I'm back! And I have flights, hotels, and trip reviews galore!

You probably didn't notice, but I'll let you know anyway that I've been offline thanks to a postponed honeymoon trip through Europe.

But, I come back bearing gifts... in the form of a massive trip report made up of:

• 14 flight segments between 12 different airports on 9 different airlines (and just 1 flight cancellation!);
• 14 nights at hotels and Airbnbs;
• 3 car rentals; and of course,
• 8 European cities in 7 different countries.

It was an amazing trip I could only share with my lovely wife, Kat (who was also crazy enough to say "Yes" to the questions of "Will you marry me?" and "Are you willing to spend 9 days flying 8 times to visit 8 cities?")

Over the next several days, I will be posting my flight reviews on AirlineReporter (.com | my articles), and the rest of the report here on VNAFlyer.  You can also follow along on Twitter (@VNAFlyer) or Facebook (/VNAFlyer).

Thanks for following along!

Spring 2015 Asian Escapade

Yes, I know I haven't finished my last trip report... but I wanted to give you a heads up that I just came back from another trip. As you can see below, we hit a lot of places in a short amount of time. I call it "run-and-gun" but it's definitely not for everyone.

I enjoy maximizing the return on value to visit cities I normally would just connect through; I previously wrote about utilizing stopover privileges, and how you can flex them to your advantage.

Read more: Maximize the Layovers on Your Itinerary

As the real-life example here, I was able to stretch out a simple trip to Vietnam to include stops in Tokyo and Kyoto during cherry blossom season, Taipei, Hong Kong, and Chicago.

The map of my flights:

Image source: Great Circle Mapper

What you see above is actually a combination of paid and award bookings (and another example of why it's so worth it to pay attention to miles!). The foundation of the whole trip is a purchased double open-jaw roundtrip, which had us flying Seattle (SEA) to Tokyo-Narita (NRT), then as the return Saigon (SGN) to Los Angeles (LAX). By flying back into LAX instead of SEA, I was able to save a couple hundred dollars in airfare, even after counting the cost of buying a separate one-way flight LAX-SEA.

Sidenote: You'll probably see me refer to "we" a few times. I'm fortunate enough to be able to travel with my wife and some friends of ours, so when you scale the savings up, it starts amounting to a lot!

To get from Japan to Vietnam, we cashed in some miles and flew in comfort while maxing out how much we could fly.

So I have a full report for you: flights, hotels, ground transportation, and experiences.  Our complete itinerary, so that you can visualize it and either envy or pity us:

• Alaska Airlines, from Seattle to Los Angeles
• American Airlines, from Los Angeles to Tokyo-Narita
• LAX Admirals Club
• Hyatt Regency Tokyo
• Shinkansen, from Tokyo to Kyoto
• Ryokan Ryokufuso
• Hotel Nikko Kansai
• Japan Airlines, from Osaka-Kansai to Taipei-Taoyuan
• KIX Sakura Lounge
• Grand Hyatt Taipei
• Cathay Pacific Airways, from Taipei-Taoyuan to Hong Kong
• TPE Business Class Lounge
• Hyatt Regency Tsim Sha Tsui
• Cathay Pacific Airways, from Hong Kong to Saigon
• HKG The Bridge Business Class Lounge
• Lan Lan 2 Hotel
• Vietnam Airlines, from Saigon to Danang
• Hyatt Regency Danang
• Vietnam Airlines, from Danang to Saigon
• Lan Lan 2 Hotel
• Phuong Trang/FUTA Buslines, from Saigon to Can Tho
• West Hotel
• Japan Airlines, Saigon to Tokyo-Haneda
• SGN The Bamboo Lounge
• American Airlines, from Tokyo-Narita to Chicago-O'Hare
• NRT Admirals Club
• Conrad Chicago
• American Airlines, from Chicago-O'Hare to Los Angeles
• Alaska Airlines, from Los Angeles to Seattle

So stay tuned!

Trip Report: The Adventures of Checking in at Sea-Tac

I started writing this report starting in the middle of my trip, when I met up with my VNA flight. 

Other chapters:

• Intro: Ticketing and Getting Ready
• Checking in at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA); SEA-LAX on Alaska Airlines (current entry)
• Quick stop in Los Angeles; Checking in at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX); LAX-PVG on American Airlines
• Another quick stop in Shanghai
• Getting to Shanghai Pudong Airport (PVG) and checking in with VNA
• PVG-SGN on Vietnam Airlines
• Arrival at Tan Son Nhat Airport (SGN)

Alaska 737-800 at SEA

We are scheduled to depart on an Alaska Airlines (AS) at 7:55pm from Seattle (SEA) to Los Angeles (LAX), where we will spend the night before flying out the next morning to Shanghai-Pudong (PVG) on American Airlines (AA).

We planned on this overnight layover intentionally, so we could visit family and pick up some things to bring back to Vietnam.  Since we were staying in Los Angeles for under 24 hours, it wasn't considered a stopover and therefore didn't increase the cost of the tickets by breaking up our itinerary into two separate fares.

