Next, I want to share my suggestions or some habit on buying tickets and choosing airlines in China. They only represent my personal point of view, so you can choose to adopt:
About tickets
When people buy air tickets, fares are always one of the most important factors that influence people's decision. We all want a good experience while the price is affordable, so when the price of the ticket is cheaper? According to my personal experience, the cheapest time for purchasing tickets is about three weeks before departure, but the discount on the same route may not remain the same.
Some useful tips:
Several apps for buying tickets
Late on the plane
Flight delays have been significantly reduced than before. On the one hand, it is due to the improved technology, and on the other hand, airlines will extend the published take-off times and landing times to longer than the actual time required（e.g. published arrival time for flights within 2 hours may be extended by about 15 minutes and more than two hours will be extended by about 30 minutes). In addition, the aircraft will also adjust its flight speed according to different situations. I once experienced that the aircraft was 40 minutes late but landed on time. In short, the current air traffic controllers, airlines and crews are doing their best to improve service.
Airline Selection
The service and punctuality of large airlines will definitely be better than those of smaller ones. In China, the four largest airlines are Air China, China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines and China Hainan Airlines. These four airlines have the most comprehensive routes and attentive services.
In addition, Sichuan Airlines, Shenzhen Airlines, Xiamen Airlines, and Shandong Airlines have gradually become strong players in the Chinese aviation market. The quality of their services is often better than the four largest airlines mentioned above and they offers more special meals as well. What's more, some of China's budget airlines, such as China United Airlines and Western Airlines, have poor services. Although the air tickets are very cheap, they do not contain checked baggage, and the checked-in freight is relatively expensive.
According to my personal experience, China Southern Airlines has the best service and China Eastern Airlines has the most routes to choose from as well as great discounts on air tickets.
The disadvantages of budget airline
1. Customers cannot seek compensation for flight cancellation: When there are some non-passenger factors that cause flight delays, cancellations and oversold seats, traditional airlines will provide certain accommodation, meals and transportation compensation, but budget airlines do not have any emergency response plans. Passengers only have to wait for flights that have available seats.
2. Extra cost opaque:passengers always need to pay a certain amount of handling fee.
3. Non-refundable fares for most budget airlines: No refund of fare or handling fee when passenger cancels their bookings.
Aircraft Selection
My personal opinion is to choose big aircraft rather than small, and choose Airbus rather than Boeing. No matter which airlines, the service of the mainframe is always better than that of small ones. Besides, the seats of Airbus are more comfortable than that of Boeing aircrafts. In particular, recently, Boeing 737 max have experienced continuous accidents, I think the safety of aircrafts should be our priorities when we make decisions.
Hope the information will be helpful to you!