2013
30
November
Vancouver to China - $388 roundtrip including taxes | mistake fares
30
November
There are some really absurd prices showing on Air China's flights from Vancouver to various cities in China, including Shanghai, Beijing, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Dalian, Guangzhou, and Harbin.
These airfares are only bookable through a large booking site based out of Norway, called Wideroe, and the fares are obviously a mistake price.
You might be asking yourself what the odds are of these mistake fares being honored, and you would be wise to do so. You see, the thing is, a few days ago the same site, Wideroe, was displaying mistake fares from New York to Milan for $130. Many U.S.-based mistake fare insiders took advantage of this, and by all accounts, those fares are being honored, and tickets were issued by the airline.
When it comes to mistake fares, you want to follow these three simple rules:
1. Never call the airline or the site displaying the mistake fare. Ever.
2. Book it online, and hope a ticket# is issued by the airline. Note that what you are hoping for is an actual ticket # from the airline, and not a confirmation # from the booking site, which means nothing. When you get the actual ticket # from the airline, your booking is solid.
3. Don't make any accommodation bookings for a few weeks until the dust settles and it's clear that your booking is confirmed
So with that in mind, here's how you can try your luck at getting these ridiculous airfare prices...
1. Go to http://www.wideroe.no/en (the English version of the site)
2. Click on the tab in the top right corner of the screen to change your currency to USD (U.S. Dollars)
3. Search for a flight from Vancouver to a city in China, such as Shanghai, Beijing, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Dalian, Guangzhou, or Harbin.
4. Use a departure & return date in March 2014. There may be other months this will work, but I've had success using March dates.
UPDATE 1: See comments section of this post for info on what dates appear to be working. Kindly share what you find to help others.
UPDATE 2: After every search, the following message now appears: 'International flight booking is not available at the moment due to technical update.' My guess is that they had to shut down taking new bookings while they investigate, due to the popularity of this mistake fare.
UPDATE 3: Dec 2nd - People are reporting that the Wideroe search is working again, and seeing flights for under $400. Be sure to try the 'Alternative Dates' option immediately after your search for a table of date combinations that might have cheaper prices. I just tried Vancovuer to Shanghai, March 21 to April 01, and it came up as $394.
UPDATE 4: Dec 3rd - Error message is now showing again after a search between Vancouver and cities in China. 'For the moment booking between these destinations is not available due to technical updates. '
UPDATE 5: Dec 4th - A big thanks to YVR Deals member JP who has found a way to get around the 'technical update' search problem. Here's how...
Search Vancouver to a city that is NOT in China on the main page (Vancouver to Paris for example)... this will bring you to a page with flight prices that are still expensive. Click "View alternative dates" on the right above where the flights are listed. On the next page click "Flight" at the top left of the table, this will bring you to a page where you can search again. Replace CDG in the destination field with PVG (the airport code for Shanghai).
Enter your dates, only some work (April and May worked the best). Select the 'My dates are flexible' option and then hit Search. It should come up with a table of dates, many of which are $391. Then just play around until you find some dates that work for you. Note that this may work for other cities in China besides Shanghai (prices will vary), but you'll need to know the 3 letter code for the airport.
So instead of entering PVG which is for Shanghai airport, you would enter one of the following (the 3 letter airport code is all you need to enter)...
CAN - Guangzhou
CKG - Chongqing
CTU - Chengdu
DLC - Dalian
HGH - Hangzhou
HRB - Harbin
KHN - Nanchang
KMG - Kunming
PEK - Beijing
SZX - Shenzen
TAO - Qingdao
TNA - Jinan
WUX - Wuxi
XMN - Xiamen
.
UPDATE 7: Dec 4th @ 1 PM - The deal might truly be gone now. People are reporting that even when using the trick above, you may get a confirmation e-mail from Widero, but will no longer be receiving the 2nd e-mail with a confirmed ticket #.
Tip: For those having issues with a 'country code' error in the mobile phone field, enter +1 (with the plus sign) for your country code.
Here's a screenshot of an example search from March 6 to 16, from Vancouver to Shanghai (PVG)...
And yes, that is the total roundtrip price, even though it's displayed over the outbound flight.
There are no guarantees that these mistake fares will be honored, all you can do is try and cross your fingers. Typically it will be obvious within a week or so whether all is fine or not.
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194 Responses to "Vancouver to China - $388 roundtrip including taxes | mistake fares"
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Just tried Feb 21-28 and came up at $366 USD. March dates seem to be higher now. Seems to be luck of the draw!
Feb 21 to March 2nd also cheap.
Getting this on every attempt to purchase.
=====
The following error(s) occured: We are unable to confirm the fare for the flights you have selected. Please choose a different fare or flights and resubmit your request. (15012 - 1006)
=====
Just booked tickets for my wife and I for end of Feb, returning at the end of March for Guangzhou for $1080 US... It was showing up 366 individually, but I didn't want to take the risk of booking separately. Still it's better than the best deal out there.
Just got flights Vancouver to Beijing - eticket delivered. April 13 to 26 $449,
Just bought 2 tickets.. for this price how could i not.
Just booked three flights (two adults at $360) plus an infant (roughly $79) for $799 taxes in from Mar 4-Mar 25.
Booked Vancouver to Guangzhou in April for a mere $460. Two weeks to roam southern China in search of excellent tea. Thanks, Chris!
No dice
what are you entering for phone? I'm getting error message saying The country code for your contact phone number is not valid.
Just booked yvr to shanghai february 25th to march 12th! $372.00 total roundtrip! Booked for me and 5 others!
Thanks Chris!
for Dissey - just enter the UK country code
Dissey, enter 1 for country code.
Managed to book YVR to Shanghai (PVG) in March for two weeks @ $371 RT taxes included.
@RWH I had the same problem, and I reran the search. Afterwards, the initial flight i wanted was no longer available so I chose another flight and it worked,
Booked March 3-20, for $371 RT, a fried booked the same flight right after me, and it was $536 RT.
Insane deal, hopefully it's honored! Anyone know when we can expect the airline to confirm typically?
