With the security mess I had no idea what to expect at the airport and tried to get there really early. I arrived with 2.5 hours to spare and found check-in already chaotic. I can't quite tell, however, whether it was because of the added security measures or just because of the Chinese predilection to not line up for things in an orderly way. People are pushy and cut and stand much closer behind you than your sense of personal space might be comfortable with. So to get by you basically need to push back. Or, as in this case, flash your United Premier card, which is my key for making travel sane...
This was a Star Alliance frequent flier mileage ticket anyway, booked on Air Canada through Toronto. Thus I didn't quite get to experience the madness of an international flight to the US. Air Canada by policy banned the liquids, but I'm not sure the security line checked for them. There was a separate security line for passengers on American, United, and Northwest, and I got the impression that they were scrutinized to a greater degree. Which is kind of interesting, because everyone ends up in the same waiting hall on the other side... (What's also interesting is that Koichi, by flying Northwest back to Japan, may have been more scrutinized than I was flying by Air Canada back to the US.)
I used to think I liked the Shanghai airport because it's modern and easily connected to the city by train, but I've since decided that it's dull. And confusing, as different flights from different airlines used the same podium and you can't really figure out whom you should be talking to. (It is also now decorated with gigantic posters everywhere warning Americans not to pack liquids.)
But eventually the flight boarded, and apparently we even left slightly early. The flight was ok, although I wasn't particularly impressed with Air Canada's food (although the flight attendants were all politely concerned that I hadn't finished and don't worry, they could come back later to take my tray...). But I really became unimpressed with Air Canada upon arrival to Toronto. The flight itinerary had allowed for 1.5 hours to change planes to continue to Boston. The flight was somewhat late so it ended up there was only about an hour to change. The flight attendants were really helpful, telling me I needed to go to Terminal 2 and letting me move to a seat closer to the door for landing so that I could beat the rush. "Talk to the gate agent," they advised, "who can radio ahead to say you're on your way." But there was not a single gate agent anywhere. In fact there was no bus to Terminal 2. Instead I was forced to officially enter Canada and go through Canadian customs, which I don't think I would have done otherwise, before I saw my first Air Canada employee, who gave me apparently wrong information that my suitcase would be at Terminal 2. Then I found out they wouldn't even let me try to make the connection; apparently they'd already rebooked me for tomorrow and sent my suitcase to the carousel I'd just blown past. "Tomorrow... so you'll put me in a hotel overnight?" "No. The delay wasn't our fault."
At this point I got really upset. Actually, I was already pretty upset because I was missing my flight through no fault of my own, accidentally immigrating into countries I didn't intend to immigrate into, and was getting absolutely no assistance from the airline in trying to meet the itinerary they had sold me. "But you sold me this itinerary! I didn't miss my flight! I got there plenty early for everything and followed all the instructions. I was just sitting there - you were the ones flying the plane! And then you wouldn't even let me try to make the connection!" But they were unmoved. No hotel voucher, not even a meal voucher. Just a forced night in Toronto.
So I camped out in the airport, which wasn't too bad. It's sort of interesting to see the people who work the nightshift. There were a couple of other over-nighters, so the place wasn't abandoned or anything, and I found a reasonably comfortable couch-like surface to sleep on.
But the whole thing was quite wrong. Someone really should have at least met us at the gate. I was fortunate in that I have a passport that lets me enter Canada at will. Not everyone does. Forcing people to enter a country is a very. bad. thing. As it was I still had a customs mess because I had to go back in to get my suitcase when I'd already handed in my declaration card, although they did have a system to help me deal with that. And not everyone I talked to from Air Canada sucked... Some people were very nice. But I still felt thrown to the wolves.
The next morning I went over to the terminal that handles US-bound flights. It was 4:30am and already teeming with travelers. It's an interesting set-up because you actually go through US immigration and customs before boarding the plane, which then lands at the domestic terminals in the US. On the upside the delay meant that by the time I got to Boston the T was running, which saved me the cab fare I was going to have to pay if I'd come in the night before. But the 31-hour trip home didn't exactly do me any favors...
Comments (2)
Well, I wasn't very happy with the security restrictions on the way back.
So, as expected, I had to get rid of all the drinks I had on me before I went through security, and anything resembling liquid had to go in checked luggage. I purposely organized my luggage for the trip so that I could carry it all on and all off, so that I didn't have to check it. And I couldn't be the only one thinking that.
