What in the rebooking window of Air China?

Question

I don't know if I should be getting a round-trip ticket and rebooking—but possibly losing the return ticket if I am returning too many months after the ticket—or getting a one-way ticket. This all depends on the timeframe you can rebook a flight with Air China.

I checked the official site, but have no idea what the description means:

Flight Rebooking Notes on changes, rescheduling, and refunds:

Unless otherwise agreed, a ticket issued at a normal fare is valid for carriage for one year from the date of commencement of travel, or if no portion of the ticket is used, from the date the ticket was issued. The validity of a special fare ticket is determined in accordance with the validity of such special fare ticket as provided by the carrier. The validity of a ticket is calculated from the date of commencement of travel or 00:00 on the day after the ticket is issued through 00:00 on the expiration date.

There are several ticket rebooking options: change of class of service; change of flight date; change of carrier. A voluntary change and an involuntary change are processed in different ways.

Source:http://www.airchina.com.cn/www/en/ht...ng/index.shtml

Could someone please help out with translating this?

Answer 1

It basically means, if you use the first half of the ticket, the one year period starts the day you fly.

If you don't fly at all, then the one year period starts the day you bought the ticket.

But these one year periods define when you have to fly, so you have to finish your travels before the one year period expires. The rebooking doesn't extend the validity.