We got March 2-13 YVR-Shanghai for $743.38 for 2 people.
I tried March 2-14 and got the error message that somebody else mentioned. The 13th return seemed to be the trick!
Tickets are not issued yet - reservation is confirmed though - so who knows what will happen!
Van-Guan just under $1000 for two people!
Booked from the 9th - 24th YVR to Beijing for 454 each with seat selection
just booked YVR- Beijing late april for 449.27 (377 + 67 tax)
hey!
Does anyone have any info on visas for beijing?
If you receive an error message try searching by schedule instead of price. Also only certain dates work. Pick Air China flights as they are the only ones coming up cheap.
Easiest way to determine dates is to select "view alternative dates". Will show all pricing within one week of your selections for departure and arrival. Then you can use "next week" options to look around for your most suitable dates. Fares can double with one day's difference
Just booked 2 for may 9-17. Just under $900 for the two. I received an email in Norweigan. Anyone know what it says?
Visa is $50 for tourist and Consulate is on Broadway.
At bottom of email it should tell you in english.
Booked Vancouver to Beijing in April (over Easter) for $488.27. March was less expensive, but it's also colder.
Thanks Chris!
oops, not $488.27, it was $449.27... I'm to excited to type
Not worth it..
16 hour layover in BJ.. overall travel time is 30 hours.
Aw, I think they caught on.
"International flight booking is not available at the moment due to technical reasons."
Booked me and my 2 adult boys to Shanghai Feb 20 to Mar 3 and received my confirmed e- tickets 15 minutes later. Yay! Does this mean it's for sure? A friend came over a bit later and we booked him as well but he has not received any confirmation except for the one I printed from wideroe.no at the time of booking...been over an hour now.
THE WEBSITE HAS A ERROR MSG NOW. STATING IT CAN'T Current book any international flights due to tech. difficulties
We booked April 18-May 10 to Beijing for the same price as Dave above.
Recieved a reservation number, and keeping our fingers crossed that our flights get confirmed and tickets get issued.
Thanks for posting this AMAZING deal Chris!
Yeah, so sad, it's not working anymore. "International flight booking is not available at the moment due to technical update."
We just received ticket numbers so it's all official now and confirmed by the airline :-)
Just got my e-tix! Thanks for the tip Chris ! ! !
Any ideas on
what should I do if the person I booked a flight for gave me the wrong email address? I don't want to alert them to the pricing mistake. I did print out wideroe.no's confirmation number.
Hurry up to finalize your bookings, guys. It looks like their tech support is on it. I get this message when I try to look at dates -- "International flight booking is not available at the moment due to technical update."
Can anyone confirm what Airlines they're taking from Vancouver to China(any city)?
China Airlines? China Southern? Cathay? Air China? etc
@JB, for my flight to Beijing and back from Shanghai, it was showing Air China.
Purchased my tickets for 2 on February 28th to March 9th for Beijing for just under 800.
I got my ticket receipts and ticket numbers. Hopefully it works out.
I have received my confirmation and receipt from Wideroe, no etickets from airline.
If you have received your etickets from airline, at what time did you book today?
Thanks @AC!
How about Beijing or Guangzhou?
Can anyone still book? I keep trying but it says "International flight booking is not available at the moment due to technical update." :( Guess I missed it?
@JB, Beijing I was seeing Air China but I didn't check Guangzhou, unfortunately. Looks like they're still updating the site so it might be too late for us if we didn't finalize our purchases already. :( (I'm kicking myself because they have a 24 hour cancelation policy -- should have booked right away and figured out the details later!
I just tried it out and it says the site has disabled international flight booking for 'maintenance'. Perhaps they caught on and are addressing the error?
@AC Understand, thanks! I'm gonna guess most, if not all the flights were from Air China.
isn't the 24hr cancelation policy to protect the consumer though?
Got my ticket numbers. Booked for 5 people with 1 infant from April 5-26 at $377 per person. I hope this works!
Got my confirmation and we booked at 1pm today.
Yes, it's to protect the consumer -- I was saying I wished I hadn't dawdled so long in figuring out what dates to go because I was trying to find guided tour dates before booking the flights. With the 24hr cancelation policy, I should have just booked my flights and spent the rest of today finding tours that would have worked, and then canceled my flights tomorrow if I couldn't find anything.
I received my e-tickets and AirChina ticket numbers...this is looking pretty good.
I hope (for all of us!) that these prices/tickets are honoured!
It's 2:50pm. I've just tried a few destinations (YVR-NCE, YVR-PEK, YVR-YHZ).
The Gravy 'Plane' is apparently over. Every entry renders:
"Bestilling av flybilletter til utlandet er midlertidig stengt av tekniske grunner.
International flight booking is not available at the moment due to technical update."
I think they've figured out they have a problem.
Good luck to everybody who made bookings. Hopefully everything works your way!
I will say thank you to the post owner. I got the ticket. very cheap!
Booked at 1:24 pm this aft, Vancouver-Guangzhou return, for $387.69. Received (1) confirmation of reservation, then (2) e-ticket receipt with reference #. So far, so good. No further emails received and it's now 3:02 pm.
Just tried this now (1532hrs) and it states that international bookings unavailable due to technical update. Just FYI.
Others may have better luck, but I have tried refreshing/reloading several times.
Is there any way one is able to verify the e-ticket is valid? Thanks
What a great deal! Hope it works out for everyone that was lucky enough to cash in on it.
RG to check tickets go to www.checkmytrip.com
Thanks CJ, was able to look up flight
please let us know if the tickets are honoured. just to know for the future. thanks.
Checked my PNR on www.checkmytrip.com and everything is kosher. Thanks again Chris. You do a great service by letting us in on these great deals.
Hey all, how do you check for the ETicket numbers from the Email or websites?
I've only received an email confirmation but not the Eticket or ticket numbers.
Thanks! And good luck everyone, hope they honor this ticket!
Did you guys choose seats at booking? I was unable to at the time of booking/ we booked separately and now I'm not sure how to select seats.
Thanks!
