FAQ
Before Booking
Searching for Flights
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How many tickets can I book in one transaction?
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How do I find the lowest fares?
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How far in advance should I book my flight tickets to get the lowest fares?
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Which months of the year offer the lowest fare flight tickets?
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Which days of the week offer the lowest fare flight tickets?
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Which times of the day offer the lowest fare flight tickets?
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Does the price shown on the search results page include taxes and fees?
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Are there discounts for infant or child tickets?
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Why does the child ticket cost more than the adult ticket on some flights?
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What are the Fuel Surcharge regulations?
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Why does the Airport Construction Fee have three different prices: RMB 10,
RMB 50 and RMB 90?
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3. Do children need to pay the Fuel Surcharge and Airport Construction Fees?
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What extra fees are added to the international flight ticket price?
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Why has the ticket price changed since my booking submission?
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Why do I have to provide my contact information?
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Is the email that I receive shortly after submitting my booking request the
final confirmation?
Billing and Confirmation
Post-Booking
Searching for Flights
Flight tickets, prices, additional fees
1. How many tickets can I book in one transaction?
You can book up to 9 adult tickets at a time. However, please be aware that
selecting the maximum number of tickets will limit the availability to flights
that have at least 9 seats. For flight deals, we cannot guarantee that all
passengers in a single booking can avail of the special discounted price.
Low-fare tickets usually have limited availability.
2. How do I find the lowest fares?
You can find the lowest fares by using the ?Best Deals in 7 Days? feature,
searching for alternative routes, booking roundtrip tickets, and signing up for
our email newsletter.
To find the lowest fare within 7 days of your planned departure date, use our
?Best Deals in 7 Days? feature. This feature can be found in popular flight
routes within Mainland China. Use this feature by going to the Flights Page or
clicking any of the 8 Popular Destinations on the Home Page.
To search for alternative routes, plan early and consider your trip
flexibility. Calculate how much time you are willing to give up in exchange for
savings. If you have time to spare for stopovers, search for popular routes
that have a wide selection of discounted fares. Check carefully whether the
arrival airport of your first flight is the departure airport of your
connecting flight. For flights within Mainland China, you may be able to spend
1 or more nights on your stopover destination with no additional flight cost.
For international flights, you may have to check visa requirements and flight
restrictions if you want to leave the airport during your stopover.
To book roundtrip tickets, simply indicate your return ticket details during
the booking process. You are able to save a significant amount especially when
booking international flight tickets.
To sign up for our newsletter, simply click here and submit your email address.
You will be one of the first to know about our special flight deals with
airline partners.
As a rule of thumb, fares on weekdays are lower than those on weekends and
fares during the early morning or late evening are lower than the rest of the
day. Please remember that the lowest fares are usually flight tickets that have
the most restrictions. This means cancellations and changes are either not
allowed or will incur fees that are higher than other tickets.
3. How far in advance should I book my flight tickets to get the
lowest fares?
As a general rule, you get the full price of flight tickets if you book too far
in advance. This is because our airline partners start giving discounts when
most of the booking volume can be anticipated. To get the best fares for
domestic flights, start booking 2 to 3 weeks before your departure date. To get
the best fares for international flights, start booking 4 weeks before your
departure date. For international peak seasons like Christmas and New Year,
start booking 2 to 3 months in advance. Although Hong Kong and Macau
destinations are considered international flights, pricing trend follows that
of domestic flights more closely. Please remember that low-fare tickets sell
fast. Therefore, after the 2 to 3 week-period (in the case of domestic flights)
or 4-week period (in the case of international flights) has passed, most
low-fare tickets will be sold out and the ticket prices may become more
expensive again. We would like to remind you that these are general guidelines.
Actual pricing may vary according to the pricing rules set by our airline
partners.
4. Which months of the year offer the lowest fare flight tickets?
Lowest fare domestic flight tickets are usually available during off-peak
season. These are March, mid-May to June, and November. You may expect fares to
drop 2 to 3 weeks after the Spring Festival Holiday, May Holiday, and October
holiday. We would like to remind you that these are general guidelines. Actual
pricing may vary according to the pricing rules set by our airline partners.
5. Which days of the week offer the lowest fare flight tickets?
For domestic flight tickets, routes that are considered business routes (e.g.
Beijing to Shanghai) would be very busy on Fridays and Sundays. Therefore, the
lowest fare flight tickets would typically be available from mid-day Monday to
Thursday. We would like to remind you that this is a general guideline. Actual
pricing may vary according to the pricing rules set by our airline partners.
6. Which times of the day offer the lowest fare flight tickets?
Majority of the demand comes from morning and evening because many travelers
would like to maximize their stay in one city. Because of this, the lowest
fares would typically be available during more awkward hours such as early
morning (before 06:00 am) and late evening (after 21:00 pm) and mid-day. We
would like to remind you that these are general guidelines. Actual pricing may
vary according to the pricing rules set by our airline partners.
