Heading North

Kristine and Kimberley had a chance to sleept over at Kylie's before we head north to Beijing. Apparently, 3 of them plus a small dog (Holly) in a QS bed, and another big dog (charlie) on the carpet. No photo to mark the special event, unfortunately.

The morning of departure started at 230am for me but 6am for the girls. We reached Melb airport at 710am, so we were put on the 8am flight to Sydney instead of 9am, which would have been very tight to catch the connecting flight to Beijing at a different terminal scheduled for departure at 1145am. Good chance the baggage may not catch up if we had taken the 9am flight.

This is the first time we took Qantas to Beijing. Our pilot between Melb and Syd was a lady. We encountered bad weather approaching Syd. The plane was shaken a bit and the engines revved up noticeably for landing but she landed safely. The transit is via Sydney with a plane change, instead of via Shanghai on Airchina without plane change. Comparing the two airlines, Airchina is more convenient with no plane change, and an hour less in total travel time door to door (18 vs 19), part of Star Alliance which we used more, 30kg baggage allowance. Qantas flight is of better quality. The aisles are wider and I suspect the seats are wider and longer too. The crew are older in age but professional attentive and prompt.

When we board the Syd-Pek flight, the Chief Pursar announced that the plane was being refueled. She repeated her request that all passengers sould take our seats but not to fasten the seat belts yet because the plane was being refuled. Very clear and meticulous about what she wanted from the passengers. When the crew went through the safety demonstration, passngers were advised to count the number of rows from out seats to the nearest exits. Simple measures that I am sure will count a lot in emergency situation in the dark and the floor lights failed. They were even very clear in when the mobiles should be switched off and when they can be turned on. On one AirChina flight (Oct 08 Beijing-Melb), after the PA asked passengers to switch their mobiles off, a flight attendant taking her jump seat in front of me took out her mobile (I thought she was switching it off) and started pressing the buttons away, either to send a text msg or to retrieve one.........

The 4 crew in the economy section of the A330 all had different accents: Hong Kong, Japanese, American, and French. The PA annoucements repeated in Chinese after English carried Hong Kong accent. I could understand that more easily than the English PA on AirChina. The French and I chatted a bit. He was interested in why we relocated to Beijing as he was planning to live in Shanghai in 18 months upon retirement. I asked him why he wanted to move away from Australia. Very amusingly, he said there is no place for a french in an anglo world, how it was difficult to goto a pub without witnessing some kind of a brawl. While not a partner to the pub scene, I can fully understand his feeling.

Food served on board was good too. Providing each passenger with a menu helped in undertanding whats coming up throughout the flight. I recalled a flight when a western passenger on AirChina being offered "western or chinese breakfast". He opted for Chinese, only to discover upon uncovering the lid that it is plain rice porridge!!!!! In between meals, there was a free flow of apples, pretzels, drinks (even Lite beer!) and Nissin cup noodles. Thinking back on an AirChina flight (Mel-PEK Oct 06), I couldnt get milk for Kimberley, 2 yrs old then. I was told: "We were stocked with 2 litres of milk out of Beijing (to Melb). We have to save that for First Class and an infant smaller than your daughter"...... WHAT THE F%*& ???!!????

So these are my choices:
Comfort: Qantas
Crew: Qantas
Door to Door: AirChina
Transit: Sydney is less stressful then Shanghai
Baggage allowance: AirChina
Inflight announcements: Qantas
Food: Qantas by a wiiiiiiiiiiide margin
Mileage Credit: AirChina/Star Alliance
Tel Customer Service: Qantas