Around the world trip report on NW & Skyteam (low content, longish, aeroflot bashing)
Jan 21, 2008, 11:20 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: MSP
Programs: DL Diamond MM, SPG Platinum, HH Gold, Marriott Silver, National Exec Elite
Posts: 226
Around the world trip report on NW & Skyteam (low content, longish, aeroflot bashing)
Part 1 of 2. I was planning to wait and make a monster post about this journey when I returned to MSP... but I seem to have an extra 22 hours on my hands in a Moscow prison.... er, I mean in a guarded room in the Novotel SVO. So I decided to serialize.
Despite my intentions, I actually did not end up buying a RTW ticket, as I did not have enough stops, only stopping in IST and PVG, just a sequence of one way tickets in J. Cost was around $9,500 all in, pretty good considering the cost of MSP-PVG RT lately. Because of the aeroflot legs, I had to get paper tickets, which has turned out to be a bad thing. My itinerary is:
MSP-AMS (NW)
AMS-IST (KL)
IST-SVO (SU)
SVO-PVG (SU)
PVG-NRT (NW)
NRT-MSP (NW)
MSP-AMS
First flight went off without a hitch. I chose seat 1-J on the A330 b/c I like looking out the window, but also like to go to the WC when I like... Almost got out of MSP with an empty seat next to me... but at the last minute I got a guest. It was her first time flying WBC across the ocean, so we had a good time. I have really been enjoying this chicken curry lately! Spicy! On time arrival in AMS.
Couple hours to kill in AMS, spent it sleepy in the KLM lounge. This place needs an expansion.
AMS-IST
For those of you who haven't experienced it, KLM "business class" in Europe is terrible. 3x3 seat configuration. Luckily, not many people actually pony up for this, so you usually have some space to yourself. This is a long flight to do in this config... at close to 4 hours. I did fall asleep for most of the flight, so I can't complain too much. In-flight team very attentive. Upon arrival, Istanbul airport is easily manageable and fast to the curb, even with checked luggage.
I did a couple non-skyteam flights on Turkish Air while there, in Y (there's only Y):
SAW-ESB-SAW (Istanbul Sabana Gokcen to Ankara)
IST-SZF-IST (Istanbul Ataturk to Samsun)
I enjoyed their "CIP" lounge (no idea what the "C" is for). Lots of tea and snacks. I got plenty of time to check it out, as my Ankara flight was delayed 4 hours. Sabana Gokcen is a small feeder airport on the far east side of Istanbul. Easy parking, check-in, etc. Great option if you are already on that side, although the downside is, if your flight is massively delayed, you have no other options. I found the pilots to be very aggressive in terms of flying style. Good cheese sandwiches served on the flights, had 4 of them in two days!
IST-SVO
Now comes Aeroflot! I was really looking forward to this adventure, bring on the vodka! When booking my flight, I found that the Turkish Air one-stopper to Shanghai was sold out... so I searched for other options, preferably skyteam. They ended up being 1) Backtrack to Paris for AF (only middle seats in J), or 2) Aeroflot with brand new A321 and 767 service, cheap, perfect times, and wide open loads. All other credible options (Emirates, KLM, Lufthansa, etc) were sold out in J several days backward and forward. I had read about the transfer issues in SVO, and took that into account, but it was just too tempting to book the SU.
Upon arrival to the airport in IST, the check in lines were long. Of course, 70% of the business class line were people playing dumb. When the taskmaster at the desk cleared them out, I went straight to the front. I was informed that the flight was running "one hour late" -- scary, I had a 2 hour connection. Waited in the Business Class lounge, which is a bit hard to find. Smoky, but nice. Had some soup, used the internet.
The aircraft didn't land until we were already about 1.5 hours late. I knew I was in trouble... However, I had checked Aeroflot's flight status site and discovered that every flight for the day had already been around 2 hours late... maybe they would hold my flight! I asked the gate agent about my connection. He looked a little concerned, but in the end he said "you will be fine" -- anything to get the flight out I guess. I should never have boarded.
