Anyway, we just made it to our hotel and I must say that this place is just unreal. And if it weren't for the Japanese being the most polite and helpful people in the world we'd probably still be hopping on and off trains trying to find the right one. I'll write more tomorrow once we've had a chance to explore some more.
So here goes with the first entry of the day.....
"Don't you know which airline you're flying?"
Friday,
April 17, 2015
8:17 PM
"Well I guess
not." was my answer, feeling about as stupid as I've ever felt.
Having never been on
a flight with a connection before, I was slightly confused as to the proper
procedure once we landed in Chicago. I
heard the flight attendant announce all the connections, including ours "Tokyo….
Flight 7009…. Gate K16" after landing.
Alright I figured. I guess I just
need to check in at one of these kiosk they must have by the gates without
having to exit and come back through security.
Anyway, walked around like a lost puppy for while… Jes was a bit
perplexed as to what we were doing but there was no one at our gate to ask for
info. After about 20-30 minutes of
aimless wandering we went back to K16 and finally there was someone there I
could humbly ask for help.
So I tell the nice
lady that I've never flown a connection before and was a bit confused as to how
I was supposed to get my boarding pass.
(Yes, I did try to check in online but the internet was giving me
issues). Anyway, she asked which flight
I was on. Told her Japan Airlines
7009. "Well this is the American
Airlines gate. You need to go to K20 for Japan Air". "Well I'm pretty sure this is the gate
I'm supposed to be at". "Well
are you flying American Airlines or Japan Airlines". By the perplexed look on my face, I could
tell she finally understood that I had no idea what was going on. I had a Japan Airlines flight number but an
American Airlines purchase confirmation.
You see, when you
buy a ticket to Tokyo from American Airlines it turns out that American
Airlines, they partner with Japan Airlines to get you all the way there. Well thanks a lot for making that clear as
mud on my confirmation. Don't give me a
Japan Airlines Flight number 7009, when I'm actually flying on American
Airlines Flight 153. Why they have to
make it so complicated is beyond me but whatever.
Signing off…. From
flight 153, or 7009, or 354, or 1932, or…
"What
do you mean there's no Internet on this flight?"
Friday,
April 17, 2015
8:33 PM
When preparing my
packing list for this trip (yes, Jac's rubbed off on me a bit) I had enough electronics on it for my
carry-on to run a small country. All
this consistent with the fact that I absolutely was relying on the plane having
wifi available as have most of the flights I've been on in the last 3-4
years. After all, this was going to be a
13 hour flight and what the f$%( am I supposed to do for 13 hours without
internet.
Well…. Once you
reached our cruising altitude I lowered my tray table, reclined my seat, pulled
out and turned on my Surface. I double-clicked on the wireless networks icon in
my system tray searching for the ever familiar "Boingo Hotspot" to show
up among a series of other "hidden" networks, undoubtedly used for
private and secure aircraft operations.
Nothing…. Not even a
network from someone's smartphone.
I figured maybe they
just hadn't turned it on yet. As one of
the flight attendant's walked by I asked WHEN the wifi was going to be turned
on… not IF they had internet, but WHEN.
"Sorry sir, there's no internet on these planes yet"
WTF?!?!??! I'll just leave you with this… a clip of a
bit from my favourite comedian from a few year's back that perfectly sums up my
range of emotions upon this terrifying discovery. BTW, we're currently flying over the southern
coast of Alaska as I type this.
To fly American Airlines or Japan air.... That is the question lol
ReplyDelete