7. Does the price shown on the search results page include taxes
and fees?
No. The initial search results show all possible tickets currently available in
our system. Prices shown do not include the Airport Construction Fee, Fuel Tax
and additional fees charged by the airlines. Once you have selected your
flights, you will be able to see the fees and the corresponding categories in
which they belong. Please note that accurate total prices are subject to the
final confirmation of the eLong agents.
8. Are there discounts for infant or child tickets?
Many airlines offer discounted fares for infants, children, and seniors.
Discounts vary by the airline, flight, and seat availability during your time
of travel. They also vary by travelers' ages. To find out if your fares are
discounted, view the breakdown of ticket prices on the left-hand side of the
Flight Details page.
9. Why does the child ticket cost more than the adult ticket on
some flights?
Children between 2 and 12 years old can buy children's tickets which are 50% of
the full price. On some occasions, special deals for adult tickets may have
discounts greater than 50%, resulting in the children's ticket price being
higher than the adult ticket price.
Surcharges, extra fees, price changes
1. What are the Fuel Surcharge regulations?
All domestic flights are subject to the following surcharges: RMB 50 will be
charged for each passenger for flight routes less than 800 kilometers. RMB 80
will be charged for each passenger for flight routes that are 800 kilometers or
more.
2. Why does the Airport Construction Fee have three different
prices: RMB 10, RMB 50 and RMB 90?
Airport Construction Fees are included in the price of all tickets sold after
Sept.1, 2004. For domestic regional routes flown by the airplanes below, the
Airport Construction Fee of each leg is RMB 10. For all other domestic flights
not flown by the planes below, the Airport Construction Fee is RMB 50. For all
international flights, the Airport Construction Fee is RMB 90.
| Airplane Type |
Code |
| CESSNA208 |
208 |
| DONIER328 |
D38 |
| ATR-72 |
AT7 |
| CRJ-200 |
CRJ |
| ERJ145 |
ERJ |
| MA60 |
EM4 |
| DHC8-400 |
DH8 |
| Y12 |
YN2 |
3. Do children need to pay the Fuel Surcharge and Airport
Construction Fees?
For domestic flights, a child has to pay a fuel surcharge of RMB 20 for routes
less than 800 kilometers and RMB 40 for routes that are 800 kilometers or more.
Infants' tickets that are 10% of the adult fare will be exempt from Fuel
Surcharges. Neither children nor infants are subject to pay the Airport
Construction Fees.
4. What extra fees are added to the international flight ticket
price?
The international flight price is determined by the airline, flight class,
validity period, and ticket policy including ticket price, tax, and additional
fees. The Flight Tax is subject to change and the amount indicated on the eLong
website should be used for reference only. The final rate of the Flight Tax is
set according to the exchange rate of the day tickets are issued.
The Fuel Surcharge is charged by the airline company. The final rate of the
Fuel Surcharge is determined by the airlines.
The Airport Construction Fee is RMB 90 (about US$11) for international flights
including flights to Hong Kong and Macau.
Children and infants are exempted from the Airport Construction Fee.
The new immigrant flight prices are only available for Mainland Chinese
passengers while selected student flight prices are also available for
non-Chinese passport holders.
5. Why has the ticket price changed since my booking submission?
The ticket prices indicated on the eLong website should be used for reference
only. Discounted flight tickets sell fast, so it is important that you act
quickly when you see a rate you like, or you risk losing it. The perception of
price change occurs when the flight tickets with the price you selected have
been sold out or cancelled before the tickets are issued. It is the prerogative
of the airline to cancel tickets that have not yet been issued. In general, you
have a window of a few hours from booking to ticket issuance. During peak
seasons like the Golden Week holidays, however, tickets can be sold out or
cancelled in a matter of minutes. The best way to avoid price change is to have
the tickets booked and issued upon confirmation of the eLong agent.
Submitting booking requests, required information,
auto-reply email
1. Why do I have to provide my contact information?
You should submit your accurate contact information to validate your booking
request. Please provide the contact information that you use the most- whether
this is your mobile number, office phone number, home number, or email address.
Booking requests with invalid contact information will be cancelled
automatically. Check the accuracy of the contract information you provide us.
If we are able to reach you, you are able to lessen the risk of ticket price
change.
2. Is the email that I receive shortly after submitting my booking
request the final confirmation?
No. The email that you receive after submitting your booking request is an
auto-reply email. It indicates that our system has received your request and
that an eLong agent will attend to your booking shortly. If you are in a hurry
to book your flight ticket/s, you may also call our booking hotline directly at
400-810-1119 (in Mainland China) or 010-58299309 (in other areas
around the world).
