[sami925]

We are in the VERY early stages of adoption from China and just for info I priced flights to China and it was appx. $11,000.00 for the 2 of us!!!!!!!! Can this be right? How much were flights??? If this is true, there is just no way we can afford that too! Thank you.

[tgbb]

Maybe if you are flying 1st class? Right now from my city it's around 800-900 per ticket.

[Trace7]

Originally Posted by tgbb

Maybe if you are flying 1st class? Right now from my city it's around 800-900 per ticket.

Yes, this sounds about right.

When my DH and I flew to Hong Kong for our honeymoon, it was just under 1000 each.

We are REALLY hoping to use FF miles for the trip to China!!

[Mailbox13]

Plane tickets can range from $800 a person to $1,500 a person depending on where you are flying from, when you are leaving, and assuming you are flying economy class.

[drmalcolm]

Sami925,
When you looked up the price, did you use one of those flight calendars from the airline that required you to put in a date of travel? If you did and you used, say, this weekend as a date, it might have been that your date seemed "last minute." I think all flight prices go up as it gets closer to the date of travel. For instance, we fly domestically from MD to MN frequently and tickets are usually around $200-300/each; however, once my husband had to go at the last minute at it was closer to $900.

[Chinagirl2007]

But Dr. Malcolm, won't our bookings be 'last minute'? Like 1-3 weeks before travel? That's the impression i am getting since TAs seem to be coming in 3-4 weeks after referral. I can't imagine we'll have much more notice than a few weeks.

When i am checking flihgt prices, i usually put in a date about 2 weeks hence, that way i think i am getting a pretty good sense of what we will expect when our time comes...

[cooperbabe]

The agency info I've been given says to budget $900 - $1600 pp for a ticket.

I've checked on prices at various times that are 2-4 weeks in advance and I typically get around $950 - $1200 pp.

For fun I just checked to see how much it would be if I had to fly to Beijing exactly a week from today. I was quoted $856.66 pp - this was United's online reservations

[sami925]

Thanks...I feel much better. I actually just picked a date in April, using Tuesday departure day. I was floored. But I can live w/ the $1000.00. Hoping it will be less. Thank you!

[cooperbabe]

I'm not sure what site you were using, but I was checking one airline's site (can't remember for the life of me which one) and I was checking flights into both Beijing and Hong Kong. The HK ones were freaking me out...showing 9000 + . But somehow I was looking at prices in HK Dollars, not US LOL

You remind me of me - we are so early in the stage we haven't even put our app in to our agency yet but I'm just checking out everything!

I saw your thread on another forum and checked a flight to Beijing using your home airport....I got $806.66 pp

I know this time of year isn't as popular for travelers so I think that may explain the lower prices.

[drmalcolm]

Hi Chinagirl2007,
I was considering "last minute" as checking yesterday for this weekend (today or tomorrow), which is usually the default for the airline pull-down calendars. I think 2-4 weeks as a time to plan is considered pretty normal... you are pretty likely to get a good average rate with that planning time.

The post about HK dollars brought up a good point--maybe that was what was causing the problem, sami925.

Christina

[oleson1]

Some airlines have adoption programs as well. Check the website for the airline that you plan to use.

The one that we are using offers reduced rates for the tickets and flexibility if we would need to change or cancel our tickets.

I'm not sure if I can post who they are or not, so PM me if you are wondering and I'll let you know.

[lotsoflove]

United & Lufthansa international adoption fares and Northwest Airlines Special Delivery are a couple you can look into. If you want their sites to know more just PM me and I will give it to you.

[odi]

Ours were around $1,000. Many agencies also have a travel speacialist to help with finding better rates. By the way we did check for business or first class and they were $5,000 each. So it can happen just look a lot harder. It was easy to deal with the smaller space as I thought $4,000 saved.
Diana

[sami925]

I was sooo worried! Thanks for all the replies. I would love to take our DD9 w/ us..but at those prices...no way. I figure it is a once in a life time trip to China! She is so excited, I would hate to disappoint her. We live near Phila....so we would probably fly out of Philly or Neward depending on prices. I would rather fly out of Philly b/c it is much closer. Now I just have to decide on agencies. I'm down to two....Great Wall or La Vida which is literally 10 mins down the road from me. If anyone has any insite on either...please PM me. Thanks! You guys have been great! Can't wait to get to *know* everyone better!

[scottnmarsha]

asia.com has some cheap airfare to china