Read more: Maximize the Layovers on Your Itinerary

In my past experiences, what typically would happen was that our flight down to LAX would be treated as a normal domestic flight, and our bags would be checked to LAX, since we were spending the night there.

Domestic check-in time for AS is 40 minutes with or without checked baggage, and we arrive a bit early at the counter (70 minutes before departure) so we don't have to rush. By virtue of our Platinum status with AA, we have access to AS's first class check-in, as well as priority boarding, so we are in no particular rush.

So we plan accordingly, packing as if we were going to grab our bags in LAX and spend a night in Los Angeles. Things were not to be, however, when we stroll up to the counter, happily stating that we are checking in 4 pieces for the flight to LAX.

The agent takes our drivers licenses, taps a few keys, and asks, "Are you flying to Shanghai?" I tell her that we are, and she continues to tap at a feverish pace. After a couple of minutes, she asks for our passports, which strikes me as odd because we are flying a domestic flight, but I dig them out of my backpack and hand them over.

The agent takes them and walks to the back office. Though I'm not in panic mode, I do start feeling a growing concern that something was amiss. Is there a problem with our booking? Is one of the flights canceled ore rescheduled? Is the TSA after us? (That last one was more funny than concerning.)

After a few minutes, the agent comes back and loudly declares, "You were supposed to be here sooner!"  I politely point out to her that we're well before the cutoff time, and she's essentially ignoring us, not to be rude, but to type as fast as she can and asking us about our trip to Shanghai and onwards.

As best as I can put together, the system is treating us as international passengers and demanding all the foreign travel formalities. Obviously, this agent has has handled international check-ins before but not as experienced as those from legacy carriers, which leads us to our next hurdle:

"Where are your visas?"

Interlude: While China requires a visa to visit as a tourist with a US passport, at certain airports including Shanghai there is a "Transit Without Visa" (TWOV) program available, as long as we are flying onto a 3rd country (in our case, Vietnam) and staying no more than 72 hours (23 hours for us). 

Also, Vietnam requires visa for US passport holders to have a visa before entering. However, a visa waiver program was instituted for certain visitors who had a Vietnamese heritage. upon which Vietnam would issue a "certificate of waiver exemption" that looked like a visa adhered to a passport page and essentially acted like a visa.

Airlines use a system called TIMATIC that explains the travel documentation requirements for all possible combinations of departing city, connections, and final destinations. 

I tell the agent that we don't have visas, and explain the above as to why we didn't. I know she referenced TIMATIC to know in general that we needed visas, but I still show her my printout of the TIMATIC results, which I had in case there was a problem in CHINA... I didn't figure I would need them in Seattle!

The agent accepted the fact that we qualified for China's TWOV program, but did not accept that our "Certificates of Visa Exemption" were valid for entry into Vietnam, as it was not a visa per se. She runs to the back office again, and after a few minutes comes out.

She finally finishes checking us in, saying that she is using our places of birth as evidence of our entry (which is fine for my wife... but I was born in the US, so I have no idea how that would work). In any case, we get the boarding passes printed, all the while the agent keeps grumbling how we should have been here earlier, and I have to keep pointing out that a) we should have been checking in as a domestic itinerary, and b) we were still there before the international check in time of 60 minutes. I also wanted to point out her lack of understanding the TIMATIC results, but at that point we just let her be.

Now it's on to checked luggage... which of course is tagged all the way to PVG and not LAX, where we had intended to unload some things and redistribute. More typing, more grumbling, and a compromise, but she's able to short-check 2 of our our bags to LAX (the ones we REALLY needed), and the other 2 go all the way to PVG.

At this point, I realize that AS doesn't provide priority tags for the bags, which would be important in PVG if we wanted a chance to have our bags be one of the first to come out from a full B777. I sprint down to the AA counter, which luckily was only about 100 yards away, give my 15-second elevator pitch as to why I needed their priority tags, and sprint back to the AS counter. Having never tagged a bag as priority before, I actually have to show the agent how to put the priority tags onto the luggage tags (fast forward: our bags are some of the first out at PVG, thanks to the priority tags).

We finally have boarding passes in hand and get into security 45 minutes before our departure. Thankfully we have TSA Pre-Check, so we're through in less than 5 minutes, but without enough time to check out Alaska's Board Room lounge, we just head out to the gate, and we start boarding within 5 minutes of our getting there.

So much for our relaxing pace to start our trip!

After the scrum at check-in, we have a quick, uneventful flight down to LAX. Our AA Platinum (PLT) elite status allows us to board with AS's elites, as well as select preferred seats at the time of booking. Normally, non-status passengers can only select non-preferred seats towards the rear of the plane, but can pick any seat when they check in 24 hours ahead of time, including exit row seats.

On this flight, we are sitting in Row 17, which is the 2nd exit row with ample legroom and full recline (whereas Row 16 has limited recline). Interestingly, the tray tables on AS's exit rows are NOT in the armrests, but on the seatback instead, meaning that these seats have the same width.

On descent into LAX, making the turn over downtown
Los Angeles. For reference, the purple light is Staples Center.

