My Experience To Shanghai Under Groupon Deal

Earlier I have wrote about whether groupon travel deal is worth a try.

Now I have returned from a 6D4N Shanghai trip purchased from groupon. I will share my experience here so that those who are interested can know what to expect.

This is how the groupon travel deal work for this particular trip to China:

1. Before buying the groupons, fill up an online inquiry form & send to groupon, stating preferred travel dates & number of travelers
2. Awaiting reply from groupon
3. Settle doubts and inquiries through emails with groupon staff
4. If available travel dates are suitable, proceed to purchase groupon.
5. Email groupon staff with attached proof of payment or purchase.
6. Fill in a travelers detail form provided by groupon staff, with name, IC, passport number & expiry date, preferred room type & vegetarian meal etc.
7. Groupon will book & pay for the Airasia air tickets, using your email.
8. Log in Airasia website to manage your booking eg. baggage allowance, in-flight meals, pick-a-seat, and make payment.
9. Apply Visas by yourself
10. Local tour agent will contact or email you regarding the final itinerary, travel detail, contact & name of tour guide in China about one week before departure.
11. Just board the plane and the tour guide will wait for you in the airport of your destination.

This trip is a 6D4N trip with 2 night time flights.

Day 1: Airasia X flight departing KLIA2 7:25pm, arriving Shanghai Pudong airport 12:35am

Day 2: Shanghai - Suzhou

Day 3: Suzhou - Wuxi

Day 4: Wuxi - Hangzhou

Day 5: Hangzhou - Shanghai

Day 6: Airasia X flight departing Shanghai Pudong airport 1:35am, arriving KLIA2 6:55am

So it is actually 4 days 4 nights trip excluding time on flight.

       Shanhai - Suzhou - Wuxi - Hangzhou - Shanghai

As we went to 4 cities, it ended up that we only spent little time in each city as most time were wasted while traveling on bus. Traveling between Wuxi-Hangzhou and Hangzhou-Shanghai took about 3-4 hours each.

       Shanghai's traffic

The summary table below compares the itinerary given by groupon before purchasing the groupons, by travel agency before departure and the actual trip.

	Groupon	Travel Agent	Actual
上海	新天地	新天地	Cancelled
Shanghai	石库门	石库门	Cancelled
	城隍庙	城隍庙	城隍庙
	东方明珠塔（外观）	东方明珠塔（外观）	Omitted
	乘坐敞篷双层巴士	乘坐敞篷双层巴士	Omitted
	逛南京路	逛南京路	逛南京路
	上海同仁养生	上海小蜜蜂珍品堂	上海同仁养生
		上海鸿润珠宝	天脉艺术博览中心
苏州	金鸡湖	金鸡湖	金鸡湖
Suzhou	圆融时代广场	圆融时代广场	圆融时代广场
	苏州鸟巢	苏州鸟巢	苏州鸟巢
	唐伯园林	藕园	藕园
	苏州丝绸工厂	苏州丝绸工厂	苏州丝绸工厂
无锡	灵山大佛	灵山大佛	灵山大佛
Wuxi	灵山梵宫	灵山梵宫	灵山梵宫
	紫砂壶博物馆	紫砂壶博物馆	紫砂壶博物馆
	万达广场	万达广场	万达广场
	蠡湖公园	蠡湖公园	蠡湖公园
	珍珠养殖场	珍珠养殖场	珍珠养殖场
杭州	乘船游西湖	乘船游西湖	乘船游西湖
Hangzhou	苏堤	苏堤	Omitted
	南宋官窟遗址	南宋官窟遗址	Omitted
	西湖龙井茶	西湖龙井茶	西湖龙井茶
			西湖博物馆

We made a terrible start to our trip, as the Airasia X flight from KL to Shanghai was delayed for 4 hours! So when we reached Shanghai it was already 5am.

After reaching Shanghai then only we knew that we have 20 persons in our group.

Because of the delay, the China tour guide suggested that we went straight to hotel to rest and cancelled the visit to Shanghai XinTianDi 新天地 as according to him, it is just a place to "drink coffee". Thus ShiKuMen 石库门  which is also in that area was also missed. We only went to ChengHuangMiao 城隍庙 in Shanghai in the first day.

Later I found out that XianTianDi is not like an ordinary shopping complex and is worth a visit.

       Shanghai: Commercial area at ChengHuang Miao

The subsequent visit to Suzhou & Wuxi went well according to schedule but for Hangzhou, we only viewed the SuDi 苏堤 at west lake from very far away and did not go to 南宋官窟遗址 without being told. We went to XiHu Museum 西湖博物馆  instead.

