Flight to China

Ader1

I hope to fly to Chengdu in China in the middle of February. I havn't bought a flight ticket for about 10 years. Should I purchase a ticket on-line or go to a travel agency? Any suggested web sites/travel agents? I have the 'interview' for the Chinese Tourist Visa on Thursday. I believe that I will need the ticket of at least proof of my flight date at that time. Anybody know if I would get away with an 'Open return'? I'll opting for a 1 month single entry Visa. Thanks.

hermante

Ader1 wrote: »

I hope to fly to Chengdu in China in the middle of February. I havn't bought a flight ticket for about 10 years. Should I purchase a ticket on-line or go to a travel agency? Any suggested web sites/travel agents? I have the 'interview' for the Chinese Tourist Visa on Thursday. I believe that I will need the ticket of at least proof of my flight date at that time. Anybody know if I would get away with an 'Open return'? I'll opting for a 1 month single entry Visa. Thanks.

It's up to you really, best is usually just to go to the airline's website. If you would rather talk to someone face to face then try Flight Centre

I would advise to get a ticket with fixed dates for the visa. But if you are buying now to fly in Feb, then the prices won't be too low, and should you wish to, the ticket conditions would generally allow change of dates for free or a low charge. DO NOT overstay your visa, you can be jailed or banned for 10 years.

lady1964

Don't forget to register with the local police within 24 hours of your arrival in China, although if you are staying in an hotel, they should do this for you, but check that they have & you should get some paperwork to confirm this.

We've booked tickets direct on the BA website but just to Beijing, can't tell you who flies to Chengdu but I would recommend having a return date before your interview.

Ader1

hermante wrote: »

It's up to you really, best is usually just to go to the airline's website. If you would rather talk to someone face to face then try Flight Centre

I would advise to get a ticket with fixed dates for the visa. But if you are buying now to fly in Feb, then the prices won't be too low, and should you wish to, the ticket conditions would generally allow change of dates for free or a low charge. DO NOT overstay your visa, you can be jailed or banned for 10 years.

Thanks for the replies. Can the change of dates be for another date a few weeks away or does it usually have to be within a few days?

richardw

BTW http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chengdu_Shuangliu_International_Airport#Airlines_and_destinations

2sides2everystory

We bought tickets online direct from the airline. But what's this "Visa interview" thing that the OP and now lady1964 are referring to ?

When we went to Beijing last year and used the London Chinese Visa Centre at Holborn Viaduct it was just a queuing system (on chairs with cheese counter tickets) waiting in front of ticket office type windows for your number to come up on the LED above the window. You then shuffled up to that window and handed over your application, then I recall another short wait for another window to go to pay, then come back 4 working days later to go through the same waiting process again and collect your passports with new visas inside.

I got the impression that perhaps you did not even have to turn up in person at the visa office, and that someone else could do it for you ? On my own I collected three visas including my own, but it looked to me like some people in the queue were just acting as couriers.

And we didn't get told to register with police in Beijing although the counter staff at the hotel behaved a bit like humourless police at times (AFAIK we got no paperwork to confirm any police registration).

Our tourist visas were issued with an "ENTER (China) BEFORE" Date and were valid for a single visit of no more than 30 days duration.

They were issued in early June for a trip planned in mid July and the ENTER BEFORE date was exactly 3 months after the issue date i.e. the visas were not linked to the planned trip dates at all, merely to the issue date of the visa.

I took that to mean that we could enter any time within a full 3 month period and stay for up to 30 days after we entered so plenty of scope for adjusting your trip dates to suit.

Ader1

2sides2everystory wrote: »

What's this "Visa interview" thing that the OP and now lady1964 are referring to ?

When I went to Beijing last year and used the London Chinese Visa Centre at Holborn Viaduct it was just a queuing system (on chairs with cheese counter tickets) waiting in front of ticket office type windows for your number to come up on the LED above the window. You then shuffled up to that window and handed over your application, then I recall another short wait for another window to go to pay, then come back 4 working days later to go through the same waiting process again and collect your passports with new visas inside.

I got the impression that perhaps you did not even have to turn up in person at the visa office, and that someone else could do it for you ? I collected three visas but it looked to me like some people in the queue were just acting as couriers.

And we didn't get told to register with police in Beijing although the counter staff at the hotel behaved a bit like humourless police at times (AFAIK we got no paperwork to confirm any police registration).

Our tourist visas were issued with an "ENTER (China) BEFORE" Date and were valid for a single visit of no more than 30 days duration.

They were issued in early June for a trip planned in mid July and the ENTER BEFORE date was exactly 3 months after the issue date i.e. the visas were not linked to the planned trip dates at all, merely to the issue date of the visa.

I took that to mean that we could enter any time within a full 3 month period and stay for up to 30 days after we entered so plenty of scope for adjusting your trip dates to suit.

Did you have to provide proof of address ie hotel bookings for your whole stay there? I've been told that just providing a hotel name would be ample as they won't be checking.....

Voyager2002

I have always obtained my Chinese visas through an agent, and have never had to provide an air ticket nor details of travel arrangements. At one point (around the Olympics) they were strict about these things, but not at other times.

If you are staying in a hotel then the police registration will be taken care of by the hotel staff: all that you need to do is give them your passport number at check-in.

Ader1

Voyager2002 wrote: »

I have always obtained my Chinese visas through an agent, and have never had to provide an air ticket nor details of travel arrangements. At one point (around the Olympics) they were strict about these things, but not at other times.

If you are staying in a hotel then the police registration will be taken care of by the hotel staff: all that you need to do is give them your passport number at check-in.

I got in touch with one of these agents today....'Oriental Visa' http://www.orientalvisas.co.uk/china-visa.html. They said to me that I needed to provide details of accommodation throughout my whole stay. It's seems a little restrictive. That's the trouble, I'm hearing so many different things.

lady1964

We moved to China 3 weeks ago after a pre-move trip Nov/Dec so we are quite well placed to know about registration with the police.

When we came out in Nov, the serviced apartments we stayed at did the local registration for us, we then moved into our apartment & our estate agent did the registration for the new address.

When we came back here 3 weeks ago, OH went to the local police station to register and we have paperwork confirming our registration. Maybe it differs depending on the type of visa you have (actually, OH's visa is a business one).

As for addresses for visas, we didn't have to provide that info on either of our two trips here, however, the agency we used: http://5starchinesevisa.co.uk/ states on their website:

From 16th Jan 2012, applicant applying for tourist and family visa (L-visa) also need to provide:
1. Invitation letter from a Chinese organization or a permanent resident in China; or
2. Cruise itinerary or Air ticket booking record (round trip) and hotel reservation with passengers full name on it;

We have both one of my daughters and my parents coming to visit in the next two months and have had to provide invitation letters as they obviously won't be staying at hotels.
Voyager 2002 is correct to say the hotel will sort it out for you, they need a copy of your passport is all.

As for the 'interview' the OP describes, neither my OH or myself had to have interviews, I have a multiple entry visa, OH has a Business one. I don't quite understand myself what the OP means by an 'interview' either, can you explain please?

Hope this clarifies things a bit more.

Voyager2002

Ader1 wrote: »

That's the trouble, I'm hearing so many different things.

Welcome to China!

In general, there are a vast range of absurd rules, most of which are usually not enforced, but might be just when it is most inconvenient for you!

Anyway, I'm sure that you can provide the name and address of a hotel where you might stay, and that ought to keep them happy.