Sky High Meals

New airlines for this trip. We made our Northwest quotas in September and could now use up some of the frequent flyer miles. Against our better sense, we booked on China Southwest and although we had first class seats, prior experience filled us with doubt. Our premonitions seemed to be coming true when we got to the airport and couldn't even find the terminal. Richard and I split up - I went to park the car while he worked out ticket printing details with Northwest. Finally we found the right spot and went though the goat rope at LAX - a total mess. Our gate was located in a dimly lit area of the airport with the usual fine eye for decorating - wires hanging out of the ceiling and too few seats to accommodate the throngs.

The flight turned out to be wonderful. First Class was almost empty but even had it been full, we would still have been comfortable as the seats are well designed. Service was exceptional - after anyone used the toilet a flight attendant went in and checked it out to assure that all was well. Meal service was very good. After the meal, the cabin lights were dimmed and we were not disturbed for hours. A small bar was set up at the front of the plane with drinks and snacks on it that you could take as you wanted. The 16 hour flight was actually not bad - we slept, watched movies and were very comfortable. Much better than Northwest's business elite with narrow seats and OK service.

The Guangzhou airport was astonishing. Completed in 2004, everything is squeaky clean and efficient. We were met by a China Southwest attendant who walked us through customs and to baggage claim. Happily we found that there was an earlier flight to Vietnam and we didn't have to kill time in Guangzhou. 3 hours in the China Southwest lounge passed quickly - we checked email and walked around all the shops. The flight to Hanoi was on-time and we had a lost bag (with the diving equipment). The China Southwest baggage attendant took care of this quickly and later in the day our bag was delivered to the hotel. A very impressive airline experience.