Once on board the A321, I was really wowed. J cabin was more than half empty. Seats we super comfortable lounger-style, and flight attendants were hovering around with menus, hot towels and drinks. This is for a 2.5 hour trip! We boarded reasonably quickly, but sat in a queue of planes for another 40 minutes or so. After takeoff, the impending dread kind of washed away.... the cabin crew was so attentive and the finish of the plane was so perfect... how could anything go wrong? There were at least a couple dozen Chinese people on the plane, who presumably were going to SH as well. Just hold the plane for an hour or two... or maybe that aircraft will be late getting in too. Excellent meal. Salmon and Shrimp appetizer, Salmon and Shrimp Entree (funny with the same ingredients), dessert, and cappuccino(!).
Landed at SVO 2 hrs 20 minutes late. PVG flight was to have left 20 minutes earlier. I rushed off the plane, wanted to be first at the Transfer desk... The agent kind of looked down and away from me as she took my ticket. After a few minutes, hordes of people gathered behind me, and tried to squeeze in and get her attention... some succeeded. I started boxing them out like a basketball player.
Finally, she looked up to me and said "would you like to go to Shanghai tomorrow?" -- which I answered "No". I asked to be placed on the flight to Beijing later in the evening, and she said "But that leaves in only 40 minutes, and we must re-write your ticket". After a while, I realized I wasn't going to break the system... I was here for the night, with no entry visa. I mentioned this to her, and she said, "We will not abandon you, you will be at the Novotel... but you must meet us at gate 19-20 in thirty minutes, maybe an hour" She then took possession of my paper ticket, which really freaked me out. "You will fly at 5:45 in the afternoon tomorrow"... OK, 22 hour delay...
Two and a half hour later, closing in on midnight, about 20 of us are gathered near this gate in the darkest smokiest airport in the world. The reports are not exaggerated. I also was not permitted into the biz class lounge b/c I was not departing on a flight. We were sitting on the floor, stairs, anything but chairs, because there were about 5 chairs for 4 gates. The gate was near the smoke sucking machines, which perversely creates more smoke, since all the smokers come there... and the machines aren't really that effective.
Anyway, a smartly dressed woman shows up and shouts some orders in Russian... I follow like a sheep as she siphons us back upstream through the transfer desk area... where our passports are checked, but not stamped for entry. We stood around for another 45 minutes, then they walked us to a bus and drove 300m over tot he Novotel, where the Aeroflot employee got off the bus, but left us inside for another 30 minutes.
Finally, we walk into to the hotel. They call my name first... I'm thinking.. "must be because I'm in business class, I'm getting suite or something"... not exactly. Interior facing room with three weak lights and a filthy bathroom. About the same degree of luminescence as the airport. Outside the room in the hallway is a guard station! I am still in a sterile zone in their eyes. I can't walk to the lobby, can't go buy a water or or a vodka, can't even see the outdoors. At check-in, they keep my passport, which also freaks me out. Beats the airport floor, I keep telling myself. My room is on the third floor, and next door is the warden's office... I mean the "transfer manager".
I ask her about my checked luggage: "You will get it in Shanghai" (if the SVO thieves don't get to it first)...
Then, overnight, I discover that the flight leaving at 5:45 is actually to Beijing, not Shanghai... in fact they do not have everyday service to SH. I try to address this with my transfer manager, to no avail. She has no information about my flights, "you will find out at the airport, two hours before your flight"
I have to be escorted down to the reception desk in order to pay for my internet service, and do manage to hear the end of the Pat's vs Chargers playoff game on internet radio. I had hoped that a silver lining to this story would be getting to watch the NFL playoff games in some crazy location, like the hotel bar or even my room. This was as close as I got.
For breakfast, we are called to assemble at 9:30. En masse (only about 12 left), we are walked to a conference room, where we are served croissant, coffee and yogurt. (One yogurt at each plate... My neighboring two seats were both open, so I actually ate two and stole another... don't tell the warden)
So... cliffhanger here, how does the story end? I am still sitting in my hotel room, trying not to move too much and make my clothes dirty. No tickets, no passport, no luggage, no idea what my itinerary is... or what the weather looks like. Will my luggage make it to Shanghai with me? WIll all the contents be enclosed? I have actually kind of turned a corner and am perversely enjoying this... I really am getting the true Russian experience with lots of line waiting and secrets. Updates to come.
