Buying international round-trip tickets to China is the only part of travel planning for which you are directly responsible. You do need to contact our U.S. travel agent to set up an account for your stay inside China but you will not book flights or rooms for that portion of the trip. You can get tickets to China several ways, the following being the most likely:

   1.Through a travel agent. For most families this is the best option. A good travel agent can offer you a range of itinerary and price options, advise yon about airlines, has access to special fares,and will be familiar with the needs of adoptive families. They also sell travel insurance and other travel products, can tell you about luggage restrictions, or order special meals for you. Travel agents can also help (within limits) if you run into trouble along the way, like losing your tickets or mediate on your behalf with the airline to resolve problems.

   What about consolidators? Consolidators are travel agents who have contracts with one or more airlines to get preferred prices. They buy seats in quantity at a discount and pass the savings along to you. They are legitimate travel agents and can offer good value for your money but their ability to cut cost is limited to certain airlines. They can book tickets on any carrier but generally get the best prices on airlines with which they have contracts, which is why they often favor certain airlines over others.

   A word about service fees. It used to be that the airlines paid travel agents a small percentage of the ticket price as a commission for making sales, but not any more. To cover expenses and make a profit, travel agents charge service fees of four or more percent. Not all agents list the fee but if not it is visible it is still part of the cost of your ticket, because they have no other way to make a profit without them.

   2. Directly from the airline. You can purchase tickets directly from the airline. Dealing with the airline usually works best for direct flights or with itineraries that use only that airline, instead of mixing and matching them like travel agents do to get a good deal. Airlines do offer discounts, they just don't usually offer as flexible an itinerary as you can get elsewhere. Ticket prices are often higher than elsewhere, but tickets are easy to arrange.

   3.Frequent flyer tickets (also known as 'award miles') are a popular way to fly if you qualify for a program. These tickets can only be gotten directly from the airline and are subject to an array of restrictions, including blackout dates.You can use miles you have accumulated yourself and some programs let you receive miles as  a gift, or you can buy extra relies if you don't have enough to qualify for a ticket. To learn about the restrictions go to the website of the airline whose miles you have for details. You earn frequent flyer miles only on tickets you buy but not on frequent flyer tickets themselves.

   If yon do not belong to an awards program, be sure to enroll when you go to China. You might get enough miles just from that trip for a free ticket good for travel within the U.S.

   Award miles from one airline can only be used on another if the two 'code share', or help each other's customers and share routes. Some credit cards allow you to accumulate miles that can be used on different carriers but be sure the airlines that qualify will be among those you use for your trip. You can also get miles by renting cars, booking hotel rooms, enlisting for long distance phone service, cable or satellite television, Internet access, by shopping at certain stores.., the
list is endless. If you do not already know about the seemingly limitless ways you can earn award
miles, shortly after you enroll in one of the programs you will.

   4. On-line discounters. You can buy tickets on the Internet but be careful because while you can get great prices you can also run into trouble. Generally speaking, the cheaper the ticket the more restrictions it has, no matter how you get it and you should always know the fare rules for your tickets. These determine how long you can hold a reservation without paying, what days of the week you can fly on, if the ticket is changeable or refundable, and if so, if there is a fee. These are the basics, but tickets can easily have ten pages of rules that determine what you can and can not do. So be careful. The most basic questions about fare rules are How long can I keep my booking (reservation) before losing it without paying?, and Can I change the return date if necessary (the answer you want is "Yes"), and what is the change fee per ticket?

     5. Adoption packages. Some amines such as Northwest and United offer specials for adoptive families. These fares are reasonable, not the cheapest, but they are fully refundable. This means that you can change you itinerary whole or in part without a fee. Most tickets allow you to change your return date for a fee but not the departure. With these specials you can change your schedule if you need to without financial cost. So if for some reason you cannot travel on the dates you need to you can get new tickets at no cost.