Initially appeared on vox.com on 5/6/2009.
Last year we rode on Northwest Airlines, which is our default airline for most trips. Overall it wasn't a horrible experience; the worst was when Adrian decided to get restless and tried to stand up in the middle of turbulence for two straight hours, objecting at the top of his lungs when we tried to keep him strapped into his seat. While Gianina and i obviously suffered the most, i didn't envy the passengers sitting near us either.
This year's long (i.e. fourteen hours long!) leg with China Airlines was much more pleasant. Aside from the fact that we brought along a handy-dandy netbook filled with 10GB worth of videos for Adrian to watch (which cut into his boredom significantly) the whole experience itself far cry from what we went through last year.
Checking in at LAX - albeit 48 hours later than we were supposed to - was surprisingly efficient. There were several people working the counters and one man directing traffic to whichever counter was soon to open. None of that one-clerk-working-at-minimum-speed-because-we-have-self-service-kiosks BS that i've come to expect from NWA, United, and AA. The lady who actually checked us in - surprise! - was actually courteous and thoughtful, allowing us a slightly-overweight carry-on bag (filled with baby stuff) and giving us front-row seats (the ones with plenty of space that they reserve for travelers with infants) without me needing to ask (i usually ask on other airlines and usually get told NO).
On the plane itself, the flight attendants were head-and-shoulders above the grumpy old NWA women we're accustomed to working with. Aside from generally being easier on the eyes, they seemed more responsive and service-oriented, without a sign of those short tempers and condescending tones that the NWA attendants seem to favor.
The amenities available were also nothing to sneeze at. Call me mababaw (shallow), but i got a real kick out of getting my own video screen (with a nice selection of movies, music, and even games) and even SLIPPERS! I guess NWA has set the bar really low if these little touches are enough to make me happy.
The only real downside was the narrowness of the seats (around 17 inches - just enough to squeeze in Adrian's Radian 80, and our butts), but i think it was mainly because the wiring for the video screen and remote had to go somewhere.
All-in-all, i would definitely recommend China Airlines to some flying across the Pacific Ocean, as long as there's not an American Airlines flight out of O'Hare that connects to it.
Once we hit the ground around eighteen hours later (we did have a two-hour layover in Taipei and another two-hour flight into Manila after then), the vacation started in earnest.
No comments:
Post a Comment