Ctrip.com: rave reviews
I didn’t have many good things to say about Elong.com when I blogged about them back in late October. Since then, I’ve made a few bookings through Ctrip and I have nothing but good news:
Although the English is a bit fun and creative at times, it is perfectly possible to book through the English language website but input your delivery address in Chinese. This means I am less concerned about first time booking mistakes, but still can receive my tickets without trying to explain my address in Kunminghua over the phone.
It is possible to select (right on their website) an option that allows you to hold your tix with a credit card. This guarantees that you can make the booking even though you can’t or won’t take delivery for a day or two. You may also be able to pay on a credit card… but I can’t remember.
So far, they have had every ticket I booked on their website at the price I booked it… and I haven’t heard from any friends that ticket prices changed. This was one of my biggest frustrations with Elong as it further delayed my purchase of alternative tickets.
Local travel companies are good too, and I have yet to have any problem with them. But I can’t usually save my name and identification numbers at their offices… and Ctrip does that for me. Oh yeah, and also? Ctrip sends me a text message the day before my departure with weather in the city I’m flying to. Beat that.
I continue to have utterly no affiliations in this sector, I just like a cheap and efficiently delivered plane ticket.