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Rick Shaw's insider guide to Online China Train Tickets.
Buying a train ticket in China is often frustrating and stressful. Online ticketing has not changed this.
In fact it has new hassle. So let me introduce the situation and some of my own
personal experiences since the rise of online train tickets. I hope this helps you understand
the pros and cons, and give you an overview of the situation.
Firstly, Ticket Availability Issues I visited Guilin station (July 2012) to try
to obtain a ticket from Guilin to Shenzhen, 10 days in advance. At this time they issued
tickets 10 days before travel. Be aware that in some seasons this is often reduced to just
a few days, like at Chinese New Year. So being organized I went just before mid-night
in person to buy my ticket. Just a few seconds into day 10 I was at the ticket window and
what do you know "All the tickets are sold out, hard sleeper and soft sleeper!" So I asked
about alternative days, but all sold out! There was no festival, no special holiday.
This occurred three times to me in 2012, since online train tickets were launched, the only
three times I ever needed a train. The reality is even being prepared, going
to the main train station in the departing city, speaking Chinese, I still can't buy
a train ticket and end up buying flights. Clearly there are some factors at play,
there are a number of theories I have, related to the rise of the domestic tourism market,
and possible relationships that causes things to sold the second of release
but let's just leave my speculation aside. China Highlights and other travel agents have
the same hasle as me. They are being totally transparent about the situation, and even
wanted to post my video on their website. Next up is, 'Seat Allocation Problems'
Besides the ticket availability problem, seat or bed allocation is an issue. In China a
hard sleeper is most popular, with locals and tourists, including myself, but getting seats
together is more and more unlikely. I am sure many of you might prefer the wider bottom
bed, as it avoids the climb, or to sleep opposite friends. But here's the deal, when making
online bookings no one can request bottom, middle or those cheaper top beds, and
no one can guarantee it to you. The other complication comes with soft sleeper,
as it only holds four people, you have a door, to the corridor, and if a family or
group of friends its quite, private, feels more secure and of course the beds are softer.
So a good choice for a small group. So many people read about this and think let's
travel as four in a soft sleeper compartment. However, no matter how much you are paying more for a
soft sleeper, there is no way for to ensure four beds in the same compartment or even car
In reality you get what you are given. It
is lucky if you are allocated seats in the same car and together. I and I know China
Highlights team wish this situation was different. Sorting out your train ticket in advance is
great, and it enables you to plan your vacation and maximize your holiday. So please be patient
and polite with the process and China Highlights staff as they do their very best to help you
get train tickets you need, and for free! OK, just three more important things you need
to know about; 1 - Ticket Collection
2. Lost Tickets 3. Refunds or Cancellations.
First, Ticket Collection If you opt to collect the ticket from the
train station the line can be long. To ensure you make the train, I recommend being at the
train station to collect your ticket at least 3 hours before. Consider even longer at Chinese
festivals or busy periods. OK, Lost Tickets
China Highlights will even arrange for one of our local guides or agents to deliver the
ticket to your hotel. Or in some cities they use a reputable and reliable courier service,
but as with anything a lost or delay could occur. (This is extremely rare!)
In the case of a lost or stolen ticket to get a ticket reissued is often not possible.
Your only option is likely to be to make a claim on your travel insurance, and this might
require a police report. I filled a police report in China in 2011
this was not easy. I was driven in a police car to five different police stations before
they found the one who handled this type of crime, it took nearly all day. I then had
to pay my travel insurance excess fee, and even a translation company for the police report.
So clearly if the worst happened, and your
ticket was lost or not at the hotel for some reasons, you would have to absorb the costs
of a lost ticket, it's also cost effective to do so. This situation would be rare, but
it's important to understand that risk, especially if you have a connecting flight,
pre-paid hotels or tours that are affected. Of course no one can be responsibility for
this and I advise everyone to ensure they have adequate travel insurance.
Finally, Cancellations and Refunds Like me you probably have heard you can now get
a refund, losing a small percentage of the original ticket price. You might think that this
could be useful if your plans change, but don't bother with this. The process is a
hassle, and the time to receive the refund is more than two weeks. So in reality, a tourist
would have often left that city, or even China, and so we would advise you to consider refunds
as generally not a viable option. In my view China Highlights offer the best
customer service and have outstanding integrity. However the nature of the train ticket booking
system leaves them offering a service that could leave you disappointed. They were considering
stopping this free service, as problems could reflect badly on them, despite these problems
being totally out of their control. I am so glad they didn't as it's so useful to me
and many others. On behalf of Rickshaw, I'm Jane, I hope
you found this video useful, and I wish you a wonderful trip!
Bye!