Luoyang Travel Forum

Is there a 'high season' or 'low season' in China ?
What is the most economical time to travel there (before and including July / August) ?
Which airline would you suggest, going from the U.S. to China (ending in LuoYang)?

High season is summer, low season is late winter, after Chinese New Year, so now is a low season for air tickets to China. I paid $755.00 for round trip including all taxes and fees between Boston and Shanghai for May, return June in 2007 NWA, and about the same price and time on AA the year before. Summer could be $1400.00 USD for a round trip during the summer, but careful shopping may help with the price.

I found that the China Town in Boston sometimes has cheaper prices then on the internet.
The Summer 2008 Beijing Olympics may not help prices but after that, who knows?

6 new nonstop flights by US airlines are schedule to begin this year and next. There are also some new nonstop flights by Chinese airlines between the two countries. So their may be some promotions prices.

Delta Airlines Atlanta - Shanghai March 30, 2008 Boeing 777
United Airlines San Francisco - Guangzhou Spring 2008 Boeing 777
Continental Cleveland - Newark - Shanghai March 2009 TBA
Northwest Detroit - Shanghai March 25, 2009 Boeing 787
American Airlines Chicago - Beijing March 25, 2009 Boeing 777
US Airways Charlotte - Philadelphia - Beijing 2009 Airbus 340

See the below link for more info on the new flights.
http://www.flychina.com/news.asp#CHINAROUTE20082009

PS

I am not familiar with Luoyan but the map shows it is way in the interior. I expect you would have to fly into one of the big cities then take a local airline to Luoyan. See elong.com for domestic flights. I have web links and more info on domestic flights as a travel tip on my China page.

There aren't many international airports in China. Looks like Shanghai would be your best bet, then a domestic flight from there - probably need to change airports in Shanghai though. Beijing has only one airport, but distance from Luoyang is greater (so could be dearer).
Het schedules and price guide at english.ctrip.com or www.flychina.com

You could also think about a train
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/china-trains/
half the price of flying, and if you go overnight you save on a hotel.

I prefer United airlines for all travel, because of the Star Alliance. The combined airlines in the Star Alliance let me accumulate miles on my parent airline, United. I use the United card for booking all flights on all of the airlines to accumulate points on United. The points all go toward Star Gold level. When you have a Star Gold level card, you don't stand in long ticket lines, you can get upgrades, you board first, get second bags onboard for free, many little perks that add up to big conviences. You may say you don't care about points, but international travel accumulates points rapidly. Just look some time at the Star Gold guys getting their tickets and heading to the lounge while you inch up in the economy check-in line.

That said, sometimes it is easier to travel on the major carrier that is closest to your home. If I lived in Toledo, I would fly Northwest, because they are Detroit based.

Louyang is in the center of the country. Last time I went there I flew into Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan province and took a taxi to Louyang. It cost about $100. I don't remember why, maybe there was no airport in Louyang that could handle our plane.

No idea where you're starting from in the US. But a popular route would be to take United Airlines to Shanghai (think the flight number is UA857). There're quite limited flights for Shanghai -- Luoyang as Luoyang isn't really a very major city, and you'd probably be better off taking a train; or flying Shanghai -- Zhengzhou and then train/bus to Luoyang.