Despite my intentions, I actually did not end up buying a RTW ticket, as I did not have enough stops, only stopping in IST and PVG, just a sequence of one way tickets in J. Cost was around $9,500 all in, pretty good considering the cost of MSP-PVG RT lately. Because of the aeroflot legs, I had to get paper tickets, which has turned out to be a bad thing. My itinerary is:
MSP-AMS (NW)
AMS-IST (KL)
IST-SVO (SU)
SVO-PVG (SU)
PVG-NRT (NW)
NRT-MSP (NW)
MSP-AMS
First flight went off without a hitch. I chose seat 1-J on the A330 b/c I like looking out the window, but also like to go to the WC when I like... Almost got out of MSP with an empty seat next to me... but at the last minute I got a guest. It was her first time flying WBC across the ocean, so we had a good time. I have really been enjoying this chicken curry lately! Spicy! On time arrival in AMS.
Couple hours to kill in AMS, spent it sleepy in the KLM lounge. This place needs an expansion.
AMS-IST
For those of you who haven't experienced it, KLM "business class" in Europe is terrible. 3x3 seat configuration. Luckily, not many people actually pony up for this, so you usually have some space to yourself. This is a long flight to do in this config... at close to 4 hours. I did fall asleep for most of the flight, so I can't complain too much. In-flight team very attentive. Upon arrival, Istanbul airport is easily manageable and fast to the curb, even with checked luggage.
I did a couple non-skyteam flights on Turkish Air while there, in Y (there's only Y):
SAW-ESB-SAW (Istanbul Sabana Gokcen to Ankara)
IST-SZF-IST (Istanbul Ataturk to Samsun)
I enjoyed their "CIP" lounge (no idea what the "C" is for). Lots of tea and snacks. I got plenty of time to check it out, as my Ankara flight was delayed 4 hours. Sabana Gokcen is a small feeder airport on the far east side of Istanbul. Easy parking, check-in, etc. Great option if you are already on that side, although the downside is, if your flight is massively delayed, you have no other options. I found the pilots to be very aggressive in terms of flying style. Good cheese sandwiches served on the flights, had 4 of them in two days!
IST-SVO
Now comes Aeroflot! I was really looking forward to this adventure, bring on the vodka! When booking my flight, I found that the Turkish Air one-stopper to Shanghai was sold out... so I searched for other options, preferably skyteam. They ended up being 1) Backtrack to Paris for AF (only middle seats in J), or 2) Aeroflot with brand new A321 and 767 service, cheap, perfect times, and wide open loads. All other credible options (Emirates, KLM, Lufthansa, etc) were sold out in J several days backward and forward. I had read about the transfer issues in SVO, and took that into account, but it was just too tempting to book the SU.
Upon arrival to the airport in IST, the check in lines were long. Of course, 70% of the business class line were people playing dumb. When the taskmaster at the desk cleared them out, I went straight to the front. I was informed that the flight was running "one hour late" -- scary, I had a 2 hour connection. Waited in the Business Class lounge, which is a bit hard to find. Smoky, but nice. Had some soup, used the internet.
The aircraft didn't land until we were already about 1.5 hours late. I knew I was in trouble... However, I had checked Aeroflot's flight status site and discovered that every flight for the day had already been around 2 hours late... maybe they would hold my flight! I asked the gate agent about my connection. He looked a little concerned, but in the end he said "you will be fine" -- anything to get the flight out I guess. I should never have boarded.
Once on board the A321, I was really wowed. J cabin was more than half empty. Seats we super comfortable lounger-style, and flight attendants were hovering around with menus, hot towels and drinks. This is for a 2.5 hour trip! We boarded reasonably quickly, but sat in a queue of planes for another 40 minutes or so. After takeoff, the impending dread kind of washed away.... the cabin crew was so attentive and the finish of the plane was so perfect... how could anything go wrong? There were at least a couple dozen Chinese people on the plane, who presumably were going to SH as well. Just hold the plane for an hour or two... or maybe that aircraft will be late getting in too. Excellent meal. Salmon and Shrimp appetizer, Salmon and Shrimp Entree (funny with the same ingredients), dessert, and cappuccino(!).
Landed at SVO 2 hrs 20 minutes late. PVG flight was to have left 20 minutes earlier. I rushed off the plane, wanted to be first at the Transfer desk... The agent kind of looked down and away from me as she took my ticket. After a few minutes, hordes of people gathered behind me, and tried to squeeze in and get her attention... some succeeded. I started boxing them out like a basketball player.
