South East Asia trip 2014: JANUARY 5-7, 2014: STUCK IN BEIJING

January 5, 2014

We are waiting to board our AIR CHINA 11:50 am flight-JFK to Beijing, arriving Jan. 6 at 2:40 pm, departing 6:45 pm to Siem Reap. Arriving SR 11:00 pm. No seats available on Asiana for today. No one in the entire JFK airport has been able to get our checked bags for us. It was locked in the Asiana Ofc. I was told only Asiana staff could retrieve it (really?? I find that so hard to digest!). I'm told our bags will be put on today's Asiana flt. I question this as we will not be on that plane and isn't there a policy that if you don't fly, neither do your checked bags?? The winter storm is getting worse. A plane slides off the runway while trying to depart. JFK shut down. Planes diverted-ours to Boston. We wait and wait and wait. We finally board but by now we will miss our connecting flt. in Beijing going to Siem Reap (I mutter choice words about Jet Blue and that pilot in my head as now the dominoes keep falling against each other!).

Airport staff doodles trying to figure out things.

This document shows that Triangle Service picked up our bags 2014-01-04 14:43:46 from T5 and dropped them off 2014-01-04 14:50:11 at T4 to G30.

This shows our flt. from JFK to Beijing is on time. Yea, right!!

January 6-7, 2014

We arrive in BEIJING evening January 6th and we wait in line with others to be given alternative flts. When it's my turn I'm told the next flt. from Beijing to SR is January 8!! I'm now on the verge of tears. I'm tired, frustrated, and so angry. We spend tonight and tomorrow night at a hotel. Our days are spent at the Beijing Airport working with Asiana staff to locate our bags. First-they're still at JFK, now they're in Seoul, and at last they arrived in SR on Jan. 6th! I really hope that's where they are as this is a 3 1/2 month long trip and we will need clothes. We try to purchase practical clothes and toiletries not provided by the hotel at the airport. If I'm into designer handbags, expensive jewelry I'm set but otherwise my husband and I are SOL!! I must say the Beijing Airport is not as I remember from our 2007 trip.