Please read the following Booking Procedures and Policies carefully. Placing a booking order implies that our procedure and policies have been read and accepted.
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Booking with a Valid Document
(1) Passengers can use a valid passport, travel permit from Hong Kong / Macau / Taiwan, and Chinese ID to book train tickets via the China Train Booking app. Please ensure your personal document is valid and has not expired.
(2) Please make sure that all travelers' passport numbers or any other ID numbers that are used to book train tickets are exactly the same as on the corresponding passports or other personal documents.
(3) Passengers who hold a travel permit from Hong Kong / Macau / Taiwan to book train tickets must use identical characters to those that are on the documents. No matter whether your name is written in Traditional Chinese or Simplified Chinese, the name should be exactly the same as the one shown on your ID.
(4) Any mistyping of names or passport numbers may cause a rejection for ticket collection at a railway station. In such a case, you will lose the ticket(s) that has/have been booked with mistyped names or passport numbers without any compensation. China Train Booking will hold no responsibility for the failure to collect tickets in this situation.
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Booking with an Invalid Personal Document
(1) If a passenger’s passport or travel permit has expired, please renew your passport first before making a train ticket reservation. A ticket booking that uses an expired passport will cause a rejection for the ticket collection process at a railway station.
(2) If a passenger’s passport or travel permit has been renewed, please correct the passport or travel permit numbers in the app before you book a new ticket.
(3) If you have booked a ticket with an ID number on an invalid document:
a. If the ticket has not been issued yet, please cancel the existing booking. Cancelation before we issue your ticket(s) is free.
b. After the ticket has been issued successfully:
If your old passport has expired, your ticket(s) booked online is/are not valid anymore. You need to inform us to cancel your ticket(s) online before the departure time and buy (a) new ticket(s) with your new passport.
After the departure time, we will be unable to cancel your ticket(s) and you will not get any refund for the invalid ticket(s).
- Passengers can check the price details before making a reservation at the time of booking. Once you have paid, we will not refund any price difference or service fee after the ticket(s) is/are issued successfully.
- Although China Train Booking will try hard to secure passengers’ trips, we hold no responsibility if we fail to issue your ticket(s) due to ticket insufficiency.
We will help you book another available train or fully refund your payment based on your inquiry. We will not upgrade your seat for free or bear any cost relating to your other expenses.
- Unpaid
The status of “Unpaid” means that you have not finished the payment process.
We will start to purchase your ticket(s) only after we have received your full payment.
If your booking keeps showing as “Unpaid” after you have paid, please feel free to contact us to correct your booking status.
- Paid
The status of “Paid” means we have already received your booking request and payment.
The pre-sale period of China train tickets is usually
30 days before the departure date (sometimes it changes based on the rail adjustment of China Railways). China Train Booking will start to purchase your ticket(s) as soon as the tickets are released online.
However,
“Paid” does not guarantee that you will receive a ticket collection voucher in the next step. As China train tickets are always selling too quickly, we may be unable to issue your ticket(s) if there are quite a few tickets left when you are making the payment. In such a case, China Train Booking will fully refund you.
- Self Pickup
The status of “Self Pickup” means your ticket(s) has/have been issued successfully. Passengers can check the
Pickup Voucher information directly on our app, or you can check the details via the confirmation email that we’ll send to you.
- Issued
The status of “Issued” means your ticket(s) booked with a delivery service has/have been issued and is/are ready to be sent. Usually, tickets will be delivered to your hotel 1 day before your check-in date.
- Order Cancel
The status of “Order Cancel” means you have canceled the booking.
However,
it does not mean your booking was canceled successfully. We will process your cancelation manually after receiving your request.
a. If canceled successfully, you will receive our email stating that your booking was canceled and you are being refunded.
b. If your cancelation is not accepted by China Railway for any reason, you will have to go to a railway station to submit your request on your own.
- Completed
The status of “Completed” means the entire booking process is finished. There won't be any refund occurred afterwards.
- China Train Booking provides seat/sleeper selection while you are making the booking. However, as seat allocation is controlled by China Railway, China Train Booking is not able to ensure you are allocated your preferred seat/sleeper.
- China Train Booking will bear no responsibility for the final seat allocation in any instance. For example:
a. When there are less than 20 tickets left
b. Sleeper ticket(s) using the self-pickup service
c. The departure date is within 7 days
- Collect Your Ticket(s) at a Train Station in Mainland China
The ticket clerk might charge you
5 CNY per ticket if you collect your train ticket(s) at a station which is not your departure station.
For example: If you collect two train tickets departing from Shanghai Hongqiao at Beijing South Railway Station, you will be charged 10 CNY in total as a service fee.
