Online travel/flight websites and insurance

[kzel81]

I'm still negotiating with a couple of schools, so I haven't signed a contract yet, but I will definitely be coming over Feb or March next year, and wonder if anyone can recommend a good online travel site where I might be able to get my plane ticket from?

Also, while on the subject of travel, any recommendations for travel/medical etc insurance. The insurance recommended by the travel agents here in Aus are pretty steep, and I'm hoping that I can get a better deal than what they have quoted.

A round on me for any suggestions, as I'll be deliriously happy if I can save some money by getting some good deals.

[Ruth]

I've never flown in or out of Australia, but I've used both Travelocity and Expedia for booking flights between USA and Canada and USA and China.

[Escaped Lunatic]

I've got a related question. I'm coming in on a tourist visa and will convert to indentured servant when I get there. The travel agencies don't seem to want to sell me a one-way ticket (they claim they CAN'T provide a one-way, even to Hongkong, for a US citizen unless I already have a Z visa), but showing up with a 30 day visa and a 200+ day return trip might seem . . . suspicious.

Any suggestions?




"Give your ID card to the border guard. Now your alias says your Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the United Federation of Planets, cause he won't speak English anyway."
- Banditoes, by the Refreshments

[Dr. Gonzo]

To the OP, I've never found online-only companies dealing with flights in and out of Oz to offer any worthwhile deals.
www.flightcentre.com.au
claims to beat any advertised price. I've used them several times: they're very efficient, plus they can organise your visa.
As for the insurance...........if you're young, healthy, and have had the necessary shots, give it a miss. The Chinese health system is kind of 1960's, but provided you're in or close to a reasonable sized city, the basics are there. Just have a cash reserve and plane ticket to cover contingencies.

EL, I've often heard this "no single ticket" story, but have never personally encountered it. You'll certainly be allowed entry to China once that L visa is in your passport. This may be a case of buying a single online. Or you could spin a yarn about connecting to the Trans Siberian via Beijing, or going by land to Kazhakstan. Sounds like a case of travel companies feathering their own nests, so don't let the m'kaying swine get away with it!

[Raoul Duke]

Yup, Gonzo is right. You just need to change travel agents. Or simply book a flight yourself online. The one-way-ticket rule is old news now; it was true some years ago.

There are some travel links in our tragically underused and underappreciated Links page. One you might want to look into is FlyChina (www.flychina.com I think)...they've been in the discount China travel business a long time now.

[phets72]

As you are from Melbourne, try Overseas Working Holidays in the city and speak to Tully...she was great with me got great deal with flights. I agree with Raoul and Gonzo on the insurance.

[Newbs]

Well, I guess we are expressing personal preferences here, based on experience, so to add to the mix.

Try STA travel, www.statravel.com.au/and Intrepid Travel www.intrepidtravel.com/. Had a fair few dealings with STA and was pleased and, although I haven't dealt with Intrepid before, will do so soon as they are offering something I'm after.

[Escaped Lunatic]

I'm waiting to hear back from STA to see if my teaching certificate is sufficient to get the major discount rates or not.

[Raoul Duke]

I missed the part about insurance...

I wouldn't mess with travel insurance, myself. If you really thought there was a chance that plane would go down, you wouldn't get on it, would you? Now that Hamish has retired, air travel is pretty safe...the odds of your being in an accident on the trip to China and back are infinitesimally small.

Real medical insurance is another matter. Expat medical insurance is widely available online. It's not particularly cheap, especially if you've already seen the sweet side of 40 come and go as so many of us here have, but nice to have if you can afford it.

One of the best benefits is that if you are really seriously ill, you can go to another country with real doctors, such as Hong Kong, and have the procedures done there. MedEvac insurance, wherein in an emergency they will stabilize you and bundle you off to another country with real doctors, is especially strongly recommended and often comes bundled with expat health insurance.

There are a number of expat insurance outfits out there now; some look better than others. There's one in our Links page that looks better than most. It's good in any country in the world except the USA.

[Pashley]

One thing to look at:
wikitravel.org/en/Discount_airlines_in_Asia

Also check Korean Air. One person on a mailing list reported saving several $100 on a Shanghai-LA flight by going by train to Southern China, cheapo Macau-Bangkok flight, then bargain Bangkok-Seoul-LA flight. I don't know if flying Korean on other routes would be as good.

[Escaped Lunatic]

Had a chat with the STA people today. For a ere $20 bribe fee, I can get a forged genuine "International Teacher" ID card that lets me use their student rates.

For some odd reason, they had better rates to Hong Kong than Guangzhou (everyone else has cheaper rates to Guangzhou). I take it the happy, friendly border police in HK won't complain too terribly much about my one-way ticket and tourist visa to the mainland, right?



"Do not worry about your difficulties in Mathematics. I can assure you mine are still greater."
- Albert Einstein

[Crippler]

Hong Kong is easy and actually so is mainland. I have never had them even as how long I was staying.