I booked and got my e-tickets and checked on https://www.checkmytrip.com and it says that the filghts are confirmed.. does that mean im good?
I hope so.
I am wondering the same thing..
I am so excited for this impromptu trip and want to start planning my trip ASAP!
hurry and book the site is back up again as of 15:20pm!!! yvr to Beijing $450 mar 21-apr 8
hurry!!!!! good luck everyone
YVR to Guanzhou showing $800 during spring break. HELP!!
6:13pm (Pacific Standard Time) and the site is showing the same deal: YVR-PEK (return) in April US$447, or around CDN$488.
Same flights on Expedia are coming up at CDN$739
I give up, the dates for spring break are too limited. all of the prices during that time period are way too high.
Spring break is $650 per person. Not bad, but definitely not $400.
BACK people !!! I don't know if it's a mistake or something else but i just booked it.
$435 (CAD), in May !
Vancouver to Shanghai
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Departure: 10:00 Vancouver, Canada - Vancouver International, terminal M
Arrival: 12:25 +1 day(s) Beijing, China - Capital International, terminal 3
Airline: Air China CA998 Aircraft: Airbus Industrie A330
Fare type: Economy Restricted
Baggage: 2 piece(s) per traveller
Change of plane required. Time between flights : 3:00.
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Departure: 15:25 Beijing, China - Capital International, terminal 3
Arrival: 17:35 Shanghai, China - Pudong International, terminal 2
Airline: Air China CA177 Aircraft: Airbus Industrie A330
Fare type: Economy Restricted
Baggage: 2 piece(s) per traveller
Shanghai to Vancouver
Friday, May 30, 2014
Departure: 11:30 Shanghai, China - Pudong International, terminal 2
Arrival: 13:40 Beijing, China - Capital International, terminal 3
Airline: Air China CA1836 Aircraft: Airbus Industrie A321
Fare type: Economy Restricted
Baggage: 2 piece(s) per traveller
Change of plane required. Time between flights : 2:10.
Friday, May 30, 2014
Departure: 15:50 Beijing, China - Capital International, terminal 3
Arrival: 11:50 Vancouver, Canada - Vancouver International, terminal M
Airline: Air China CA991 Aircraft: Airbus Industrie A330
Fare type: Economy Restricted
Baggage: 2 piece(s) per traveller
Legend:USD = U.S. Dollar,CAD = Canadian DollarPrice
Passengers Flights Taxes Booking fee
2 adult(s) x (311.00 + 83.69 + 5.00) = 799.38 USD (868.44 CAD)
Total for all passengers 799.38 USD (868.44 CAD)
Booking Class
Having problems with the country code and it´s not accepting the +1...any ideas?
I note that the ticket specifies: "Taxes are included except where local airport taxes are eligible."
Taxes are a large part of the ticket cost. On a base fare of $840, fuel surcharges are $270, surcharges are $8.70, and other taxes, fees, and charges are $62.41. I wonder if there will be an additional $340 collected at the counter, which would bring the cost up to the published fees elsewhere.
Of the "taxes, fees, and charges" of $62.41, it breaks down into $25 for airport security charge, $20 for airport improvement fee, and $15.50 for China's airport fee.
Country code problem solved. Now just to wait for the ticket confirmation. ;-)
In Canada, they passed rules requiring the final quote to include all charges, fees, taxes, but maybe in Norway, that is not the case?
I booked Mar 14-31 for a total of around $650 per person to Beijing.
Feb 28 - March 9 BOOKED for TWO 898
Thanks to all of you for the updates :) Happy Travels and see you there!
Feb 28 - March 9 BOOKED for TWO 898
Thanks to all of you for the updates :) Happy Travels and see you there!
Done! Came to $898 for 2 people...March 18-April 8. Thanks Chris!
Booked and E-Ticket confirmation received! $449 USD Feb 27-March 11. Cheers Chris!
Two booked for Feb 28-Mar 22; $799.38. Confirmation and Eticket received. Checked "Checkmytrip" and we are showing as confirmed on the flights. Thanks for the superb deal.
Thanks a lot for this awesome deal. Just booked 2 tickets for Feb 27-Mar 8 for 840 CAD Vancouver to Beijing and return Shanghai-Vancouver.
Why do you think it's so cheap ? it's hard to believe that they made a 3rd mistake (after United and last Saturday) in 10 days... I'm just curious how this works.
1 AM in Vancouver, the prices went up. my flight (originally $400 isnow $582).
Just booked Feb7-March2 YVR-PVG for $438! Got email confirmation as well.
Booked for feb-march to shanghai. $416 (with cancellation protection) for two. Just received my e-tickets.
Thanks!
Just booked from yvr to jinan with a connection in beijing for $438. Trying to look around for my friend now but the site gives the error "For the moment booking between these destinations is not available due to technical updates."
^ $416 each I mean. Got confirmation, and half an hour later got two etickets # with flight details.
An hour ago I booked and got a confirmation, but no etickets yet. Had received an alert from my bank that my credit card was charged and now I just got an email from Wideroe that says:
Hei
Din billett er nå kansellert grunnet manglende betaling.
Your reservation is now cancelled due to no payment.
Med vennlig hilsen
Regards
Wideroe Internet AS
dealing with them on their online chat now. weird!
Looks like they've caught on...
I asked about why my reservations were cancelled...
Merete
:
you can not book this ticket at our web site
Merete
:
you have to book it at the airlines web page
Betty
:
Why?
Betty
:
A few of my friends booked to Shanghai and got their eticket
Merete
:
because we can not sell this tickets
Betty
:
because of the connecting flight?
Betty
:
or?
Merete
:
because of wrong prices
That's different than what I received:
Merete
:
Hva kan jeg hjelpe deg med? How may I help you?
Ryan Klausner
:
Hi there
Ryan Klausner
:
I just want to confirm my flight information.
Ryan Klausner
:
hello?
Merete
:
moment
Ryan Klausner
:
thank you.
Merete
:
its confirmed paid
Merete
:
you will get a receipt
Ryan Klausner
:
thank you. any idea how long it will take to receive that?
