Flight to China, take two

(Gary) 12/19/09

Air China put us up at a hotel on Long Island for the night. The next morning we couldn’t get any information from them other than some vague recorded message that something might happen at 1:00 PM. After looking at our options, we decided that since we had no information and 1:00 would not leave us enough time to check in for a flight leaving at 3:00 PM (when we thought we were leaving), we would take a cab back to JFK. We asked our new friend and fellow strandee, James, to join us.

When we arrived at JFK there was no Air China personnel and would be none for hours. Airport Security was trying to organize everyone into a long snaking line around the terminal. Mom did her best to point newcomers to where they should stand. Lufthansa, who cannot abide disorder, very kindly gave us the use of an unused counter and set up ratlines for us to stand in and wait.

And wait we did, from 10:30 AM to 2:30 PM before Air China personnel had us check in. They promised everyone a $200 refund which they conveniently forgot about when it came time for us to check in (I don’t think they’ll ever come up with that money) and they bought us lunch. We had to ride the same plane that broke down before and finally left at 6:30 PM EDT.

The last (shall we say) fiasco was when the pilot announced that we were diverting to Anchorage, AK for refueling. This came at almost the exact spot where we had to turn around before. Maybe he forgot he used up four hours of fuel the previous day, Maybe gas prices are better in Alaska – I don’t know. In any case we were an extra hour on the ground in Anchorage and arrived in China at 12:30 PM CST. We arrived at our room at 2:00AM just in time to get four hours of sleep before we had our orientation.

(Gary)

A comedy of errors today. Our first two legs came off without a hitch. We were even able to book two bags each through to Beijing for free since our first leg was on first class. On CA 992, JFK-PEK, we flew with the proletariat. The baggage line was very long, the security line longer, but I really didn't mind so much. It was a very full flight and I had to sit a row behind Lisa and Mom. We spent two hours on the tarmac waiting for our turn to take off, but finally at 5:00 PM we were in the air. Two hours later (near Hudson Bay) we turned around and went back to JFK. We couldn't do the job with this equipment.

It turns out that we were losing cabin pressure at 30,000 feet due to a part that regulates cabin pressure. We were flying at about 18,000 and slower on the way back. Like Ron White said: "The pilot was yelling at the geese; 'Go around, go around!'" Well, we did get there ahead of the ambulance, but we were able to land on our wheels.

The rest of the night involved baggage delays, a rush for the buses and horrific checkin at the hotel. I have to go now, the girls want to get to the airport because we can't raise anyone on the phone and we want to get our seat assignments.

Travel Dates!

We received our travel schedule today, which includes:

Dec. 17th: Depart from Fort Myers
Dec. 18th: Arrival in Beijing
Dec. 19th: Great Wall and Hutong Lane Tour
Dec. 20th: Holt Orientation, Tour Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City
Dec. 21st: Travel to Hefei, Anhui for Gotcha Day!
Dec. 25th: Arrival in Guangzhou
Dec. 29th: U.S. consulate visa appointment
Dec. 31st: Visa issued
Jan. 1st: Depart from Guangzhou
Jan. 2nd: Arrival in Miami

Wow--so much to do before travel!

Consulate Appointment Confirmation

We were just advised that the consulate date will be December 29th! Tomorrow we will know what our travel itinerary will be!

CHINA--HERE WE COME!!!

We just received tentative travel dates from our agency--YAHOO!!! Looks like we'll be traveling December 18th-January 1st. As soon as our consulate appointment is confirmed, we'll be able to make the necessary arrangements for travel. Time to get busy on the lengthening "to do" list--will it ever end?!!

Waiting For Second Travel Approval

Our family hit a snag with our first travel approval, and our agency has had to apply for a second approval. They sent the request to China almost four weeks ago, so we're hoping it will come soon so that we can still bring her home in time for Christmas. We have been told that the government is several weeks behind in processing, so that makes us worried.

Although this has been a frustrating time for us, we have managed to keep extremely busy with our jobs and other activities. We have received our Chinese visas and travel vaccinations, and are working on getting her room decorated (very girly). Three of the walls are painted "art deco pink" and the fourth will be an accent wall, which is a work in progress. It will be a beach scene, with her Chinese name in characters over her bed. We will put pictures on this site as soon as it is finished!

We will post as soon as we have more information from our agency!!!

Travel Approval!

Now that we have travel approval, it looks as if we'll be travelling before Christmas--possibly by the second week of December. We will know more once we have our consulate dates. This will be the best Christmas ever!!!