Hello All; I arrived here a few minutes early, at 01;00 BKK time,, which would have been one in the afternoon, Monday back in Ottawa. All flights departed on time, and arrived early. The Air Canada flight from Montreal to Shanghai provided the Adventure, for what was to be just a venture. I expect the unexpected with them, and they NEVER fail to do just that. It all started at the Ottawa airport at check in. I went to the check in machine...no people check in these days, just an ATM type machine, no personal contact. I put my passport in, face up, touch Air Canada, then answer two questions, while passport in machine...first name, flight route is displayed, then number of checked bags...one for me...two allowed.
Out comes the three boarding passes for the full route, and the tags for the luggage. BUT, the baggage tag is good only to Shanghai, while I get the boarding passes all the way to Bangkok. With all other companies, I would not see my checked luggage until destination. I know about a thousand airport codes, so no doubt about this tag. I question an airline representative, and am told that there is no baggage arrangements for automatic transfer at Shanghai with that airline. Anyone not knowing the code would probably have missed this. Ok, look forward to a surprise at Shanghai. Flight to Montreal is short, 20 minutes. Arrival and departure gates very close, so no problem there. I notice a young girl, about two, running rampant in the waiting area, and she shrieks and whines when her parents stop her. I pray that she is in the back of the plane to Shanghai. On Board, my worst fears are realized...I am in row 35, seat 35A, a window seat on left, (port) side of aircraft, and guess who is in 34A....the seat directly in front of me. For over 13 hours of the 14 hour flight, she did a rant about every five minutes, until we landed in Shanghai and she fell asleep as we taxied to the terminal.
Shanghai airport is huge, and thousands of travelers at any one time, half looking for directions.
Since I was in transit, with no plan to leave the airport, I did not require a visa, but did require a landing/departure card. All onward passengers, about 20 on our flight, were directed to a special check in.... for customs and immigration to fill out the cards and be finger printed, photographed, etc. This took over one hour for me, as only one counter open, and half the group were behind me.
After that, I had to try and find my checked luggage, as the conveyer belt had finished unloading.
That process took another hour, and my luggage was with a lot of other baggage that was left because people did not know they had o claim and rebook their bags...from my flight.
I will do another page of this saga later today.
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