flight online bookings

Most people use elong.net or ctrip.com or sometimes travelzen.com when booking flights.

You need the TTB to be able to board the flight to Lhasa. You might be able to book the flight without having the permit. If you are not getting any discount when booking the flight, it might be a good idea to just let your agency handle it.

Making flight bookings and having a TTP are not related. The only time your TTP is checked is when you actually board your flight to Lhasa. (and you are not allowed on with out one!) However many Chinese travel websites do not allow Lhasa flights to be purchased from outside China.

As Drumbrake points out - you'll likely get the best discount by asking your local Tibetan/Chinese agency to buy the ticket for you (as long as they are trustworthy!!) Its usually not worth the hassle of you doing it yourself.

Most reliable agencies will book your flights for you and pass on the ticket cost directly to you. Some agencies will use discount travel sites to buy the ticket and should be able to find you a discount depending on availability on your date of travel. Other agencies will not purchase discount tickets as they don't want any hassles if you change your flight dates and the ticket conditions don't allow full refunds. Some agencies will buy full price tickets for this reason.

To be honest - given the variability of travel in Tibet......having a full price ticket that can be changed is not a bad idea and the discount is not that much anyways on most flights to Lhasa.

Since Tibet was reopened this April, it became impossible to book plane tickets TO Lhasa for foreign people online. At the moment you can only purchase your ticket to Lhasa through a ticket office. However, plane tickets FROM Lhasa are available for booking online for foreigners.

Anyhow, you can only get the Tibet permits together with the tour you booked in the travel agency. And you can turn the agency for a help to the ticket booking to Lhasa.

For now, the Tibet Entry Permit is required when you book the flight ticket to Tibet.

Murphy from Chengdu Windhorse Tour.