www.wacts.com and trains

[Brantavius]

Has anyone here ever used www.wacts.com to reserve a hotel room or a spot on train? The site looks pretty extensive. Does anyone who's dealt with it have anything good or bad to say about it? Also, I noticed that the site requires one to submit his/her passport number in order to make a reservation for a train ride. Does anyone know why this is the case? Lastly, what are the differences between a K train (e.g., K290) and a train with no letter designation (e.g., 1352)?

[roddy]

Never heard of wacts.com, but in general booking over the internet costs a lot more than doing it yourself. Unless you are travelling at peak times there's no need to book hotels in advance, unless you have one specific hotel in mind (in which case deal with them direct).

For trains, again you can usually get the tickets you want a couple of days in advance. Unless you absolutely need to get on a certain train at a certain time, either get the tickets yourself when you get here, or entrust it to your hotel.

There's no need to give your passport for a train ride, unless maybe it's an international train (which would include trains to Hong Kong). It's probably just there as part of the agencies system for identifying customers.

K trains are 快 - fast. Unlettered trains will be the slowest, oldest.

Z - Direct expresses. More expensive, all soft-sleeper, very comfortable.

L - Tourist. Comfortable trains on popular routes

T - Extra fast (特快）

K - Fast

If you give us some details about the route / timing someone might have more specific advice.

Roddy

[Brantavius]

Thanks for the explanation about the trains, Roddy.

Wacts.com gives me three choices for my train ride from Shanghai to Chengdu:

K290/291 Dep: 23:32 Arr: 11:22

1352/1353 Dep: 16:04 Arr: 10:10

K282/283 Dep: 19:50 Arr: 10:34

I'll probably take one of the K trains.

The following question may be a dumb one, but I haven't done a lot of traveling and don't know the answer. On the day that I am to leave Shanghai via train, I'll be required to check out of my hotel at around noon. Then, I'll have either 8 hours or 11.5 hours before I need to catch my train. Will most hotels store a departing customer's bags somewhere safe after check-out for a fee, or will I be forced to lug my suitcase around Shanghai all day until my train comes?

I'll stay in Shanghai for three nights. I want to find a cheap place that's reasonably close to the railroad station and is safe. I'll probably reserve my room online because I want to be able to tell wacts.com where and when to deliver my train ticket before I leave for China.

Here's a list of some 2-star (and one 3-star) Shanghai hotels from wacts.com:

http://www.wacts.com/dingfang/hotel_search.asp?city=Shanghai&Price=0

Perhaps someone knows if there are any hotels in this bunch that I should avoid (the hotels' addresses are listed as well).

[roddy]

I don't recognise any of the hotels. this place gets good reviews.

I don't know Shanghai too well, so am reluctant to give advice. However, if you really want to book over the internet, I'd lat least look at the bigger sites (elong.net or ctrip.com for example) to see what rates / options they give you.

Any hotel will let you leave stuff with them, or if you prefer you can often extend your stay till 6pm for a percentage of the daily rate.

Roddy

[Brantavius]

I had planned to reserve a spot on a train from Shanghai to Chengdu for July 10th, but the websites at which I tried to make reservations have not responded to my inquiries. I used the reservation form on www.wacts.com (which didn't require any payment information, so I suppose it was just a preliminary form for making a reservation). Also, I've emailed info@china-train-ticket.com a few times to inquire about making a reservation (since a one-train trip from Shanghai to Chengdu is not a trip they usually book). No one seems to be getting much done. So, I figure I'll just get my ticket when I arrive in Shanghai; it'll be cheaper anyway. One last concern, though: does anyone have any sense as to whether I'll likely be able to get this ticket for July 10th or 11th if I go to the train station on the 8th?

[wtanaka]

there's actually 4 trains total from Shanghai to Chengdu. The one that wacts.com doesn't list is:

K351/K354 Shanghai Chengdu ---- 15:38 08:13 ----

I agree with the suggestion that you don't bother booking over the internet. Just do things when you get there.