Merete
:
1-2 hour
Ryan Klausner
:
thank you
Merete
:
Hva kan jeg hjelpe deg med? How may I help you?
staz
:
hello, I booked a ticket from Vancouver-Beijing on Saturday, and when my friends booked the same ticket at the same price yesterday the ticket was cancelled and wideroe told them the fare was a mistake. will my tickets from Saturday still be ok, I received my confirmation
Merete
:
as long as you have got a electronic ticket receipt your ticket is valid for travel
staz
:
electronic ticket that comes from wideroe or the airline?
Merete
:
from Wideroe
staz
:
ok thank you.
staz
:
do you know why the mistake happened?
Merete
:
no i do not know
staz
:
thanks!
Aw I'm extremely sad now. I guess I just have really bad luck..
@Betty just keep checking the site, the deal has come back inexplicably several times now, there's no reason to believe it won't happen again
Bestilling av flybilletter mellom disse destinasjonene er for øyeblikket ikke mulig grunnet tekniske oppdateringer.
For the moment booking between these destinations is not available due to technical updates.
Betty, it may come up, keep on checking. can anyone help me understand what its going on with those people, selling by mistake or on purpose this kind of deals ?
I didn't want to arrive at the airport in Feb and find out I could not travel, so I called Air China to make sure my ticket is legit. They say my booking is flagged as the fare is wrong. I will be allowed to travel, but only after they collect the difference at the airport when I check in!!!
The girl could not tell me how much they will collect, but the airport staff will calculate it before giving me a boarding pass. She said they are going to do that for all tickets issued by Wideroe. Very worried now.
@Nic, are they allowed to do that????? How can they charge us an arbitrary amount when we check in? Crossing my fingers that everything goes well. I'd rather they cancel the tickets than ask us for money before we board.
That doesn't sound right, Nic.
I received my ticket numbers and (after Wideroe cancelled the discount) spoke with Air China today and they confirmed that everything is valid and even provided me with seat numbers and took a meal request.
@TF
did you miss the line "NEVER contact the airline"? That's how you screw it up for everyone.
They can't possibly be allowed to collect dates at the counter.
@Nic - correction
Hans Petter
:
Please allow me to apologize for the inconvenience caused by this incident. However, the fact is that United has excluded themselves from our booking display leaving us in a situation where we can’t see any flights from CA whatsoever. In addition the fares displayed and sold during the weekend was an error in the fare systems and they will not in any way be made available again. I am truly sorry for this but ask for Your understanding regarding the simple fact that there is absolutely nothing we can du to assist you any further in this matter unfortunately.
Betty
:
oh but my friend booked this morning and he was issued an etiket
Betty
:
Is that going to be valid?
Hans Petter
:
i dont know yet
Hans Petter
:
i get an error when i attempt to ticket it
Betty
:
I understand the situation, but since it doesn't seem like you guys really know whats going on right now with CA, do you think it will be sorted out later?
Betty
:
or I wont be able to get my tickets from this reservation at all?
Hans Petter
:
it doesnt look promising unfortunately
Hans Petter
:
Hva kan jeg hjelpe deg med? How may I help you?
staz
:
Hi Hans, are all wideroe tickets to china booked prior to Monday going to be valid? I have an eTicket issued and was told previously by one of your reps that meant I was %100 confirmed, but people are posting in online forums that you guys are not sure. Can you clarify? thx!
Hans Petter
:
if you have a ticketnumber everything is ok
staz
:
perfect, thank you Hans
When it comes to mistake fares, you want to follow these three simple rules:
1. Never call the airline or the site displaying the mistake fare. Ever.
Unfortunate that people cannot follow direction.....
IF YOU CALL THE AIRLINE DIRECTLY - YOU FAIL. THEY WON'T CHANGE IT.
THEY WILL FLAG YOUR FLIGHT ONLY AND THEN OTHERS AFTER YOUR FLIGHT WILL BE AFFECTED AND CANCELLED.
THE LUCKY ONES WHO GOT THEIR FLIGHTS ORDERED, YOU ARE SAFE IF YOU HAVE A CONFIRMATION EMAIL AND ALSO A SECONDARY EMAIL WITH THE TICKET NUMBERS.
NOTE: BOOKED TICKETS EVEN THOUGH THE ISSUE PERSISTS BY DOING A SIMPLE TRICK. UNFORTUNATELY, I'M NOT IN A SHARING MOOD.
@HOWTOFAIL
exactly, right on.
This is why these things shouldn't be shared with the public.
Can you please email me the trick you speak of? would greatly appreciate it as a friend of mine didn't pick up a ticket on time ? [email protected]
@HOWTOFAIL or @snook
Could you please email me the trick as well?
Thank you very much!
powersjustin(at)hotmail(dot)com
I don't think that there is an actual 'trick', he'll never email you guys
It's still possible
http://s29.postimg.org/6x0njcc5z/flight.png
Why exactly did you not share?
@JP
can you email me pls?
[email protected]
Search Vancouver to Shenyang on the main page... this will bring you to a page with flight prices that are still expensive. Click "View alternative dates" on the right above where the flights are listed. On the next page click "Flights" at the top left, this will bring you to a page where you can search. Replace "SHE" (Shenyang) in destination with "PVG"(Shanghai) (might work for others but haven't tried yet). Enter your dates, only some work (April and May worked the best). Click "My dates are flexible." Then search.
Should come up with a table of dates, many are $391. Then just play around til you find some dates that work for you.
Note I haven't actually booked the flight because these dates don't work for me but good luck for those who can!
Hi Guys!
Total bonehead move here but in the haste to book I bought vancouver-beijing-guangzhou with plans for onward travel to bangkok via seperate ticket.
Just realized I can't do that without purchasing a double entry visa.
What are the chances of getting Air cHina to change my beijing-guangzhau ticket into a beijing-bangkok ticket (currently cheaper than what I have anyway-in correct prices that is)
???
