How to book a flight and hotel room in China?
Book your next flight and hotel room with these two companies: www.ctrip.com or www.elong.com. They are the largest online flight and hotel room aggregator in China (similar to www.expedia.com in the US and elong.com was sold to www.expedia.com).
Both these companies sell electronic tickets online and via their call centers which have thousands of operators. Both of them provide 800 and 400 numbers. Similar to the US, the 800 number is a toll free number for line phones and the 400 number is a toll free number for cell phones.
The airfare is usually cheaper if you book a week or more in advance. The closer it gets to the flight date, the more expensive the ticket gets. The smaller travel agents can not match the discount provided by the ctrip.com or elong.com because they do not have the volume. So stop looking around for cheaper price.
When I travel in China, I keep the www.ctrip.com’s 400 number in my cell phone. I book hotels and flights just couple of days before I travel which allow me maximum flexibility in travel schedule. Yes, I do pay a bit more than if I book a week in advance. But I am spontaneous with my travel plan. So I have no choice. I once booked a hotel room at 3am in the morning and standing at the hotel lobby. I could just walk to the counter and get a walk-in rate. But I saved some money by calling ctrip.com’s 400 number.
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