's easy - you just walk up to the airline counter and they'll give you hard copy. Other times i haven't bothered and just checked-in.

do you not have to register your credit card with c-trip? When I 'joined' i had to send them a scan of the front and back of my credit card. They may have dispensed with that requirement now. (just letting you know because it took a day for them to process it)

 

[Tuddy]

it comes from c-trip. you may have to still collect your ticket at the airport, but that's easy - you just walk up to the airline counter and they'll give you hard copy. Other times i haven't bothered and just checked-in.

do you not have to register your credit card with c-trip? When I 'joined' i had to send them a scan of the front and back of my credit card. They may have dispensed with that requirement now. (just letting you know because it took a day for them to process it)

i'm a bit of a noob when it comes to 'ticket' etc (never seen a paper ticket in my life). is this the itinerary? or is this the physical boarding pass or...?

and i think the credit card thing has gone by the wayside, attempting to do a dummy booking now.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

i'm a bit of a noob when it comes to 'ticket' etc (never seen a paper ticket in my life). is this the itinerary? or is this the physical boarding pass or...?

and i think the credit card thing has gone by the wayside, attempting to do a dummy booking now.

in china 'ticket' is sort of like a square of paper - and come to think of it is it more like an 'official' receipt. I think the reason we collected it was because my friend needed it for business purposes. I think one time I also needed a copy of that receipt (which has your flight numbers and $ paid) for immigration purposes as proof of my return (but that was an international ticket)

Whenever i have booked anything else through c-trip I have just gone to the check-in counter and they give me my boarding pass there.

 

[Tuddy]

Just made a booking and I didn't need to put in any credit card details...i just hit submit and it thanked me for making my booking!?

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Ctrip and eLong will simply email you a booking confirmation once you book online - this will suffice as your 'ticket'.

Both will now readily accept foreign credit cards for payment - they have come a long way - both sites work a treat.

 

[Cruiser Elite]

Just an update on CRH trains in China - I thought I started a thread on CRH trains some time ago but I cannot find it so spologies posting this in this thread.

You need passport and passport only to purchase CRH tickets Beijing Sth now - I think most people know this. Ex PEK last week they are now cross checking Chinese IDs / foreign passports against the docs used to purchase tickets as you enter platforms as the doc numbers are printed on your tickets.

But here is how China is so contradictory. Ex NKG heading to PVG I offered up laminated colors csan of data page of my passport which I used many times ex PEK in years past - accepted at Nanjing station without a blink - rejected at Beijing Sth - full passport only.

Stopped for 6 hours in Suzhou to go to a factory - back to Suzhou station to buy ticket to Shanghai - this time I offered up a credit card only - ticket seller asked some question in Chinese to which I just shrugged my shoulders - then she laughs and sells me ticket - no photo id at all - just a CC.

No ticket / doc check at NKG or Suzhou - just slide ticket through entry gate and onto train.

Ah China - the land of complication and contradiction.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Just made a booking and I didn't need to put in any credit card details...i just hit submit and it thanked me for making my booking!?

no - you will need to pay for it at some stage

 

[Tuddy]

massive c-trip fan...to an extent. having made my SHA, XIY and HRB roundtrip bookings with them, all details came through quickly. Have already completed a HRB roundtrip CZ on the way and CA on the back (and full marks for CZ getting me into snow-bound HRB 25 minutes early!) My PEK-SHA flight was cancelled by CA and so I got a call from C-Trip who gave me all the options and suggested I opt for the HU flight 5 minutes earlier, as opposed to the next CA flight 2 hours later (CA's preferred option for affected pax). However, one issue I had was when trying to add passengers to the XIY booking, they wouldn't accept my card and said I needed to go to the office with my card, passport and be prepared to sign an authorisation. Upon arriving, I was told this wasn't necessary, but could buy the tickets then and there...at a higher price (prices have since come down...). As would occur, the card I'd previously used wouldn't work - and it was indeed a strange set up with smoky rooms and shady counters. I'll keep y'all posted on what else Chinese aviation throws at me..