DolphinUnion Cashback: China Travel Guides, Money Back
DolphinUnion sells digital travel guides for people who want to explore China on their own, and you can get cashback on a purchase if you start from Coin7. It is not a classic tour operator. You buy a downloadable itinerary and then travel by yourself, with the guide in your pocket. This page explains what that means in practice.
What DolphinUnion actually sells
According to its website, the products are self-guided PDF itineraries for independent travellers. They are sorted by length, from a single day to thirty days, and by style: gateway cities, classic loops, nature highlights and cultural routes. More than twenty destinations are covered, among them Beijing, Shanghai, Xi’an, Chengdu, Chongqing, Zhangjiajie, Guilin, Hangzhou and Suzhou.
After you pay, the PDF can be downloaded straight away. That also means nobody is booking hotels or trains for you. The guide tells you where to go and in which order. The booking of flights, rooms and tickets stays in your hands.
What is inside a guide
The site describes a mix of practical things that first-time visitors in China tend to struggle with:
- routes arranged so that you do not walk the same stretch twice
- one-click links to Amap, a map app that works in China, for sights and restaurants
- help with setting up payment through Alipay and WeChat Pay
- app recommendations and tips for dealing with the language barrier
- information on how to get tickets
- restaurant suggestions with their locations
For a first trip, the payment part is probably the most useful. Cash and foreign cards do not get you very far in many Chinese cities, and having someone explain the mobile payment route in advance saves a lot of stress at the first ticket gate.
A practical tip: download the guide and the apps it recommends at home, on a stable connection, and go through the payment setup before you leave. Doing this at the airport in China with a patchy signal is no fun. Keep the PDF on your phone and, if you like paper, print the pages for the first days.
Who it suits
It suits you if you like to plan yourself but do not want to spend weeks reading forums. Someone who has ten days and wants to see Beijing, Xi’an and Shanghai in a sensible order will get more from a ready route than from a long list of sights. It also works for a short stopover, because a 24-hour itinerary exists as well.
It suits you less if you want a guide to stand next to you, a driver and all bookings done for you. For that, you would look at a different kind of provider.
Support and bundles
DolphinUnion says it offers free support by WhatsApp and email from people who know China, throughout your trip. That is helpful when a plan falls apart, for example when a ticket sells out. The shop also sells guides in bundles, and the site mentions savings for combining several of them. If you plan a longer trip with two or three regions, compare the bundle with the single guides. Think about how many days you really have, too. A thirty-day route is wasted on a ten-day holiday, while a short guide for each of two cities may fit better.
Before you buy, read the refund policy page on the site. A digital file is a different case from a hotel booking, and the rules for returns can be stricter.
How to get cashback at DolphinUnion
Open Coin7 and go to the DolphinUnion China Travel Expert page. Use the button to go to the shop, choose your guide and pay as usual in the same visit. The current cashback rate is shown on our shop page, because it can change.
Cashback is confirmed once DolphinUnion has approved the order, which can take a while. If your purchase is refunded, the cashback for it falls away too. Use only voucher codes from our page, since codes from elsewhere can cancel the tracking.
Frequently asked questions
Is DolphinUnion a tour operator?
According to its website, no. It offers digital self-guided travel guides as PDF files, which you use to travel on your own.
How do I receive the guide?
As a download. The site says the PDF is available straight after purchase.
Do I get help during the trip?
The site mentions free WhatsApp and email support from China travel experts throughout your trip.
When is the cashback paid?
After DolphinUnion confirms the order. This can take longer than for a normal retail purchase.
What happens to the cashback if I get a refund?
Then the cashback for that order is cancelled as well. Read the refund policy on the shop site before you buy.