Finally, she looked up to me and said "would you like to go to Shanghai tomorrow?" -- which I answered "No". I asked to be placed on the flight to Beijing later in the evening, and she said "But that leaves in only 40 minutes, and we must re-write your ticket". After a while, I realized I wasn't going to break the system... I was here for the night, with no entry visa. I mentioned this to her, and she said, "We will not abandon you, you will be at the Novotel... but you must meet us at gate 19-20 in thirty minutes, maybe an hour" She then took possession of my paper ticket, which really freaked me out. "You will fly at 5:45 in the afternoon tomorrow"... OK, 22 hour delay...
Two and a half hour later, closing in on midnight, about 20 of us are gathered near this gate in the darkest smokiest airport in the world. The reports are not exaggerated. I also was not permitted into the biz class lounge b/c I was not departing on a flight. We were sitting on the floor, stairs, anything but chairs, because there were about 5 chairs for 4 gates. The gate was near the smoke sucking machines, which perversely creates more smoke, since all the smokers come there... and the machines aren't really that effective.
Anyway, a smartly dressed woman shows up and shouts some orders in Russian... I follow like a sheep as she siphons us back upstream through the transfer desk area... where our passports are checked, but not stamped for entry. We stood around for another 45 minutes, then they walked us to a bus and drove 300m over tot he Novotel, where the Aeroflot employee got off the bus, but left us inside for another 30 minutes.
Finally, we walk into to the hotel. They call my name first... I'm thinking.. "must be because I'm in business class, I'm getting suite or something"... not exactly. Interior facing room with three weak lights and a filthy bathroom. About the same degree of luminescence as the airport. Outside the room in the hallway is a guard station! I am still in a sterile zone in their eyes. I can't walk to the lobby, can't go buy a water or or a vodka, can't even see the outdoors. At check-in, they keep my passport, which also freaks me out. Beats the airport floor, I keep telling myself. My room is on the third floor, and next door is the warden's office... I mean the "transfer manager".
I ask her about my checked luggage: "You will get it in Shanghai" (if the SVO thieves don't get to it first)...
Then, overnight, I discover that the flight leaving at 5:45 is actually to Beijing, not Shanghai... in fact they do not have everyday service to SH. I try to address this with my transfer manager, to no avail. She has no information about my flights, "you will find out at the airport, two hours before your flight"
I have to be escorted down to the reception desk in order to pay for my internet service, and do manage to hear the end of the Pat's vs Chargers playoff game on internet radio. I had hoped that a silver lining to this story would be getting to watch the NFL playoff games in some crazy location, like the hotel bar or even my room. This was as close as I got.
For breakfast, we are called to assemble at 9:30. En masse (only about 12 left), we are walked to a conference room, where we are served croissant, coffee and yogurt. (One yogurt at each plate... My neighboring two seats were both open, so I actually ate two and stole another... don't tell the warden)
So... cliffhanger here, how does the story end? I am still sitting in my hotel room, trying not to move too much and make my clothes dirty. No tickets, no passport, no luggage, no idea what my itinerary is... or what the weather looks like. Will my luggage make it to Shanghai with me? WIll all the contents be enclosed? I have actually kind of turned a corner and am perversely enjoying this... I really am getting the true Russian experience with lots of line waiting and secrets. Updates to come.
Jan 21, 2008, 11:51 pm
#3
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: check swarm
Programs: DL DM & 2MM, SPG/Bonvoid LT Titanium, Hyatt Globalist, $tarbucks Titanium
Posts: 14,404
wow, one of the more dramatic trip reports I've read in a while. Sounds like you are at least game for the adventure since you knew what you were getting into, I hope it turns out ok?
Can't wait to read the next chapter of this thriller!
Can't wait to read the next chapter of this thriller!
Jan 22, 2008, 12:04 am
#4
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: HH Diamond, Marriott Gold, IHG Gold, Hyatt something
Posts: 33,539
I sure hope you liked all the flights. Seems quite expensive to me, but I guess I'm used to Jumbo's, and cheap biz tickets ex-Asia. I have about 40k of Biz travel in the next few months, and I think it set me back $3200 or so.
Good luck on escaping the Gulag.
Good luck on escaping the Gulag.
Jan 22, 2008, 12:01 pm
#8
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: St. Paul, MN
Programs: I've gone dormant. For now.
Posts: 1,480
What a fantastic beginning to a TR! What great suspense. There is something fantastic about paying 10K for that kind of adventure.
I hope you eventually get to Shanghai, but the Novotel and Beijing aren't horrible unscheduled stops along the way!
