Leaving for China

Here at SFO, I am awaiting Cathy Pacific flight CX873 to fly to Beijing via Hong Kong. Mi is already in Datong. I will join them in the next 24 hours.

Mi almost missed her flight on the 24th because Air China refused to release the ticket after payment, only 2 hours before boarding. Thanks to United Airlines we did not have the ticket priced tripled to 2500. I am not flying Air China again.

Booking an international flight for the next day is hard. I was shocked to find out that any airlines' 800 numbers are not even 24-7. I called a few and they all say I was calling after business hours. Expedia does show some tickets for the next day, but Wednesday's experience told me never to trust them again. I jumped on the car and drive to San Francisco International, running across all airline check-in counters asking if they have ticket on the next day to Beijing. I got one from Cathy Pacific. It's a one-stop flight via Hong Kong and sets me back 1150, more than 870 of Air China. But with printed ticket in hand, I felt much more secure than hoping I won't need to purchase a 2000 dollar ticket upon check-in if I had chosen Air China.

The last time I went to the terminal to buy a ticket was back in college days, buying train tickets in China. Who would have imagined 7 years later I have to do the same thing for an international flight. Mi sort of did that as well, when she was forced to buy a new ticket at the counter 2 hours before boarding. Thanks to the UA hostess who saved us a load of money, for Air China and Expedia's inability to do their job.