A few people said I should blog while traveling so here goes the first entry. I want to try and balance it between a journal of what I'm up to and tidbits that are actually interesting to read.
My first mini story involves packing for the trip. It was somewhat difficult packing for two months. How do you decide what to bring and not to bring? It's longer than a vacation so you need more than just clothes, but it's not a permanent move either. I ended up filling two of my giant "storage" duffel bags. These things are huge: they're what I've used in the past when I've changed apartments to move all my clothes. I can fit everything in my closet and dresser into three of them and I decided to bring two on the trip.
I had been warned that oversize bags on United get charged $200 each (!) and so with a potential penalty of up to $400 on a roughly $1200 ticket I nervously approached the ticket counter. I had researched the dimensions online and even weighed my bags on my bathroom scale (with me holding it, subtracting my own weight ofcourse). The limits are measured in pounds and linear inches (the sum of all inches of the dimension of your bag). After checking the manufacturer website of my duffel bags I discovered that both I had planned to use were longer than the restrictions. Great. An additional 400 bucks.
After some research, I found that they're more particular about weight so I made sure I was well under and the bags were not fully packed. It was also suggested on FlyerTalk that you casually try to distract the ticketing agent with questions about the flight so they didn't look at the size of your bag as carefully.
I stepped up to the United desk and the agent began to eye my bags. I was traveling on a code share ticket via Air China and when the machine failed to bring up my reservation he pointed in the direction of the Air China desk. I corrected him saying I was supposed to check in with the operating carrier and he reluctantly took my documents. He told me to go ahead and put my bags on the scale "because for those we'll need to do a weight check."
My first bag weighed in a 30 lbs and the second was at 48.2! Whew - the limit is 50. Before he had a chance to remark on the size I snuck in a (genuine) compliment, "Wow, I'm impressed. These lines are pretty short. Last time I traveled international it was much longer." He chucked and checked my bags without issue.
I'm off to Beijing.
(turns out I mistakenly took a picture of the plane next to mine... whoops)
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