HOW TO FAIL - What's the blog site?
please post or email me the HOW TO FAIL blog site. I am in need of a few tickets to China for the whole family. I've tried the Wideroe site for a few days and always get "the technical updates" error message
@crapshoot
If your stay is under 72 hours, you don't need to get a visa prior to departure. So if your in china for 2 days and then leaving for Bangkok, you can receive a temporary visa upon landing. Assuming you're Canadian.
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/embassy/visa/intro2.htm
@JK
This is what I had originally though. My interpretation of the 72 hr visa though is that you must stay in the city of issue and not leave that city. (So if I first land in Beijing, I would need to get the 72hr visa there and would not be allowed to fly out of Guangzhou)
@CRAPSHOOT, after you got 72 hour visa, you can go any city you want. Last year, my wife entered China at KunMing airport and got 72 hour visa, and went back to Vancouver from ShangHai airport, no issue. You just need to print out your eticket and let custome know that you are going to leave in 72 hours.
(2) 72-hour visa-free transit foreign visitors are not permitted to leave Beijing to other Chinese cities during the 72 hours, and have to depart from Beijing.
These deals are also trickling down to YEG. Just booked YEG-YVR-PEK-YVR-YEG for $550 return this spring (had the option to chose AC or WJ for the YVR flight... AC had the better time). My reference number works on the AC website as well so I'm very confident it's all confirmed.
I actually noticed the "trick" in how to get around it and rebooked yesterday, but its not going to work so I didn't bother sharing. After I rebooked the etickets were not issued and so i talked to wideroe reps and basically they said Air china had blocked their ability to issue tickets for whatever is booked. They the fares are incorrect so even if we are able to get around the "technical issues" page and book you'll still get a confirmation email with the reservation number but you won't get a ticket anyway. I don't see any point to order now.
If anyone did book today (dec 4) and got etickets issued please do let us know. But this is my understanding of the situation so far.
Has anyone managed to successfully book a flight today (Dec 4th)?
I think the deal is done. I tried numerous different cities and dates and receive the same e-mail saying
"Air China has reported that the fare is wrong. The booking is cancelled"
Thanks for the heads up on this one!
Right after I got the first confirmation letter, I got another one
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Customer
We were unable to complete your order. Your reservation has been canceled. Your credit card has not been charged.
The reason is that we do not have ticketing agreements with one or more airlines on your itinerary.
Please disregard the automatic confirmation we sent you by e-mail.
We apologize for the inconvenience and recommend that you book your travel directly from the airline's website or via a travel agent.
Sincerely,
Widerøe Internet Booking
I got that same email but then a few hours later I got this:
Hello,
Regarding ordering XXXXXX. We regret that our system accidentally sent out an email that your order has been canceled.
Your order is not canceled. Everything is OK with this order.
Sincerely
Widerøe Internet AS
I got that same email but then a few hours later I got this:
Hello,
Regarding ordering XXXXXX. We regret that our system accidentally sent out an email that your order has been canceled.
Your order is not canceled. Everything is OK with this order.
Sincerely
Widerøe Internet AS
Booked tickets to Harbin from YVR for end of feb, excited to see the national geographic featured ice festival, I booked two tickets for $350 each, got confirmation as well, too good to be true, last step, call air china and find out if the tickets are legitimate.. Thanks for the update, YOU ARE THE BEST!
I'm not seeing the cheap prices anymore when searching. Ah well...was hoping to find a cheap way to get to HK for a friend's wedding.
I was able to book a ticket for myself and my 2 older sons and got our e-tickets. Their friend came over shortly after and asked that I book it for him too which I did. However, he accidentally gave me the wrong email address. I can see his trip is booked on checkmytrip.com but he said he has tried every way of contacting wideroe to fix his email address and send him the confirmation and ticket and he says they don't respond and that he can't get through by phone...any ideas?
RIP : The Deal is Dead. Started Nov 27 - Ended Dec 4.
Did anyone else get a cancellation and then another email indicating it was cancelled in error? I didn't get that cancellation error email!!
To Karin: Wideroe uses the Amadeus online travel booking system.
The checkmytrip.com is the client end to view the trip details. If your family friend has a confirmed ticket within the site, then he is safe.
Everyone: If you want to be absolutely sure, it's easy to just print out the Eticket. (Expand her/his name when they're on that site). The ETicket is right underneath that. Print the page and you're good to go!! (Make sure to get your VISA before you leave! And a valid passport of 6 month validity).
SaltyWetGuy, i didn't get the cancelled in error email either. Pretty frustrating.
It is really too bad people can't follow instructions from Chris when he finds us these great deals:
1. Never call the airline or the site displaying the mistake fare. Ever.
Calling Air China just risks getting your reservation cancelled, along with everyone after you.
If you get an e-ticket (and received no cancellation email) just sit tight. Don't call China. Verify the e-ticket on CheckMyTrip.com and wait a few weeks. If you don't get a cancellation email, you are set. Get your Visa and enjoy the trip.
If you didn't get an e-ticket, or you got a cancellation email, that is the luck of the draw. There will be other deals in the future.
Rick, I was able to get the Eticket details by looking under my name in www.checkmytrip.com haha... as mentioned in my previous message.
Hopefully not receiving anything mentioning it being cancelled is a good thing!
I'll ride it out these few months since my trip is in March and check again in Feb.
As I mentioned earlier, please print out your Eticket if you guys never received the email. This checkmytrip.com site is awesome for providing all your details.
Let's all plan our "Meet" in Asia! Email me at [email protected] or [email protected]
Anyone else looking into the Visa application?
My original flight is Vancouver -> Beijing -> Shanghai (March 3rd) and then I intend to travel to Hong Kong, Thailand, Burma, and back to Shanghai -> Beijing -> Vancouver (March 20th) on the return home.
What sort of Visas do I need to acquire? Is there somewhere to go through the application process in Vancouver, or is it required to be done on-line?
AJ, you need double entry Visa and you need that done at the Visa office. It should be $75 and also a service fee of $25. For the Visa, you need to have flight tickets printed, hotel stay or if you are staying with friends, a letter of invitation. I know, it's a lot of work, hahaha....