Thanks.
I hope you eventually get to Shanghai, but the Novotel and Beijing aren't horrible unscheduled stops along the way!
Thanks.
Jan 23, 2008, 12:33 pm
#10
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: UK
Programs: Shiny ones
Posts: 288
CIP stands for Commercially Important Person. It's what many 'VIPs' (Very Important Person) really are - they are not genuinely important, they just spend a lot of money with that airline, so are (to them) commercially important.
Jan 23, 2008, 1:26 pm
#11
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: MEL
Programs: DL, QF, QR Gold, MR Lifetime Gold
Posts: 7,003
Excellent report! Best of luck to you!
I couldn't help wondering... wasn't there some sort of 24 hour visa available to you? (I've had to get a 24 hour visa on a couple of occasions when stuck in an airport... not in Russia though.)
I couldn't help wondering... wasn't there some sort of 24 hour visa available to you? (I've had to get a 24 hour visa on a couple of occasions when stuck in an airport... not in Russia though.)
Jan 25, 2008, 8:46 pm
#12
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: MSP
Programs: DL Diamond MM, SPG Platinum, HH Gold, Marriott Silver, National Exec Elite
Posts: 226
Well...here's part 2....
SVO-PVG (soon to become SVO-PEK-SHA)
After spending the morning typing previous post, the phone rang in my Novotel prison cell. It was about 2:00, "Please come meet at guard desk with your bags". The remaining 10 or 12 of us walked together down to our conference room and were fed a not entirely unpleasant 4 course dinner. Lots of opportunity to smoke between courses for my eastern european colleagues. Somehow a couple of the Chinese guys managed to get Heinekins...
After the meal, we were then escorted to the lobby, where we were handed our passports. We boarded the bus, which drove us back to the airport via a back entrance and the tarmac. Lots of unique soviet commercial aircraft to look at! I was so ready to get on my way to Shanghai...
We followed our prison warden through the airport to an aeroflot office, where we were issued our tickets. Mine was for a PVG-PEK flight in J on Aeroflot, but then PEK-PVG on China Air in Y. I noted that there was a 1 hour transfer in Beijing, which was a concern. I'd never been through this airport.
So, I hung back as the other pax rec'd their tickets, and asked whether the transfer would be enough time. She pretended not to understand. Then I asked about my baggage, "Where will I claim my bags"... she said "Shanghai"... Hmm... but "I'm flying though Beijing." She punched some things up on the dumb-terminal... slightly concerned look on her face. My baggage claim ticket printed in Turkey was still on the back of my ticket, and in pencil, the old flight number was crossed out and the new flight number was written in. Seems like a great system. She gave me her best smile and said "You will claim your bag in Beijing"... I was appropriately sceptical. I also tried to ask why I was not booked into business class... I paid a biz class fare. Smile, no answer.
Business class lounge in SVO is kind of hilarious. It has the appearance of a well used college dormitory common area. There are 0.5 liter cans of beer in a fridge! I had to have one. And an "Internet Cafe" area (two extremely worn PCs in a small room with an internet connection). I was lucky to score a spot here. This lounge is quite small and dingy, but beats standing in the corridors of SVO which is the alternative.
After passing some time in the lounge, I walked to the gate and boarded into seat 1-A. Nice seats, and good service again... I could feel myself starting to relax. I don't think it will be hard to sleep on this flight. The meal came as advertised after departure... it was great. For IFE, they hand you a little "Dig-E Player" -- I thought this was a perfectly acceptable alternative to the in-seat options on other airlines. However, my battery died 3/4 of the way through "Live Free and Die Harder" (weren't many great choices)... they didn't have a replacement. This was OK, I bonked out for a solid 3 or 4 hours.
Woke up in time to watch Mongolia pass by underneath a clear sky and moon. Wow... empty. We passed a city at one point, that must have been Ulan Bator. Maybe it covered the same area as Grand Junction Colorado or similar... other than that, every 2 or 3 valleys had a tiny settlement of a few houses, seperated by vast expanses of snow and hills.
