New visa requirements, do I have to wait until October?

Planning a trip in December, traveling independently. At the advise of this board I was going to wait until a few weeks before the trip to book most of my hotels. Now I%26#39;m hearing that they are requesting flight and hotel information (supposedly want an itinerary from a CITS travel agency ) as part of a visa application, at least through the olympics, supposedly until mid-October when they may revise the rules.

I was planning on booking the international flights before then, but at this point should I just hold off until things settle down?

I%26#39;d hate to spend 3k+ on tickets and then get denied the visa.

New visa requirements, do I have to wait until October?

They are talking about getting a visa in HK. Are you doing that? And even if that is truely the case for you, it%26#39;s not that hard to buy a fully refundable ticket just for the visa.

New visa requirements, do I have to wait until October?

The new regulations are found not only in Hong Kong, but the UK, Australia and the US. Everyone hopes that the new rules will be relaxed by the time you hope to travel.

If I were you, I%26#39;d still book the flight in advance - I presume you want to try to get a cheap one by booking months in advance. Then I%26#39;d wait for things to quieten down,

Slightly off topic and for the interest of those abode in Canada, most travel insurance policies issued in Canada, e.g., RBC Insurance (URL: http://www.rbcinsurance.com/travel/choosing-travel-insurance.html) provide coverage for the non-issuance of your travel visa (except immigration and work visas) for reasons beyond your control.

It%26#39;s always a good idea to purchase a comprehensive travel insurance policy that includes medical coverage, amongst other things.

The travel insurance is a great idea. Since visas are available if done as a CITS tour, I don%26#39;t know if they would cover things in my position. I really don%26#39;t want to do this trip as part of an organized tour. I guess I%26#39;ll wait until October to see what happens with the visa situation. I may have to look at contingency plans to travel elsewhere.

Thay have always asked about itinary as far as I can remember (I got 3 visas in the last 2 years). You just write down the cities you intend to visit. Nothing has to be firmed up.

No need to book internal flights ahead of time. You will get the best prices 3 to 5 days prior to departure of each flight.

JPDeM

New regulations from a couple of days ago state you need to show return flights to China and hotel bookings before you can get your visa. How strictly enforced theses rules are I don%26#39;t know - maybe you can get away with a print-out from an online flight booker.

One of the posters on Thorn Tree said they turned down his itinerary because it wasn%26#39;t from an official travel agency. There%26#39;s a long thread there on this issue.

Who are some of the ';official'; travel agencies that could do this? I suppose one could book through them and then cancel once the visa is issued.

I really don%26#39;t want to put outrageous charges on my credit card for a fully refundable plane ticket while I%26#39;m waiting for the visa and then rebook with cheaper flights. Waiting until late October seems risky too, the flights could be much more expensive and who knows if they will change the rules back anyway.

I%26#39;ve been researching for a while. I know that chinahighlights.com is CITS Guilin...