I've got a YVR-Beijing-Shanghai, but I'd like to get off the flight when I arrive in Beijing (on my way in), proceed by train to Shanghai, and return that way. Anybody foresee any problems with this?
RCR: Airlines often cancel the rest of the remaining legs on your trip (including your flight home) when you miss a leg, unless you can convince them not to!
Hi what kind of letter of invitation do I need to get a visa? I will be arriving in Beijing, but I don't know anyone there. I have a family friend who lives in Guan Zhou.... should I ask them to write me some kind of letter?
@Raymond, thanks for the info. Guess I won't be doing that, then, unless they give me the go-ahead
Visa: just submit a copy of your flight itinerary and hotels etc for your stay in China. That takes the place of invitation if you are a tourist.
Thanks CJ
I am still uncertain whether my trip will be cancelled and there is the whole getting the China visa ordeal but I was wondering if I have waited long enough to stay under the radar. I was thinking I would like to add a frequent flyer program (Is it even possible to collect points on these trips) to my ticket and select a seat. I've been following the advice of book, ask questions later. Is now later or should I wait a few more weeks? My flight isn't until mid April. I've got the confirmation email, the eticket and my credit card has been charged.
I forgot Feb is a shorter month so my trip came to be a bit shorter than I'd hoped. Do you think I can change my flight if I'm willing to pay for the fee? (I think its 500 NOK each way, according to the website).
I feel like if I bring it to their attention, they might either a) cancel the ticket b) charge me more for the change, aka the original price of the ticket or something closer than 1000 NOK.
Arty/Tibet: My suggestion is to call after the New Years (Jan 2nd or later), it's just two weeks from now. The reason is because, they (Wideroe.no) may not be able to make those changes for you and the requests are in $CDN.
For flight changes, it's $50. And when you make the changes, please call the airline. (Wideroe can't change anything, not even your middle name, or extend days). If you want to try Wideroe first, you can use the "change" link.
It's just a quick form to fill, they will answer within 24 hours.
When you call the Airline directly, provide them the 6 alphanumeric confirmation number, and your eticket when asked. Note: Your flights can not be more than 2 months apart, as the total length is 60 days for this specific fare, and the minimum is 7 days. You can also call for your seat selection.
Arty/Tibet: My suggestion is to call after the New Years (Jan 2nd or later), it's just two weeks from now. The reason is because, they (Wideroe.no) may not be able to make those changes for you and the requests are in $CDN.
For flight changes, it's $50. And when you make the changes, please call the airline. (Wideroe can't change anything, not even your middle name, or extend days). If you want to try Wideroe first, you can use the "change" link.
It's just a quick form to fill, they will answer within 24 hours.
When you call the Airline directly, provide them the 6 alphanumeric confirmation number, and your eticket when asked. Note: Your flights can not be more than 2 months apart, as the total length is 60 days for this specific fare, and the minimum is 7 days. You can also call for your seat selection.
Hi I was thinking of visiting japan from Beijing. does anyone know a cheap way of doing this? Are there any cheap charter flights fr China to Japan?
Ellie, tell me your days that you are in Beijing and when you are planning to go?
There are cheap flights all over the place... when and which area of Japan?
A few websites are helpful for these searches, if you need them, you can write back. If you are in China for a short time, why not go to other areas of China first? If you have a month or two to stay in Asia, then I'd venture off elsewhere.
Hi I will be in Beijing from Mar 21-April 8. I was thinking of going to Osaka or Tokyo for around 5 days or so. Just because I've never been there. And i heard its nice.
Saltywetguy,would have any tips on how to survive in china if you don't read or speak Chinese? Any tips on any near by towns I should visit close to Beijing?
thx
Need some advice.
I received a follow up email stating Wideroe changed our connecting flight to 4 hours later, which causes a problem. We will arrive in Guangzhou at 23:55... leaving us very slim options for transportation to our intended destination. Can't taxi.
Who should i call to discuss this change? Air China or Wideroe? We were originally landing at 19:15, now 23:55. But there is also one prior landing at 20:10. We also wouldn't mind taking that flight either. Its just this 23:55 is a bit problematic.
Ellie, my suggestion is stay in China for those two weeks and venture around.
You don't need to know Chinese, if you want to be safe, bring a phrase book!
Many people speak and know English at the hotels/hostels, and signs/places have English on them. There's nothing to be worried about at all!
I would recommend Beijing $99/7 day tour and a bullet train to Tianjin for a couple days, then venture off to Shanghai by bullet train and take another $99/7 day tour. (The 7 day tour includes hotels stay for $99, Tips is $10/night.)
If you must head to Tokyo/Japan, then your cheapest flight will be from Shanghai (~$250 total tax in!). You can take Spring Airlines flight to Tokyo Ibaraki Airport, 1.5-hour bus ride to/from Tokyo Station is only ¥500 for flight passengers.
JA, you are out of luck my friend. I tried to modify my flights with the Airline directly and also with Wideroe. The airline will try to "correct" the mistakes or will get you to call the issuing website where you purchased your tickets. They know of the lost fees/taxes and will make you pay for them.
The issue with these tickets is that Air China in any event of change from customer side will claim the taxes missing in the original issue. This will more than double the original fare, needless to say an extremely high cost for a minor change. You may of course cancel, but only airport taxes will be refunded – but again this being such a low fare that is not such a bad deal. Cancellation can be done by following the link for cancellation and refund from the “Receipt E-ticket” email received on completion of a booking. You will then see the amount being refunded before you confirm and receive an online confirmation followed by email confirming the cancellation.
SaltyWetGuy: Did you find out if the tickets are still valid if the customer does not make changes?
KLL, you and whoever else that got a confirmation email, ETICKET email, should be fine. For those who missed the e-ticket details, you can find that from your Confirmation email 6/7 digit code and by viewing www.checkmytrip.com
If you call the airlines to change anything at all, you would need to pay up!
Thanks for your help SaltyWetGuy! I better not risk anything since I don't want to pay more. Just double-checking, if we show up day of flight without having contacted them prior, they won't make us pay the difference up front right?
