I have planned my trip to China, and now it is time to think of buying the ticket.

In the U.S. many airlines offer frequent flyer program, such as Delta Airline s SKYMILES ® and the AAdvantage® of American Airline. These programs are provided for members travelling around the world to accumulate their mileage automatically on their accounts of corresponding airlines. Some airlines in China participate in this kind of global alliance as well. Take Air China for example. It joined the Sky Team in December 2007 and therefore, only if you are a member of the Frequent flyer program offered by one of the 26 airlines of Sky Team can you accumulate and redeem your mileage when traveling through the Sky Team network. So, if you are a qualified member you can take Air China into consideration when planning a flight.

Sometimes booking air tickets is troublesome in China, especially when public holidays are approaching. Chinese New Year and National Day are two important holidays. The former usually falls in January or February while the latter falls in early October every year. Many people return home from other places or go traveling during these two holidays. As a result, if it is not an
emergency, it would be better to avoid these two peak seasons.

When traveling in China you don t need to worry about time difference because the standard time is Beijing time which is the only time zone for the entirety of China. However, Beijing time is not the local time in Beijing. Instead, it is the time of Dongba district Therefore, in China, no matter where you go, people’s time is the same, without adding or subtracting.

There are many reservation platforms for air tickets. In addition to the official website reservations of major airlines, they can also be booked on various third party platforms, such as Ctrip.com and Qunar.com. We open a third party platform reservation window, you can see that it is generally divided into “domestic flight” and “international flight”. If it is a domestic flight, click to enter the domestic flight reservation window, and the international flight will enter the corresponding window, all are Chinese. Once you have selected your information, you can choose to pay. There are many payment methods in general. You can pay directly with a bank card, or you can choose a payment method for a third party payment platform. You can also choose Alipay or
WeChat payment. It appears that booking an air ticket is not as easy as I tho ught, and there are other factors to consider such as timing. Besides, if you make a plan in advance to gain the mileage, you can save a lot on your flight in the future.

订好日程表，下面就要考虑买机票的事情了。
在美国，乘坐飞机以前，我们都会先去所乘坐航空公司网站申请常客计划，以便在乘
坐飞机以后可以自动积累里程数。比如，达美航空公司的非凡里程常客计划，美国航空公
司的 AAdvantage® 常旅客飞行计划。其实，中国在这方面已与世界资源共享。比如，中国
国际航空公司已经于 2007 年 12 月加入星空联盟，成为星空联盟的成员。不管您参与的是
哪家星空联盟成员的常飞旅客计划，都可以在其全部 26 家会员航空公司积累和兑换里程。
所以，如果你已经是星空联盟的常客旅客计划会员，不妨选择乘坐国航。
到了中国以后，也会遇到买飞机票的事情。在美国
，圣诞、新年很多人都回家探亲。
这时候，人多，飞机票就不太好买。在中国也有公假，比如，春节和国庆。春节大概在每
年的一、二月份，国庆在每年十月初。这两个节日期间，很多人回家探亲或是外出旅行，
是运输的高峰期。所以，如果公事不是特别紧急，可以适当避开这段时间，选择假期前后
的时间乘坐飞机。
在中国，不管是旅行还是出差，很方便的一点就是，不用担心时差问题。人们统一使
用北京时间。北京时间不是北京当地时间，而是东八区的时间。所以，在中国，无论你走
到哪里，人们的时间都是一样的，而不用加加减减。
飞机票的预定平台很多，除了去各大航空公司的官网预定外，其实还可以在各种第三方
平台预定，比如携程网，去哪儿网等。我们点开一个第三方平台预定窗口，可以看到一般
分成“国内航班”和“国际航班”两种，如果是国内航班就点击进入国内航班预定窗口，
分成“国内航班”和“国际航班”两种，如果是国内航班就点击进入国内航班预定窗口，国际航班就进对应的窗口即可，全部都是中文。选择好你的信息后，就可以选择付款了。国际航班就进对应的窗口即可，全部都是中文。选择好你的信息后，就可以选择付款了。一般付款方式很多，可以直接用银行卡付款，也可以选择第三方支付平台付款方式，现在一般付款方式很多，可以直接用银行卡付款，也可以选择第三方支付平台付款方式，现在还可以选择支付宝或者微信付款。还可以选择支付宝或者微信付款。看来，订机票，说简单也不是简单的事情，要注意的地看来，订机票，说简单也不是简单的事情，要注意的地方也挺多。买机票的时候要考虑时间是否合适，什么方也挺多。买机票的时候要考虑时间是否合适，什么时候买票比较便宜。如果提前做好准时候买票比较便宜。如果提前做好准备赢取了里程数，又能为将来节省一笔。备赢取了里程数，又能为将来节省一笔。

Read & Think

1. Which of the following are the two important holidays to people in China?
   • Chinese New Year and Christmas
   • Thanks giving day and National Day
   • National Day and Labor Day
   • Chinese New Year and National Day
2. Conclude some useful tips to make a successful travel plan to China.