For the last day, we actually still have plenty of time in Shanghai in the afternoon. However, we were sent to 2 "shopping stations" which were 上海同仁养生 (Chinese Medicine) &  天脉艺术博览中心 (Jade & Jewelry). 

Without being informed, we were not brought to board the double-decker tourist bus and view the Oriental Pearl Tower in Shanghai as stated in the itinerary.

The worst thing is, those two "shopping stations" in Shanghai are obvious "black shops" for me. The staffs in the jewelry shop even acted according to script like a drama in front of us.

Other "shopping stations" such as silk, pearl, teapot, tea leaves were alright but I guess most tourists may not be sure whether those products sold are real or fake, especially when the price can be marked down tremendously.

       Suzhou OuYuan: Home of the rich

For the issue of changes in tourist spots, it is earlier mentioned in groupon that the itinerary given is subjected to change so we have nothing much to say.

However, we have paid RMB450 per person for 4 recommended tourist spots or events and it ended up that we only went to half of them. We have lodged complaint to the Singapore-based travel agency but I don't think we can get our money back.

苏州观前街	Omitted
无锡三阳广场	Omitted
杭州西湖之夜歌舞秀	Yes
上海黄浦江游船	Yes

       Hangzhou: Beautiful West Lake

For the accommodation, I was initially attracted by "5-star Sheraton Hotels" in the groupon. I think this is misleading because they are very unlikely to give you Sheraton or Four Points for the whole trip. For me it is just a sales trick.

The hotels that we stayed in were not too bad though .

Groupon	Travel Agent	Actual
Four Points Shanghai	宝龙喜来登	宝龙喜来登
Four Points Suzhou	威联豪生	威联豪生
Sheraton Wuxi	君乐大酒店	君乐大酒店
Four Points Hangzhou	金马饭店	金马饭店

We were given one Sheraton hotel to stay in Shanghai for the first night, just to please us I guess.

However, this hotel is not in Shanghai and it is actually in Suzhou. So after we arrived at Pudong International Airport at the easternmost part of Shanghai, we traveled about 1.5 hours west to this hotel in Suzhou to rest & for breakfast. Then we traveled another 1.5 hours back to Shanghai and shortly after lunch we have to travel back to Suzhou. I would rather be given other hotel with more strategic location.

Breakfast were taken at hotels and we were provided lunch and dinner. As expected the meals were so-so with cheap stuff.

       Simple and taste ok

Are there any hidden charges?

Our tour guide said that our bus driver was very tired driving us around and we should not let him carrying our luggage up & down from the bus. So he suggested to pay RMB15 per day per room to hotel staff to help us to move the luggage from the bus to our room, and back to the bus later. No one dared to say no I guess.

In Wuxi Lingshan grand Buddha area, we were suggested to take special vehicle for RMB25 per person to roam the area. As the place is large and we have elderly who couldn't walk too much, it was acceptable.

In one of the hotel buffet breakfast, I was asked to pay RMB48 for each of my children. After complaining to the tour guide and negotiation with hotel manager, finally I still needed to pay for one of them.

So these were the unexpected extra charges in this tour, and they are not too much actually.

       Wuxi: Lingshan Grand Buddha

In summary, as we rarely travel abroad, it was still a great experience for us. As you can expect, it was quite rush and we were not able spend more time in places we like. The number of places that we went were also limited due to time wasted at shopping stations & traveling on the bus.

I can feel that the main aim of the local tour guides are not bringing us to see the beautiful places in their cities, but only to guide and persuade you to spend in those shopping stations.

So, if you can afford to pay for better quality trip, go for a trip without shopping stations but it will surely cost much more than this. 

If you want to save money, I think this type of groupon travel deal is still worth a try.

       Shanghai: HuangPu Jiang 

The groupon looks cheap at RM1738 for 2 adults, or RM869 per person. 

How much did I spend for 4 adults & 2 children in this particular tour?

• Groupon x 2 = RM3476
• Air tickets & tour fees for 2 children = RM1576
• Airasia manage booking fees = RM759
• Compulsory "recommended" tour = RM1160
• Tippings & extra fees in China = RM605
• Visas & travel insurance & passports = RM1184
• Transport between Penang & KLIA2 = RM605

Total = RM9365, or RM1561 per person. (excluding shopping in China)

Compared to RM3000 per person to Taiwan I estimated earlier, it is a 50% saving.