Getting to China
I awoke this morning on time at 5:45am, for my 8:30am flight from Hong Kong to Beijing. I was staying at the airport hotel, one connected to the main terminal over a pedestrian bridge, so I assumed I had plenty of time.
I followed my footsteps back from the night before, and seeing a flight board, walked over to find my gate. Hmmmm… No Asiana 6118. Hmmm… and no 8:30 flight to Beijing at 8:30. WTF?
It’s then that I realize I’m in arrivals. Shit. Okay, how do I get to departures? I journey farther in, find the escalators, and head up to departures. Time check: 6:45am. Okay, not too bad. Good thing I skipped the breakfast, but damn, I’m starving. Maybe I’ll be able to get something in the lounge.
I ascend to about 8 different banks of check-in columns. Which one is Asiana? Ah, luck is with me, just one to my right. I walk over, find my checkin line, and look at the flight board. Wait. No flight 6118? No 8:30am departure? WTF.
I pull my flight info out my bag. Damnit, I flew LA to Hong Kong on Asiana, but my trip to Beijing is on Cathay Pacific.
I see a nearby airport information desk and ask them where Cathay Pacific is. Just two to my right. I head over, but again no flight 6118. Now this is starting to get annoying. I just double-checked my printout and headed to the CP customer service desk. Ah, code-share. They send me to Dragon Air… the first bank on my left. *sigh*
I check the time as I wait for the 2 people in front of me. Just after 7. Not too bad, but it is an international flight. And the airport is pretty big. Hopefully enough time.
“Welcome to Dragon Air, sir. Your passport, please.”
The frown on her face doesn’t bode well.
“What flight were you on, sir?”
“I’m not sure, but it was Cathay Pacific 6118.”
Type, type, type, type. “Ah, sir, that is a code-share flight. That flight is operated by Air China.”
And where is Air China? The last terminal on the right.
Air China ended up being the correct one, but my lucked continued when I asked if gate 64 was far. “Yes, a bit, sir.” And the lounge? The other direction in gate 16. No soup for me.
I ended up making it, but finding out I had to take a train for gates 33-80 and then the shift change at immigration right after the person in front me didn’t do much to calm my nerves and sorta re-inforced my half-suspicion that Beijing is out to get me.
Hopefully all my bad luck is out of my system. Tomorrow morning will be one of your last chances to buy tickets for the 2008 Olympics. One of my co-workers emailed me to say people are already lining up. Here’s to a smooth onsale.