We landed in Beijing, and I rushed to pass through customs and claim my luggage to make the tight connection. As usual on this trip, I was rushing to wait... the baggage didn't start coming out for another 30 minutes... and with each bag I watched on the conveyor belt, I knew the probability of seeing my bag was diminishing. One final rush of bags... and mine is not one of them. The bag wrangler guy signals those of us remaining, that this is all the bags you will see, please proceed to luggage claim desk. I look around... 15 people with lost luggage! I had to count, to make sure I didn't embellish for this account.. seriously, 15 people out of a 40% load 767! That's shameful. We trudge over to the lost luggage desk, which is manned by Air China employees. She tells me that my bag was registered as on the flight, and whips out some forms for me to fill out. She assures that my bag will get to me at my hotel in Shanghai. I note that another passenger from Floor 3 Novotel, was among those with lost bags. This gives me a little comfort.. maybe our bags will be on the following day's flight to PVG.
By the time I'm finished with this ordeal, I have, or course, missed my tight connection. A helpful Air China guy in the concourse tells me I have to get my paper ticket changed in order to get on another flight. Bummer. Huge line at the ticket desk, but it moves reasonably quickly. I tell her "Pudong or Hangqiao are OK"... and my ticket is amended to put me on a China Eastern flight to Hangqiao airport, leaving in a few minutes. Flight is 100% full in a brand new A330. They did get me an aisle seat... saw a few funny things... coach passengers were asking for things from the flight attendents while the plane was at the gate.... blankets, tea, newspapers... and were always obliged with a smile. Quite a contrast to domestic US coach travel. Chinese breakfast served in flight. Yikes. I ate the yogurt and some pickled vegetables, left the crazy black rice porridge concoction and gristly pork alone.
Uneventful arrival at SHA, my driver had been repositioned from PVG and we breezed out of the airport and to my hotel. I've never been so happy to see smoggy Shanghai! Took a shower at the room... great.. and discussed baggage issues with Concierge staff. They offered to help, and gave me some false confidence that my bag would get here. Unfortunately, after 4 days now, still nothing. The concierge says "Air China has telegraphed Moscow every day, and hears nothing"... telegraphed... gotta love that. Probably meant email, but it's funnier to to think about a morse code being sent on the old red line about my bag.
So, I went shopping for some additional clothes... a difficult proposition in China for a guy who is 6'-0". I thought Wal-Mart might be a good bet due to country of ownership. I got a pair of shoes and some Hanes here... both on the small side. After a couple other mis-steps, the sporting goods store Decathlon ended up as my best option... a couple T-Shirts, a fleece... now I have enough, with hotel laundry, to feel like a human being. The hotel staff have been great. Sheraton Pudong.. nice new hotel, great service.
So.. anyone out there have tips on getting either A) my bag, or B) compensation from Aeroflot? It's wierd that Air China is handling the claim, although I did not fly on them at all. My homeward flights are tomorrow PVG-NRT-MSP...
Here's hoping part 3 of this story is uneventful. It is snowing right now in Shanghai, so I have some concerns.
SVO-PVG (soon to become SVO-PEK-SHA)
After spending the morning typing previous post, the phone rang in my Novotel prison cell. It was about 2:00, "Please come meet at guard desk with your bags". The remaining 10 or 12 of us walked together down to our conference room and were fed a not entirely unpleasant 4 course dinner. Lots of opportunity to smoke between courses for my eastern european colleagues. Somehow a couple of the Chinese guys managed to get Heinekins...
After the meal, we were then escorted to the lobby, where we were handed our passports. We boarded the bus, which drove us back to the airport via a back entrance and the tarmac. Lots of unique soviet commercial aircraft to look at! I was so ready to get on my way to Shanghai...
We followed our prison warden through the airport to an aeroflot office, where we were issued our tickets. Mine was for a PVG-PEK flight in J on Aeroflot, but then PEK-PVG on China Air in Y. I noted that there was a 1 hour transfer in Beijing, which was a concern. I'd never been through this airport.
So, I hung back as the other pax rec'd their tickets, and asked whether the transfer would be enough time. She pretended not to understand. Then I asked about my baggage, "Where will I claim my bags"... she said "Shanghai"... Hmm... but "I'm flying though Beijing." She punched some things up on the dumb-terminal... slightly concerned look on her face. My baggage claim ticket printed in Turkey was still on the back of my ticket, and in pencil, the old flight number was crossed out and the new flight number was written in. Seems like a great system. She gave me her best smile and said "You will claim your bag in Beijing"... I was appropriately sceptical. I also tried to ask why I was not booked into business class... I paid a biz class fare. Smile, no answer.
