We just learned some useful Chinese vocabulary for air travel, so the next step is to actually buy a ticket. Sure, you can just buy a ticket online, but it’s still quite common in China to buy your travel tickets from an actual office. To help you out, let’s learn how to buy a plane ticket in Chinese.

Buying a Plane Ticket Conversation

Read the conversation in Chinese/pinyin first. You can reference the air travel vocabulary post or a dictionary if there are some words you don’t know. When you are ready, go ahead and check out the English translation.

你好请问，你们卖飞机票吗？
nǐ hǎo qǐng wèn, nǐ men mài fēi jī piào ma

卖的. 你要去哪里？
mài de. nǐ yào qù nǎ lǐ

我要买一张到上海的票.
wǒ yào mǎi yī zhāng dào shàng hǎi de piào

你要单程还是来回票？
nǐ yào dān chéng hái shì lái huí piào

来回的.
lái huí de

好的，什么时候走？
hǎo de, shén me shí hou zǒu

我要下个星期五走.
wǒ yào xià gè xīng qí wǔ zǒu

我看，下个星期五是二十号. 你要早上还是下午的航班？
wǒ kàn, xià gè xīng qí wǔ shì èr shí hào. nǐ yào zǎo shàng hái shì xià wǔ de háng bān

早上的是什么时候出发？
zǎo shàng de shì shén me shí hou chū fā

早上八点半.
zǎo shàng bā diǎn bàn

好，那是什么航空？
hǎo, nà shì shén me háng kōng

是中国航空. 你什么时候要回来？
shì zhōng guó háng kōng. nǐ shén me shí hou yào huí lái

二十五号回来.
èr shí wǔ hào huí lái

好的. 二十五号从上海到北京有早上七点，还有下午三点半.
hǎo de. Èr shí wǔ hào cóng shàng hǎi dào běi jīng yǒu zǎo shàng qī diǎn, hái yǒu xià wǔ sān diǎn bàn

我要下午的航班回来.
wǒ yào xià wǔ de háng bān huí lái

请问，你要买什么舱？
qǐng wèn, nǐ yào mǎi shén me cāng

公务舱多少钱？
gōng wù cāng duō shǎo qián

我看，公务舱一共五千五百.
wǒ kàn, gōng wù cāng yī gòng wǔ qiān wǔ bǎi

有点贵，我买经济舱吧.
yǒu diǎn guì, wǒ mǎi jīng jì cāng ba

没问题，经济舱一共三千块. 你要付现金还是刷卡？
méi wèn tí, jīng jì cāng yī gòng sān qiān kuài. nǐ yào fù xiàn jīn hái shì shuā kǎ

我要刷卡.
wǒ yào shuā kǎ

好的，请给我你的护照.
hǎo de, qǐng gěi wǒ nǐ de hù zhào

给你了.
gěi nǐ le

请稍等一下… 请签你的名字.
qǐng shāo děng yī xià… qǐng qiān nǐ de míng zì

可以给我发票吗？
kě yǐ gěi wǒ fā piào ma

可以，这是你的发票
kě yǐ, zhè shì nǐ de fǎ piào

谢谢你
xiè xiè nǐ

不用了，祝你旅游愉快！
bù yòng le, zhù nǐ lǚ yóu yú kuài

Video

Peggy Laoshi has an awesome video about buying plane tickets where she elbow drops a dude who tries to run off with her suitcase. Check it out and get some more practice!

Alright – now you’ve got your ticket and you’re ready to fly! Too bad you still have to get to the airport, check in for your flight, go through security, find your gate, board the plane, order drinks, go through customs, and get your bags. Flying is the best, isn’t it? We’ll have another post or two to help you get deal with flying in Chinese, so stay tuned!