At Last!

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Unfortunately we did not get off to a great start when our Saturday night flight to Beijing was at first delayed and then out and out canceled. It wasn’t pretty with almost 300 people scrambling to get on the Sunday night flight that was nearly sold out. We ended up getting really lucky when a gate agent tapped Eric Autrey (who was at the end of the line) on the shoulder and said to follow her and she would help him out. He explained we were a group of 14 and she proceeded to bring us all to an empty gate where she systematically booked us all on the Sunday night flight, moving ticketed passengers where necessary to keep all our families together. She then gave us vouchers for a nearby Hilton along with vouchers for dinner, breakfast and lunch. The girls were so disappointed but we made the best of it with a fun group dinner (and a few glasses of beer & wine for the frazzled adults) and a pool party the next morning.



And despite an almost 2 hour delay Sunday night leaving Chicago (don’t even get me started on American Airlines), we finally arrived in Beijing Monday night. We were met at the airport by our tour guide, Katherine, and had no problem getting to our hotel. AiLi slept for a few hours on the plane. Ira, Susie and I not so much, so needless to say we were exhausted and so ready to get to bed despite the fact it was 10:00 in the morning our time.

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Comments

[Uncle Jack]

Way to Go!
The joys of flying just keep improving (not). Glad you finally made it. Pics look good. Spring is and seems there too. Thanks for blog.

[Sue Neumyer]

Thanks for sharing...
Your pictures are amazing...and the narrative is wonderful, too.