Business class lounge in SVO is kind of hilarious. It has the appearance of a well used college dormitory common area. There are 0.5 liter cans of beer in a fridge! I had to have one. And an "Internet Cafe" area (two extremely worn PCs in a small room with an internet connection). I was lucky to score a spot here. This lounge is quite small and dingy, but beats standing in the corridors of SVO which is the alternative.
After passing some time in the lounge, I walked to the gate and boarded into seat 1-A. Nice seats, and good service again... I could feel myself starting to relax. I don't think it will be hard to sleep on this flight. The meal came as advertised after departure... it was great. For IFE, they hand you a little "Dig-E Player" -- I thought this was a perfectly acceptable alternative to the in-seat options on other airlines. However, my battery died 3/4 of the way through "Live Free and Die Harder" (weren't many great choices)... they didn't have a replacement. This was OK, I bonked out for a solid 3 or 4 hours.
Woke up in time to watch Mongolia pass by underneath a clear sky and moon. Wow... empty. We passed a city at one point, that must have been Ulan Bator. Maybe it covered the same area as Grand Junction Colorado or similar... other than that, every 2 or 3 valleys had a tiny settlement of a few houses, seperated by vast expanses of snow and hills.
We landed in Beijing, and I rushed to pass through customs and claim my luggage to make the tight connection. As usual on this trip, I was rushing to wait... the baggage didn't start coming out for another 30 minutes... and with each bag I watched on the conveyor belt, I knew the probability of seeing my bag was diminishing. One final rush of bags... and mine is not one of them. The bag wrangler guy signals those of us remaining, that this is all the bags you will see, please proceed to luggage claim desk. I look around... 15 people with lost luggage! I had to count, to make sure I didn't embellish for this account.. seriously, 15 people out of a 40% load 767! That's shameful. We trudge over to the lost luggage desk, which is manned by Air China employees. She tells me that my bag was registered as on the flight, and whips out some forms for me to fill out. She assures that my bag will get to me at my hotel in Shanghai. I note that another passenger from Floor 3 Novotel, was among those with lost bags. This gives me a little comfort.. maybe our bags will be on the following day's flight to PVG.
By the time I'm finished with this ordeal, I have, or course, missed my tight connection. A helpful Air China guy in the concourse tells me I have to get my paper ticket changed in order to get on another flight. Bummer. Huge line at the ticket desk, but it moves reasonably quickly. I tell her "Pudong or Hangqiao are OK"... and my ticket is amended to put me on a China Eastern flight to Hangqiao airport, leaving in a few minutes. Flight is 100% full in a brand new A330. They did get me an aisle seat... saw a few funny things... coach passengers were asking for things from the flight attendents while the plane was at the gate.... blankets, tea, newspapers... and were always obliged with a smile. Quite a contrast to domestic US coach travel. Chinese breakfast served in flight. Yikes. I ate the yogurt and some pickled vegetables, left the crazy black rice porridge concoction and gristly pork alone.
Uneventful arrival at SHA, my driver had been repositioned from PVG and we breezed out of the airport and to my hotel. I've never been so happy to see smoggy Shanghai! Took a shower at the room... great.. and discussed baggage issues with Concierge staff. They offered to help, and gave me some false confidence that my bag would get here. Unfortunately, after 4 days now, still nothing. The concierge says "Air China has telegraphed Moscow every day, and hears nothing"... telegraphed... gotta love that. Probably meant email, but it's funnier to to think about a morse code being sent on the old red line about my bag.
So, I went shopping for some additional clothes... a difficult proposition in China for a guy who is 6'-0". I thought Wal-Mart might be a good bet due to country of ownership. I got a pair of shoes and some Hanes here... both on the small side. After a couple other mis-steps, the sporting goods store Decathlon ended up as my best option... a couple T-Shirts, a fleece... now I have enough, with hotel laundry, to feel like a human being. The hotel staff have been great. Sheraton Pudong.. nice new hotel, great service.
So.. anyone out there have tips on getting either A) my bag, or B) compensation from Aeroflot? It's wierd that Air China is handling the claim, although I did not fly on them at all. My homeward flights are tomorrow PVG-NRT-MSP...
Here's hoping part 3 of this story is uneventful. It is snowing right now in Shanghai, so I have some concerns.
Last edited by MSP2SEA; Jan 25, 2008 at 8:52 pm