The Long Road Home

In August of 2015 we attend the BYU workshop for China Teachers and booked our flights both to and from Guangzhou.  Knowing that flying home the end of December would be chaos, we elected to fly with Delta instead of a Chinese airline.  We just implemented the return part of that ticket for the longest journey ever taken; we estimate 40 hours!

Sunday morning, December 20 in Guangzhou, South China University of Technology, after long hours of packing, weighing and repacking four suitcases and two roller bags we started our day at 2:00AM. The last preparations and final cleanup had us ready for our driver arriving at 3:00AM. We had really “hit the wall” and were ready to be on that flight to the U.S.  Our schedule was really a repeat of our arrival in September: Guangzhou, Shanghai, Seattle, then Salt Lake City.

The only Guangzhou dilemma was trying to determine whether we check-in with domestic or international.  Since we don’t communicate well in Chinese it became necessary to stand in both lines before Shanghai Airline (Delta’s partner airline) decided how to check-in through domestic and check the bags international all the way to SLC.  Two security check lines later we were at the boarding gate for our 7:30AM flight with only minutes to spare from our three hours early for the international flight, no time for breakfast here!

Enter Shanghai International Airport.  For a country that does not celebrate Christmas both Guangzhou and Shanghai were crazy busy.  We navigated the maze and stood in the lines directed to transfer from domestic to international only to find that we needed to claim our luggage and recheck it, that information after we had stood in a very long line to check in for an international flight. Back to the luggage carousel to discover that only three bags had arrived the fourth was who knows where from a direct flight?  Back to the check-in line with a missing bag notice, this was not a very positive beginning!  Yet again two more security check lines.  Did I mention that in China security does not use those invasive screening machines that flash your photo, no, no, no they use a full body wand and pat down, sometime referred to as a full body massage.  Not only is it intense, up close and personal, it takes four times as long to get through a long line. We again were running tight on the three-hour exchange time!  We were running down the concourse only to discover that we needed to board a bus to be transported out to the tarmac to board the plane.  Really, Delta cannot get a gate assignment at the Shanghai International Airport!

Finally lift off from Shanghai we are in the air for the U.S. great relief spread through the atmosphere of our seats. I had just selected my first movie, settled in for a 14-hour overwater flight when the announcement came that there was a mechanical equipment problem and this plane needed to divert to Tokyo International Airport for repair.  I had really wanted to go to Japan at some point, however this was not the time.  The anxiety level just replaced the great relief in a matter of minutes.  Tokyo happens to be the Delta hub for Asia so the chances for repair are better in Tokyo! We were a captive audience so let’s get on with this. 

Upon arrival in Tokyo we were informed by the crew that we couldn’t get off the plane because no one on the plane had a Japanese Visa, so they would proceed with the repair while we all waited on the runway.  Sure they served water and pretzels regularly, they couldn’t do food service, no breakfast and now no lunch! Our crew were committed to keep the passengers informed every 15 minutes, so every 15 minutes we receive the same update: they were continuing with repair no further information.  Two hours later they figured out how to get 250 passengers through the Tokyo airport to yet another Delta A330 that was destined to Honolulu.  Great we are now going to Honolulu from Tokyo; SLC is beginning to feel a lifetime away.  We were police escorted down the concourse, quite a site to behold and boarded on the second aircraft.    We now had crew rest issues, so someone important at Delta made the decision that the new A330 would continue with the Honolulu crew to Seattle leaving the original crew to rest and later take the Honolulu route. Yahoo no security pat down in Tokyo! The luggage was transferred from plane to plane, we were down one bag before we boarded, it would be a miracle if we landed with any luggage at all with this unscheduled middle of the night transfer! Once again we are off to who know where, never trust the destination until to see the ground!

Originally we were scheduled to land in Seattle at 7:30 AM complete customs and take an 11:30 plane to SLC.  That certainly wasn’t going to happen.  We landed at 2:00 PM missing the 11:30 and the 1:10 flight to SLC.  There were two flights left to SLC, at 4:00 and at 6:10, what are the chances there would be any seats?  We started through the customs and immigration process, one more security check, thank goodness for the invasive photo screening devices! Miracle of all miracles we picked up all four bags in Seattle to take through customs! Some how Delta automatically rescheduled us for LAX, we were later told that there were no seats available on the SLC flights.  So our luggage was loaded on the flight to LAX, however when we arrived at the LAX gate there were no seats! We were now standby on the 4:00 and confirmed on the 6:10 to SLC.  To yet another gate for the 4:00, stand by was only a wish; of course everyone shows up for a flight on December 20, most trying to get home before Christmas.  No seats on the 4:00.  Yet another gate change to check in and confirm the seats that had been promised.  Yahoo we actually were given a seat assignment but the flight had been delayed from 6:10 to 9:40 PM.  Thank you Delta Airlines.  That gave us time to experience Ivar’s clam chowder. 

We finally arrived in SLC just after 1:00 AM with all four pieces of luggage! We drove into the driveway just after 2:00AM! Quite the adventure to go home for Christmas!

Each time we transferred and changed flights we were issued a new set of boarding passes.  As I look through that stack I have 14 boarding passes for lots of different destinations.  I am happy to announce that Delta has apologized for any inconvenience that flight may have caused and sent 10,000 points to my account! Shame on you Delta Airlines!