Let me put it this way. I booked a flight from Bangkok to Tokyo that is suppose to take 13 hours including a stopover in Beijing. I have experienced airline delays before, maybe up to 2 hours which is acceptable to me. Even if it was because of weather, and causes that are beyond the airline’s control, delays would have been acceptable to me. No such causes in my case!
For me, it was a full 10.5 hours delay! The first leg was delayed by 5 hours, apparently due to mechanical failures. The second leg, was delayed by 1.5 hour. Of course, there is additional wait time in transit since I missed the earlier connecting flight. Not to mention, the seat that I was sitting on was all ripped up with foams exposed. I do not feel safe at all! All of this makes for a frustrating experience! What is even worse is that Air China will not take responsibility for it, citing it is beyond their control!
Because of this whole saga, I ended up arriving close to midnight in Tokyo. I ended up nearly missing the last train, and also having to trouble my guesthouse’s owner to stay up late to sign me in. Thank god the owner was nice! I was actually personally picked up by them at the train stop. I soon found out, that their guests arriving from Beijing are ‘usually’ late! That might explain why they are so understanding.
Important lesson here is that I will never fly Air China again, just to save AUD$30. It’s imply not worth it!!