I believe I'm flying first (Feb.7) out of most people here so I will be the "test subject" hahahaah.
Saltywetguy Thanks for your help again! Flights fr. Shanghai to Tokyo isexpensive on spring air it was $338. I guess the price went up :(
I appreciate your traveling tips. I might look in to a tour. Do you recommend i sign up for a tour from here or when I arrive in china
Arty keep us updated I hope it all goes well. I am sure it will be fine. If United was able to honor their mistake prices $20 a ticket this is nothing....
Arty, I don't believe Air China is legally able to charge you extra at the airport. You have a contract of carriage with them. They offered a price, you paid in full, and they issued you an e-ticket.
The CTA (Canadian Transport Agency) has jurisdiction over disputes with airlines for flights to / from Canada. The CTA recently required Swiss Air to honour "mistake" fares for 6 passengers after the airline canceled their tickets.
http://www.otc-cta.gc.ca/eng/agency-decision-orders-swiss-international-air-lines-provide-compensation-passengers
For my flight I plan to do this:
1. I will not call Air China in advance for any reason. Calling them just brings my reservation to their attention and risks them trying to cancel it.
2. I will check-in online in advance at the Air China website. This means my interaction with staff at airport is limited to checking bags.
3. I will go to the airport an extra hour earlier than normal in case there is a dispute. If they don't honour the ticket or try to charge me extra, I will escalate to management and threaten action with the CTA.
Bottom line: I am pretty sure we will all be fine. Please let us know how it goes for you.
For all of you that tried calling the airline after booking and having received a confirmation: you're an idiot.
Learn how to read and consume collaboratively.
Hi all, thanks for the fantastic info and feedback in here. Except Omar, you snotty man.
Just to confirm: I would love to extend my dates, but don't want to risk having the airline mess with me. Any chance this is possible? Has anybody attempted it?
Dave: You are the best, thanks for your help. I will definitely follow this plan as well.
I'll keep everyone updated!
So I bought a ticket within the first two hours this post was posted... I was issued a confirmation as well as a ticket (with ticket number). Wideroe did not send me an email saying its been cancelled. How do I know for sure that they will honor my ticket?? And when do they have until to "cancel" my ticket. I just need to know so I can book hotel in Beijing and Shanghai. Help? I likely wont even be checking in a bag. Just going to take a carryon for 10 days. So I wont have any communication with the Air China reps at checkin.
What do you guys think? Everything is a go?
From the sounds of it, everything is fine. Did you try entering your ticket number at checkmytrip.com ? That's the tool that checks your ticket number in the Amadeus system from which all tickets are issued.
I was wondering if anyone had any success making changes to their trip through airchina. I know we arent supposed to call but I have a YVR Beijing SHanghai return flight and I was hoping to change it to be just Beijing to YVR, and skip the first portion. I dont want them to flag my ticket or try to cancel it in any way I was just wondering if anyone had any success with making changes through air china?
Alysha,
I've called both the airline and the travel agency and they said you are not allow to make this kind of change. You and I are on the same boat; I wanted to do exactly what you are saying. if you don't make it to one of the flights, they will cancel the remaining. And don't worry folks, I didn't mention anything about my ticket, I asked hypothetically.
Hope this helps,
Just to note, this is the case with every airline ticket. When you miss a leg, the remaining legs are almost always canceled automatically.
Alysha, unfortunately there's no can do! As others have mentioned, if you skip a leg, the rest will be cancelled. You might want to take a look later on.
I've had luck with Air Canada once, I skipped the first leg, as I was at the airport before the first flight and I was at my "connecting flight" and explained to them, I will be missing my first leg. They allowed me to skip that first leg and pay $100 for the change.
You should go to the airport and explain to them, a day prior to your first leg.
If you are authorized to change it, they may charge you a $50 fee for changing the flight details on that day prior to your first flight.
If not possible. Your best bet is to take a bullet train from Shanghai to Beijing and be there at leasst a day earlier. If you need to skimp out on the hotel, you can rest up in the airport. My flight is 10 hours layover at Beijing for my "connecting" flight home.
I wonder if anyone has taken this trip yet.
From his post, I think Arty is one of the people flying first (Feb 7). Arty, please let us know how it goes for you.
hey anybody know how to change the meal request for this ticket?
through wideroe or air china?
Hey guys!!
It worked!! I'm currently laying over at PEK and waiting for my flight to PVG.
It wasn't easy. My flight to PEK was delayed, which would make me miss my PVG flight. The CA staff tried to change the flight for me at YVR but they said due to the nature of the ticket (extremely cheap), they were unable to modify it. The only way to change the flight was to directly contact Wideroe to change the ticket OR fly the first leg of my trip first and then figure it out in PEK. The latter choice though, was not recommended because there would be a chance that I needed to book a separate flight to get to PVG.
I wasn't confident since I remember reading that Wideroe told everyone to contact CA for ticket changes, etc.
When I called them, their offices had already closed. Luckily, they have that live chat thing and I told them that I needed them to change my PEK>PVG flight to a later time. I told them my situation and asked if they could change a later flight for me. They replied saying that such modifications should be done by the CA staff. However, the CA staff says otherwise but did provide a reasoning. My e-ticket number started off as 701- and CA could not modify them because it's a "new code" or whatever. She said that CA codes start with 999- so I explained that on the live chat. After a while, they were able to change my flight!!
This was our conversation (I decided to go the nice route):
Merete : Hva kan jeg hjelpe deg med? How may I help you?
204.239.250.1 : Hi!
204.239.250.1 : I am at the vancouver airport right now and the flight CA998
204.239.250.1 : has been delayed from 10 am to 11:20 am
204.239.250.1 : I have a connecting flight to PVG at 15:35 and the counter staff
says I won't make it and need to contact you guys to change the flight
204.239.250.1 : can you help olease
204.239.250.1 : please*
Merete : the airline shoulddo the change when there is time change
204.239.250.1 : they said they are unable to do the change and to contact the
original company
204.239.250.1 : they can only change the flights starting with 999- ticket code
adn because 701 is part of wideroe they cannot do it
204.239.250.1 : can you please change a later flight for me
Merete : it is already changed to departure 2015 from PEK
204.239.250.1 : is it?
