August 28/29, 2018
When a good fare on a Premium Economy ticket to Beijing popped onto my radar, it seemed like a good way to get some of the qualifying miles to keep my status on American Airlines and to tick off a few items on the bucket list. Since my hubby wasn’t able to go (you know, that work thing), I asked my sister-in-law Sindy to be my plus one. Plans for a quick trip to China were formed.
A few weeks prior to the trip, we were advised that our upgrade requests had cleared, so we were bumped up to Business Class. Lie-flat seats on a 14 1/2 hour flight? Yes, please. What does a 14 1/2 hour flight look like? 4-5 movies, 2 naps, 2 full meals and a snack.
Our Dallas-based crew were extraordinarily nice (good Texan hospitality) and we became friendly with several of our neighbors – an older Chinese man sitting in front of me who must be a ConciergeKey member as the crew knew him by name ~ he’d also just flown in the day before from Shanghai; the couple sitting in front of Sindy, jauntily attired as if going on an African safari, who are going on an epic 3-week trip across China, although the husband wasn’t happy that they were going to have to take 5 inter-country flights in economy class; and, sitting behind me, a tiny woman who was traveling through Beijing to meet an REI hiking group for treks through Mongolia and Bhutan (I asked her to take me with her to no avail).
We arrived in Beijing about 30 minutes early – too early for our gate to be available. Instead, they had the pilot park out on the tarmac, pushed up a set of stairs and bussed us to the terminal to go through customs/immigration.
The immigration process was extremely efficient, however, we first had to get digitally fingerprinted and then went through passport control. Once through, we got a bit of money from the ATM and made a quick exit from baggage claim (we only do carry-on) to where our driver was waiting with an electronic “Ms. Silbiger” sign. (In countries where I’m unfamiliar with transportation and the language, I tend to like to pre-arrange pick-up from the airport.)
Thank goodness the sedan was comfortable because once we were out of the immediate airport area, we hit traffic – lots and lots of traffic. Beijing traffic puts Los Angeles traffic to shame. And, it wasn’t even rush hour (we experienced this later). Crawling along the highway at a snail’s pace gave us ample time to check out the cityscape. Not sure what I was expecting, but Beijing looks like any other big city. Lots of tall buildings, but also a lot of green space. Both Sindy and I commented several times that there was more green than we expected.
Our hotel was selected based on the balances in my loyalty accounts – I chose the Westin Financial Street to use some of my SPG points (now Marriott after the recent merger). It’s a tall, spacious, modern hotel in the middle of the very busy financial district. We were greeted warmly, checked-in quickly and, to my surprise, were told we would have full access to the Concierge lounge, including breakfast and evening snacks. Food for my favorite price…free!
Our room is quite large and very comfortable. We were able to take a short catnap before heading out on our first adventure.