- Collect Your Ticket(s) at Hong Kong West Kowloon Railway Station
When you collect your ticket(s) from Hong Kong West Kowloon Railway Station for mainland departures, a
10 HKD to 30 HKD collection fee per ticket will be charged at the ticket collection counter at Hong Kong West Kowloon Railway Station based on the Hong Kong rail policy:
(1) Ticket fare < 200 CNY: 10 HKD collection fee
(2) Ticket fare 200–300 CNY: 20 HKD collection fee
(3) Ticket fare > 300 CNY: 30 HKD collection fee
- Bookings made more than 7 days before the departure date are eligible for the ticket delivery service. Your ticket(s) will be sent to your hotel in China before you check in.
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Please note that China Train Booking will NOT be responsible for the following circumstances:
(1) A service fee is charged by the hotel staff for holding the delivered express envelope.
(2) The wrong delivery address, incorrect receiver's name, or unconfirmed check-in date has been provided by the passenger(s), causing the hotel receiver to reject the delivery.
(3) The ticket(s) has/have been sent by express delivery but the passenger(s) hasn’t/haven’t picked it/them up on time at the hotel and subsequently missed the train.
- Service fee is not refundable after we issue your ticket(s). That is to say, if your booking status is “Self Pickup”, “Issued”, and “Completed”, we will not refund the service fee after your cancelation.
- The refund amount is subject to the booking policies of China Railway and China Train Booking.
- A cancelation can be made in the app, by email, or by phone (at least 24 hours before departure). We will send you an email about the ticket cancelation after China Railway approves your cancelation.
- Bookings canceled before the payment is made will not incur a cancelation fee.
- Bookings canceled before the ticket(s) is/are issued are 100% refundable.
- Bookings canceled after the ticket(s) has/have been issued:
(1) Self-Pickup Tickets for Mainland China Tickets (Except Lhasa)
a. A ticket cancelation made
more than 16 days before the departure time will incur a cancelation fee of
5% of the ticket fare.
b. A ticket cancelation made
within 49 hours to 15 days before the departure time will incur a cancelation fee of
10% of the ticket fare.
c. A ticket cancelation made
within 25 hours to 48 hours before the departure time will incur a cancelation fee of
20% of the ticket fare.
d. A ticket cancelation made
within 24 hours before the departure time will incur a cancelation fee of
30% of the ticket fare.
(2) Self-Pickup Tickets for Hong Kong Tickets
a. The cancelation of tickets to or from Hong Kong made
more than 16 days before the departure time will incur a cancelation fee of
10% of the ticket fare.
b. The cancelation of tickets to or from Hong Kong made
within 49 hours to 15 days before the departure time will incur a cancelation fee of
30% of the ticket fare.
c. The cancelation of tickets to or from Hong Kong made
within 48 hours before the departure time will incur a cancelation fee of
50% of the ticket fare.
(3) For Lhasa Tickets
For the cancelation of tickets to or from Lhasa: the cancelation fee is
50% of the ticket value for a successful booking, regardless of whether the ticket collection or delivery option has been selected.
(4) For Delivered Tickets
a. The ticket(s) has/have been issued but not delivered: The cancelation fee is
50% of the ticket value. The service charge is not refundable.
b. The ticket(s) has/have been delivered: The cancelation of bookings after the paper ticket(s) has/have been sent to your address must be done by the ticket holder with his/her ID (passport) at any train station at least 3 hours before the departure time. A cancelation is not accepted after the departure of the train. You will be responsible for any damages or losses that may occur in this situation.
c. Refund process: China Railway will refund the money to our company’s account
within 15 days after the cancelation has been made, and the staff will give you a refund receipt if you request one.
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China Train Booking holds no responsibility for any passenger who misses a train. A passenger can change his/her ticket to the next available train at the train station counter.
If not, the ticket is no longer valid as the train has departed and the passenger cannot receive a refund from China Railway or China Train Booking.
- Ticket windows in most train stations are open 24/7.
- It is recommended that passengers arrive at the train station 1 hour before departure and check-in with valid ID and the paper ticket(s).
- During public holidays and weekends, however, we suggest you arrive at the train station 1.5–2 hours before departure or collect your paper ticket(s) one day beforehand.
- Ordinary passengers: 20 kilograms (44 pounds)
- Children with a half-price ticket (1.2 to 1.5 meters in height) and no ticket (under 1.2 meters in height): 10 kilograms (22 pounds)
- The total length of each item cannot exceed 160 cm, unless it is rod-shaped.
- Note: The above limitations are not applicable to wheelchairs, which can be taken onto a train for free.
- We truly regret that some uncontrollable situations may interrupt your travel experience. China Train Booking, however, shoulders no responsibility over the failure in obtaining tickets due to these uncontrollable situations:
(1) Due to railroad or station construction, operational deployment, or the interim adjustment of train cars and seats without any prior notice regarding seat rearrangement and price differences.
(2) Travelers cannot collect tickets at the ticket windows after booking successfully online with China Train Booking due to a malfunction or instability caused by a system upgrade at China Railway. In this instance, we suggest you try at another window or contact us immediately.
(3) Certain train routes might be canceled without any prior notice.
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