Standby fail
Tonight, then plan was for Kim and I fly out to Shanghai separately to commence our big trip of the year. We chose to separately due to maximise the benefit of complex staff standby travel tickets, with me trying for China Eastern at 2100 and him trying for Air New Zealand at 2245.
Kim’s sister Jo, got us to the airport around 1900. I was apprehensive as my flight appears quite (but not totally) full whereas Kim’s had enough empty seats.
China Eastern had 11 counters to serve their flight to Shanghai and to Buenos Aires. The latter had just closed, so the queue was short and I got to the front within 10 mins.
On a standby, ticket I was told to report back at 2000, an hour before the 2100 departure. That was only 40 mins away and when I returned at 1950, I was told that there was no room for standby tonight.
I went to the Air New Zealand area and was issued a boarding pass by the kiosk straight away. Just as well I had anticipated this and booked my backup ticket with them in advance. Otherwise, I would have been quite stressed.
Replanning my return trip
Getting airside was a breeze again and I joined Kim in the lounge. I grabbed a light dinner and immediately started work to re-plan my return trip from Russia and China back to New Zealand in July.
The return plan had been based on flying China Eastern again but since I’m using an Air New Zealand annual free retiree ticket, I wanted to use the return leg of the free ticket. Otherwise, it would be wasted if I kept to my original plan on China Eastern.
I spent about 35 mins on hold with Air New Zealand to try change a domestic redemption ticket within China (on Air China) which had been affected by a schedule change.
Unfortunately, they couldn’t rebook me but were able to give me a full refund, leaving me to rebook myself on a suitable flight that would connect me to Air New Zealand from Shanghai to Auckland, rather than on China Eastern.
Flying to Shanghai
Kim and I boarded the Air New Zealand 787 with our economy boarding passes. The staff paid upgrades to Business or Premium Economy weren’t successful even though indications were very positive earlier.
I had a row of three seats in the second row of Economy Class with extra legroom. Kim wasn’t as lucky but secured himself the same luxury on the other side of the cabin.
That was just as well, as he was still suffering from a cold and a good night sleep would help with his recovery.
We departed about 15 mins ahead of the 2245 scheduled time.