So among the previously permitted carry-on items that I was no longer able to were my bottle of laundry detergent, toothpaste, and shampoo. Not that I want to get off on a rant here, but if the US goverment wants to go ahead and ban toothpaste from my flight, they better have a darn good reason to do it, and they better be prepared to give us toothpaste on the flight, or have lots of people with halitosis coming off. Now it isn't such a big deal for a 4-hour flight from Shanghai to Tokyo, but if I'm then continuing onto Detroit, then I sure as heck don't want to open up my luggage, fish out my tube of toothpaste, brush my teeth in the airport bathroom, repack the toothpaste in the checked luggage, and send it off again. And I don't want the airlines to have the burden to provide the toothpaste, I want the US government to fund this.
And I'm sure as heck John and Betty Stevenson from Tupelo, Mississippi don't want to pay for my toothpaste.
(Yeah, I might be off my rocker here - there are some airlines that provide a toothbrush even in coach on these long flights - my bet is Northwest isn't one of these.)
And the customs check was actually fine - I don't know if this is a new thing, but they did have the separate lane for the US airlines. Heck, there were three lanes, and they were all pretty short, not like the madhouse lines for everyone else. But they did give us this sticker before we went through customs with the airline - the purpose which will be clearer later. The security check was not all that different either.
So not only did they deprive us of drink bottles outside security, there were none past the security check either (at least that was what the flyer said, so I didn't bother looking). We had the option of drinking in the cafes and stuff, but that was it. (And there were water fountains too, but, well, you know...)
So by this point I had passed through customs and security, and so I thought I was done with the sticker. I stuck it on my backpack (which, by the way, had my electric razor - they don't want me bringing evian on the flight, but they'll allow me to bring the three rotating blades...), but eventually the sticker fell off. I was just wandering around the terminal since it was insanely early to board, and I noticed about an hour and a half before the flight there were a huge mass of people at the gate already (there were also people from a different flight at a nearby gate too, I guess, but still a lot of people). At some point I noticed that my ticket said to get to the gate 55 minutes before departure, which is longer than usual, and I walked throught the gate, and... there's a line.
There were people re-stickering us in the line, in case we had taken them off before, and they started splitting us up between people with carry-ons and w/o carry-ons. Apparently, they were checking for Evians and toothpaste in each bag. Which, I could understand if they were doing this at security, but this is right before boarding the plane, conducted by airline personnel as far as I could tell. Why do I have to go through a second and more invasive security check separately? And is this just the way China is doing things, or is this at the suggestion of DHS?
Anyway, after the inspection, they removed the sticker from us and let us board the plane.
I think these restrictions are totally unacceptable. On flights between Japan and the US, I used to bring a 1.5-2L of water with me on the plane. I need water or beverage. And I'll even live with buying the bottle past the security checkpoint. And it might be necessary for the short term as a stopgap. But for a long term solution, it is ridiculous. And it is certainly ridiculous to do this on a flight with a stopover to Japan, for which I am NOT going to the US for. (Unless I can get a prescription for the Evian. That would be cool.)
(I also heard through the rumor mill they're banning anything that runs on batteries, although I haven't found anything on this via my usual news sources. If that's the case, I don't know what to do for travelling for work, since I am NOT putting my laptop in checked luggage where luggage handlers have a key to my locks. It seems that there's this increasing conflict between personal security and flight security, and at some point something has to be done.)
Posted by Koichi | August 27, 2006 10:28 AM
Posted on August 27, 2006 10:28
Well, the moral of the story as far as you're concerned is don't buy a ticket on an American carrier for a journey not involving the US. Because of course that will help Northwest's bottom line...
The "no bottles after security" is a DHS thing, not a Shanghai Airport thing. Well, China could be doing it on their own volition, but it's just mirroring the US policy. Which doesn't make a ton of sense. Perhaps I could see not wanting people to bring in outside fluid because there might not be a way to tell what it is, but there should be a way to authenticate what is purchased after security. I suspect at some point they will come up with some system for that, but there obviously isn't one now.
I've heard about the battery thing too, but I think that is just for flights involving the UK.
And, yeah, the whole thing is ridiculous. Read Bruce Schneier for more.
Posted by Cathy | August 27, 2006 10:49 AM
Posted on August 27, 2006 10:49