The 22000 Miles Long March – UA 705
The 22000 Mile Long March – Hyatt Regency O’Hare
The 22000 Mile Long March – CX 807
The 22000 Mile Long March – CA 108
The 22000 Mile Long March – CA 115
The 22000 Mile Long March – CX 806
The 22000 Miles Long March – UA 973
The 22000 Miles Long March – Conclusion
It was time going back to Hong Kong. And it was quite an experience.
As the major hub of Air China, you can
expect how many passengers are traveling from Beijing Capital International
Airport per day (both domestic and international). They offer 5 different lines
– International Economy (due to special circumstances, Hong Kong is considered
as an international destination), Domestic Economy, Buiness Class and Star
Alliance, First Class, and PhoenixMiles Platinum. So without doubt, if I can
check it as a regular Economy customer, we are talking about at least 30
minutes of wait time.
As a Star Alliance Gold member, I checked
in at Business Class counter again. This time I can see how disorganized Air
China is. Unlike other major airlines which form single line for check in, Air
China Business Class uses one line per counter:
So you can imagine what will happen when
you pick the wrong line, which exactly what I did. Apparently, there were
issues in checking-in the passengers who were in front of me (I was next one).
So I had been waiting in line for 10 minutes for nothing really. Fortunately, a
new counter was available, which made me the first one. Then I proceeded to the
Air China Business Class Lounge:
Last Tulip?? |
There was nothing really special about the
lounge. The food looked decent but I did not try due to a full lunch prior to
the airport. But in the lounge, I had kind of created a screen – the pursue of
power outlet.
In the lounge, not all power outlets were
working. Since I have settled with the one not working, I had been holding my
laptop walking through the lounge, trying to find one that was not occupied and
working. And it took me about 10 minutes.
There was a service I want to compliment
Air China – free cart ride from the lounge to the gate. But it was only available
to premium passengers and Air China elite. For me, it would cost RMB$10 (which unlike Shanghai Pudong International Airport). So I
walked.
Finally made to the gate with final
boarding warning (about 20 minutes before departure…oh well) as I walked in the
wrong direction of the airport. During boarding, there was another DYKWIA scene
– a tourist from Hong Kong EGT Tour complained about out of overhead space for
storage (he and his companion were among the last boarding the plane).
So you can imagine there were some minor confrontations there.
Since I had a full lunch and expected a
full dinner, I did not eat or drink anything in the plane. But I would not be
surprised that if I had tried, it would have been the same experience as my
previous flight.
And then I met another passenger who sat next to me, talking about how to get cheap tickets (and to be honest, what she mentioned can never compare to what I have ever gotten).
And then I met another passenger who sat next to me, talking about how to get cheap tickets (and to be honest, what she mentioned can never compare to what I have ever gotten).
And again, I experienced my reason why I
hate Airbus – broken seat – the seat handle was basically separated into 2
portions.
Maybe complaining is one of the "must-do" for my travel.
No comments:
Post a Comment