Help needed - booking multi-destination flights from LA to China & Korea
 

I am trying to book a multi-destination trip from Los Angeles from mid June to early July 2010 and having no luck finding reasonable flights in terms of price or connections on the usual sites - Orbitz, Travelocity, Expedia - or some of the Asian airlines; own sites.For example, some of these sites offer crazy itineraries that would require stops outside China to go from Beijing to Shanghai. I need to go LA-Beijing-Shanghai-Seoul-LA. Can anyone recommend a good website or travel agent? I would prefer non-stop flights and the most reliable domestic Chinese airline for the Beijing-Shangahi flight. Thank you!

The strategy is to buy the tickets in 2 parts to get the lowest possible total fares

1) Say, use <cheapoair.com> to buy r/t ticket from lax to pvg (Shanghai) and seoul to lax. Air Canada flies to all these cities. At this website today it costs ~US$1100 total based on dates of 6/15 and 7/6/10. If you fly with Air Canada, a change of plane in Vancouver is required. Even if you are returning to the States from a different Asian city than the one you arrive at, as long as you fly with one airline that flies to all these cities, your ticket usually is considered to be a r/t ticket.

2) While in China, purchase one way tickets from Shanghai to Beijing and from Beijing to Seoul. Today, at <ctrip.com>, it costs ~US$110 (this fare varies all over; I am giving you a higher $ vlues) and ~US$200 respectively. It will cost you a lot more money to buy these tickets in the State.

Air China and China Eastern Airlines are well known airlines in China and internationally.

I hope I've given you the general idea so you can play with different variations.

I think you'll get better prices, especially on the over the Pacific r/t ticket, when you wait until about 3 months before departure date.

Thamk you for your helpful advice. I had not heard of cheapoair, and was happy to find some cheaper fares than on the usual websites. I had a foggy notion of the strategy you mentioned but have been a bit wary about possible snags/hassles with custom authorities in this post 9/11 world when one is trying to use only the return portion of a round trip ticket. It sounds like if you are booking both rountrip tickets on one airline, it is "safe" but do you know how it is if I buy rountrips on 2 different airlines? This will be my first trip to China and don't want any problems.Thanks!

<cheapoair.com> is listed in a website that I consider very reputable, called <hotsheet.com>. Another website <cheaptickets.com>, perhaps better known, is also listed in hotsheet. I would not hesitate using them, as long as I've studied the small prints and are satisfied with them.

Even in these higher alert times, I would not hesitate buying the tickets in two parts as I suggested to you.

I now understand that this will be your first trip to China and you want to make sure that you will not run into any hassle. Since Air Canada covers all these 4 cities (LA, Shanghai, Beijing and Seoul), call them and get one single price. You can also call China Eastern Airlines and Asiana (a reputable Korean airline) that also cover these 4 cities. By the way, China Eastern has a daily non stop flight between lax and pvg, Asiana between Seoul and lax.

A few years ago, I bought tickets to China from a travel agency called China International Travel Service (CITS) located in Pasadena, CA. Check with them too. I don't know if they are still state owned. They can issue China visas. Call CITS before calling the other airlines. Some tickets sold by CITS are discounted

Socalfam: When you buy a ticket, say from lax to pvg, and return from Seoul back to lax, it's called an open jaw ticket, well recognized by the airline industry.

Thanks again. Didn't know about hotsheet either so I am certainly learning a lot from you already! It's so nice to get info from people like you on this forum that have so much more knowledge about these things. I will contact Air Canada once I have my dates down. Took a quick look at the website and was pleasantly surprised at their low fares, relative to Asiana or Korean... Maybe people (at least in the US) don't really think of a Canadian airline to travel to Asia. As for CITS, I read somewhere that this and other China state-run agencies are somewhat lacking in the customer service dept. but I will certainly look them up as I live in the LA area. Just curious- are you based in the US?

Socalfam, lx is not advising buying two roundtrips and discarding half, which might well get you into trouble. The recommendation, as stated above is for an open-jaw ticket.

I'd start by dealing with a single airline (such as Air Canada that goes to all of your destinations) and ask for a complete price. Often you can add on the multiple destinations for not much more. I'd also check with some of the Asian airlines for prices. This is a time to call and talk with a real person, not just rely on a website.

I know nothing about cheapoair or the other recommended sites, but be aware that such sites may sell bulk tickets that will not get you frequent flier miles, may not allow re-routing in case of a delay or cancellation, may not allow any pre-assignment of seats. So ask LOTS of questions before you book. With such long flights, the frequent flier miles may be worth a few more dollars for a ticket from the airline or a travel agency. Note that Air Canada is part of Star Alliance.

SOCALFAN: I live in western Kentucky - 400 miles due south of ORD !

I am pretty convinced that in your particular situation, it's best to buy your ticket from one airline or one travel agency by phone. Perhaps some one, reading this post, can suggest a customer oriented travel agency that sells discount tickets in southern CA.

Kathie:
Thanks for the clarification - I originally thought that lx's proposal was to buy two roundtrips and use just part of them but now I get that lx is saying to buy "open jaw" tickets. I am surprised that the various travel and airline websites are not equipped to deal with multicity travel. I tried various versions of my itinerary on Air Canada and Korean Air's websites and got weird results like "destination" does not exist (when I included domestic flights within China plus the transpacific flights. Like you said, I guess I do need a real person.

lx:
Based on that you and Kathie both suggested, I think I will call Air Canada and some other airlines. FYI
I did call Korean Air last week for info on their Asia air pass that I saw on-line. The agent didn't know anything and told me to call back in an hour when her supervisor was back from lunch! I think I will post another request for info on travel agents in So. Cal area. Thanks again for your help.
P.S. I thought maybe you were on the West Coast as it seems like you travel a lot to China - Kentucky is a loong way from China!

i'm not sure if the op is still interested but the cheapest flights (far and away) from lax to mainland china can be found on www.uschinatrip.com. They are located near diamond bar and i have used them many times. good luck :)

take a look at korean air for the usual best pricing....how about going backwards on your trip? start and end in seoul

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