204.239.250.1 : so can you tell me what my new itinerary is, please?
Merete : moment
204.239.250.1 : okay
Merete : CA 998 U 07FEB 5 YVRPEK HK1 M 1000 1335+1
CA1883 U 08FEB 6 PEKPVG HK1 3 2015 2230
CA1862 U 02MAR 7 PVGPEK HK1 2 0730 0955
CA 997 U 02MAR 7 PEKYVR HK1 3 1300 0740
204.239.250.1 : okay thank you very much!!!
204.239.250.1 : have a nice day!!
The process ended up being a little bit hectic for me, maybe because of the delayed flight. What I can tell you is that I was definitely guaranteed a flight from YVR>PEK regardless of my flight to PVG. I double checked with the CA staff and they said that there's no problem with my flight to PEK and mentioned that it's cheaper than what they pay for taxes! (She didn't question how that happened).
Honestly, I was a bit terrified in the beginning because I wasn't able to do online check-in nor the kiosk check in. Luckily nothing went down when I checked in in-person at the counter. Only down side is that now I'm stuck at PEK for 5 extra hours, but at least I'm on my way to a nice vacation!
Good luck everyone!!
Thanks for the update Arty!
I can now book my stuff with more confidence :)
Have fun!
Have a great trip Arty! Thanks for posting the update.
Arty, thanks for update. Now I can book my hotels. Do you recommend bringing any respiratory mask to china? is it really difficult to breath there?
Hi everyone - just wanted to confirm Arty's experience - i just arrived back after doing a YVR to Chengdu trip (Feb 4th to 13th). Due to online check in being down I had to check in at the gate once and check-in counter on return and not a word was said!
I can't speak for Beijing as I just had a layover there but I didn't feel the need for a mask in Chengdu - it is one of the more polluted cities, and you definately see a gray haze hanging over the distance but I didn't notice any respiratory problems over the week I was there and I have very mild asthma. My impression is Beijing is one of only a few cities where the pollution may be worse. I downloaded an app called the China Air Quality Index as well - free app and it shows updated readings on air pollution for major cities on a daily basis.
Hope everyone has fun!
Has anyone used a Vancouver based Chinese visa application service? Any recommendations?
Thanks
@Avogadro, I went to the application centre on W Broadway (Consulate... something like 990 W Broadway)
I got there around 9 and had about a 20 minute wait. You need a completed form, photocopy of your passport page, printout of your flights and an address in China... I think that's it.
About a 5 day turnaround for me. $80 processing fee.
Thanks RCR, but I'm on the Island, so a return trip to the Mainland makes a visa service provider cost effective for me. There are several available services, but I'm curious to hear about others' experience.
A
Has anyone reiceved notices about flight time changes? Because I got 2 notices so far fr. Widerøe Internet AS
Yes I received a chance flight time too? Yet when I check ac there is no flight change with them???? I have other flights booked too...better not be messing with us this late in the game.
I got a flight time change email notice also.
I did a well. It was only a minor change in departure time - 40 minutes later
mine is only 40 minutes later as well. However, look at air china website, there is not a time change on their departure schedule...I also checked yvr flight schedule and no change...I am worrying :(
I am departing on flight CA998. The Air China website shows CA998 leaving Vancouver at 10:00 am. The email from Wideroe says it is leaving at 10:40 am.
Either way, I am going to the airport quite early. Whether the flight is at 10:00 or 10:40 I will be on it.
I just checked the Air China website again and my CA998 departing flight has been updated to depart at 10:40am.
So it looks like the time change from Wideroe is correct, just took a few days for the Air China website to be updated.
Did you get aeroplan points from this trip?
@slantendicular Yes, I claimed missing miles through aeroplan and so far the YVR PEK leg miles have been added to my account. I think with my ticket class, I was only eligible for 50% of the miles.
Thank you YVR deals, I got back from an amazing trip to shanghai. Saved me a bundle!
Glad to hear it Michael! Please share any highlights of your trip, if you'd like. I'm sure many would appreciate it!
Hi Michael,
We are heading to Shanghai in a couple weeks - would love to hear about your experience, if you have any tips etc :)
Just came back from my trip to China for 450$ return. THANKS CHRIS!! FOR THOSE ARE HAVENT LEFT YET.... I WOULD TRY CALLING AIR CHINA TO SELECT YOUR SEATS. I wasnt able to do it online check in. Because the tickets were brought fr.Wideroe.
Katy for shanghai I would suggest getting a metro pass eg. 3 day.. 1 day pass or even a reloadable card for what ever your stay is. The line for the ticket machine is long plus you have to use the machine to calculate how much your trip cost. Locals in china will be pushy if you are slow when buying your tickets at the ticket booth or ticket machine. I had two people bud in front of me when i was at the ticket booth talking to the staff there. They pretty much hip checked me and shoved some money into the counter try and started to yell at the lady behind the booth. Also the ticket booths only sells day passes not single trip tickets.
Nice! Welcome back Ellie!
Thanks Chris for a great YVR Deal!
We returned yesterday from our trip to Beijing; it was fantastic. Our Air China flights were great, with no problems.
Beijing is a great city with so much history, friendly people and so easy to get around in thanks to an extensive subway system - although you should avoid rush hours if you have personal space concerns :-). We loved the experience. It definitely wouldn't have happened without YVR Deals.
Glad to hear you enjoyed it Angelo! Thanks for the report!
Thanks Chris for this great deal! We just got back from our trip to Beijing and Guangzhou (with a side trip by train to Hong Kong) for $400 return.
Had a great time especially in Guangzhou and Hong Kong. Beijing was a bit too polluted and hazy for me, but I was glad to see the Great Wall there.
The Wideroe tickets worked without problem, except that we could not check in at the automated kiosks. Had to checkin at the counter.
Thanks Dave! Glad to hear you enjoyed your trip.