Intra Airlines

Travelling by plane can be fun.  It can be annoying.  We have always loved it.  When in China, you have to use domestic carriers.  They have many Air China and China Southern are two that come to mind.  On our first trip we were warned that the pilot are usually retired military.  If they see a storm, don't expect them to fly around it for our comfort.  From our trips, I can only remember one incident where this might have come into play.  We started hitting turbulence.  A warning started to go off and it repeated.  It said something about the rough air and buckling up. 

Besides that, I can say we enjoyed all of the flights.  The in flight stewards were excellent.  They went out of their way to assist and were never rude, or as far as we could tell, since we do not speak Mandarin.  They always had drinks shortly after takeoff and then a second time with a meal.  They even served meals on short flights.  That would be unheard of in America.  We are lucky if we can get a water or even a small bag of something on a long flight. 

In flight entertainment consisted of television shows.  Most of them looked like practical joke shows.  I either did not know or could not understand the language.  Either way, it is what it looked like. 

Another thing I appreciated, I will reiterate, was the service.  On our last trip, Mia was our adopted child.  She had not been on any planes.  So you can guess, the flight scared her.  She had to be with myself or Angie.  She had the mind of a baby.  Anyone who has flown with a baby knows how they react to flying.  She felt safe in our arms.  From the Chinese airlines, we got support.  They asked how she was doing and did not care that she was in our laps.  However, on our last flight home, we did not get the same reaction.  The stewardess comes up to us and tells us she cannot be in our arms and must be in a seat per the FAA rules.  We complied.  She screamed her head off.  Shortly, as we were starting our descent, we held her again.  It was the only way to make her feel safe.  They stewardess only cared that she was 3 years old and had her own seat.  At least she could have asked about her needs.  It was kind of easy to see she was a special needs child.  Not only that, but she was not the size of a normal 3 year old. 

It's these things I think of when travelling.  As our prices keep rising and they keep treating us like cattle, I refuse to pay for this treatment.  I'd rather drive than take a plane in our country.