Who we are
KinmenExpress is an English language booking service for the passenger ferry between Xiamen, Quanzhou and Kinmen. We do not run the boats. The sailings, the times, the seat counts and the fares on this site come from the ferry company’s own booking system, and we pass them through as published.
Booking
When you complete the traveller details we record the booking and give it a reference. That reference exists so there is something to talk about while the payment is arranged, and it is not a ticket. Your seat is confirmed only when we tell you it is confirmed.
- Fares are the ferry company’s own, in Chinese yuan, shown per passenger and per cabin class.
- Online sales close one hour before departure, and a seat is held until 35 minutes before. Those are the ferry company’s rules, not ours.
- On a waitlist, the fare is paid when you join the list, because that is what holds your place. If no ticket is issued for you, the payment is refunded.
What you pay, and to whom
A booking is paid in two parts, and they go to two different places. The fare goes straight to the ferry company through Alipay, and we never hold it. Our booking fee is paid to us by card, on this site, for arranging the booking in English and holding your seats while you do it.
Every price you see on this site already includes our booking fee, so the total shown is the total you pay. At the payment step the two parts are shown separately, because you pay them separately.
- The booking fee is charged per passenger and per sailing, so a return trip carries it twice.
- Your card is only placed on hold while you pay the ferry company. We take the fee once your ticket is confirmed, and not before.
- If the booking does not complete — you cancel, the time runs out, or the ferry company refuses it — the hold is released and you are charged nothing. Your bank may take a day or two to stop showing it.
- Once your ticket is confirmed the booking fee is not refundable, because the work it pays for is done. The fare itself remains between you and the ferry company.
Passports and entry
This is an international crossing. Making sure you hold the right passport, visa, permit and arrival cards for both sides is yours to do, and a booking with us is not permission to enter mainland China or Taiwan. If you are turned back at immigration, the fare is between you and the ferry company.
Changes and cancellations
Timetables are the ferry company’s to change, and sailings can be moved or cancelled for weather and for reasons nobody tells us in advance. When that happens we will tell you what the ferry company has told us and help you move to another sailing. We cannot pay for onward travel you booked around a crossing.
The site itself
Seat counts and fares are read live from the ferry company’s system and cached for a short time, so a number on screen can be a few minutes behind the truth. We keep the site accurate and available as best we can, without promising it will never be wrong or never be down.