Back from Haikou

We made it back without much chaos. We got there with just enough time to spare; started out with our friend having problem with his AmEx card; the hotel could not cancel the deposit and AmEx pushed the responsibility to the hotel and the hotel pushed it back to the card company. He spent an hour at the frontdesk without any resolution; finally, he paid again with his AmEx. Me with my Visa, no problem at all since I did about an hour prior to his. Good thing I ordered a van for us three at 2:30pm; I allowed for an additional 30 minutes of any unforeseen problems. It did.

The Haikou departure area was really nice; I was amazed; for those who had been to Honolulu airport; it was like that. Except newer and with some brand name stores. This time we flew Hainan Airline. At check-in, the agent told us we need to pay extra for Audrey's bike. Of course, we said no. Then we went over to the oversize luggage check-in. What fee; there was none. Then they wanted us to put those extra security ties to the soft case; the agents were worry the soft case would not fit thru the X-ray machine; so I told them go ahead and try; we got blank looks; they didn't want to try. So, we said "do it!". It went thru without a hitch. Sometimes, you need to be firm with the Chinese; even though they are getting to be educated and developed; remember, there are still far off at times. While waiting at the check-in counter, this guy came right up and asked where was his ticket so he could board his flight; yet in his hand, he was holding the boarding pass! Go figure! How the heck did he fly down to Hainan the first place? Swam?

One thing you have to remember, there is no such thing as "orderly boarding" or "priority boarding for seniors, for families with children". There are only two: econo and business class. Sometimes, there is no diff, you just swamp to the front of the gate. There is no single line; you push and shove and push ....

Majority of the airlines using lunch boxes with lots of paper and plastic wrappings. Can you imaging the non-recyclable garbage begin generated by the Chinese airline industry on a daily basis with that many people flying? Ouch! But if you want those containers and all like the Western Airlines, there will cleaning facilities required for each airport; and the cleanliness will not be guaranteed. Maybe a better solution is required. But don't expect Chinese to "buy" their lunches in flight like North Americans; they will revolt and riot. They expect to get everything but pay little. A mentality problem.

But flights are cheap though; we just booked our flights back to Haikou; it came to about RMB$400 one-way (60% off regular fare); but the Biz class, it would have been RMB$1900 one-way. Gee... I wonder which one I will take. Sometimes it would have been nice flying at the front just to get out of the rat race and the "roughness" of the people, but with only 3 hours of flying, with my iPod and my focus, I am sure I can tough it out. ;-) But sometimes, the Shanghai people can speak really loud in particularly 45-55-ish women; they shout.