Alaska is also unique in offering a baggage delivery service guarantee: If your bags don't arrive to baggage claim within 20 minutes of the aircraft door opening, AS will give you a certificate good for $25 off your next flight with AS, or 2,500 AS Mileage Plan miles. I've gotten into the habit of starting my phones stopwatch just to remind me if I should ask for a certificate. You don't even have to wait at baggage claim... you can talk to any airport agent, or contact AS within 2 hours of arrival via phone or even through Twitter @AlaskaAir.

Alas, AS again proves its efficiency and our bags come out in just 11 minutes, and we're on our way away from LAX.

Trip Report: Getting Shanghaied from Seattle

Intro: Ticketing and Getting Ready

This is the first chapter of this trip report; however I did start writing this report starting in the middle, when I met up with my VNA flight. 

Other chapters:

• Intro: Ticketing and Getting Ready (current entry)
• Checking in at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA); SEA-LAX on Alaska Airlines
• Quick stop in Los Angeles
• Checking in at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
• LAX-PVG on American Airlines
• Another quick stop in Shanghai
• Getting to Shanghai Pudong Airport (PVG) and checking in with VNA
• PVG-SGN on Vietnam Airlines
• Arrival at Tan Son Nhat Airport (SGN)

Being based in the US, I do have to fly other airlines to get to Vietnam (or to connect to a Vietnam Airlines [VNA] flight) since VNA can't fly directly to the US. My preferred carrier is American Airlines (AA), and on this trip my lovely wife and I were starting our trip in Seattle (SEA).

Our itinerary:

• Outbound
• Day 1: Fly from SEA-Los Angeles (LAX) on Alaska Airlines (AS); spend the night in Los Angeles (14 hours)
• Day 2: Fly from LAX to Shanghai (PVG) on AA; spend the night in Shanghai (20 hours)
• Day 3: Fly from PVG to Saigon (SGN) on VNA, reaching our final destination.
• Return
• Day 1: Fly from SGN to Tokyo-Narita (NRT) on Japan Airlines (JL); 1.5 hours connection in NRT, then flying NRT-LAX on AA; spend the night in Los Angeles (23 hours)
• Day 2: Fly LAX-SEA, completing our trip.

Image source: Seattle/Tacoma
International Airport / Facebook

Even though our first flight was with AS, it was still an AA-issued ticket and it was the controlling carrier by virtue of the international segment operated by AA.

We were able to take advantage of some long layovers allowed by our fare rules, so we were able to visit family in LA twice, as well as visit Shanghai.

This trip required me to go out to the airport to book and ticket, not because it was complicated, but because there seemed to be a problem with AA's system communicating with JL's systems and showing the correct availability.

The airport agent was quite surprised that anyone decided to come in personally to book a ticket, but I'm glad I did. It took him several attempts but he finally managed to get the system to book my itinerary (again, it wasn't because of the complexity, it was because JL's system denied that there was the available fare). With printed confirmation in hand, I go home to pack up and leave in a few days' time.

Read more: VNAFlyer's Packing Guide for Carryons (and Packing Them)

Travel Documents

Thankfully, my U.S. passport still has several years before expiration (entry into Vietnam requires at least 6 months of validity), and I have a visa waiver issued from Vietnam (valid for 5 years), meaning that I'm not required to apply for a visa when I visit. The stress of having the apply for the visa and wait for it to be issue is eliminated, and I can focus on other things.

Image source: US CBP

I've also previously signed up for Global Entry (GE), an expedited reentry program from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Part of the "Trusted Traveler" family of programs, GE holders agree to a background check to be declared as low-risk and be given access to lines for both passport and customs inspections upon returning to a U.S. airport, so that the holder does not have to stand in the regular lines.

My first time using GE was at LAX, before the most recent renovations to the Tom Bradley International Terminal. I decided to time myself from the opening of the aircraft door to exiting the building: 18 minutes, the majority of which was waiting for my checked bags to come out. I had essentially skipped every line, and never had to wait behind anyone. I had lunch with a friend last week who took 4 hours to exit LAX, and that's as a US citizen.

Image source: TSA

Also included with Global Entry is TSA Pre-Check, which you may have seen at the airport. Pre-Check allows for expedited security screening (again, on the basis that you're a trusted traveler), and gives access to a special line where you do NOT have to take off your shoes or take out your laptop.

The application fee for Global Entry costs $100, and is non-refundable if you are happened to be denied. After applying online, you'll have to schedule an interview at a Global Entry office (located at most major airports).

A similar program called NEXUS costs just $50 and allows the holder to also enter Canada on an expedited basis. However, the required interview must be scheduled at a border office, and appointments are usually booked months in advance because it requires the presence of a Canadian immigration agent as well.

If you can get to the border, and have plenty of lead time, NEXUS is the best deal, costing half of Global Entry yet including all the benefits.

Next chapter: Checking in at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA); SEA-LAX on Alaska Airlines

Trip Report: Arrival at Tan Son Nhat Airport (SGN)

Other chapters:

• Intro: Ticketing and Getting Ready
• Checking in at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA)
• SEA-LAX on Alaska Airlines
• Quick stop in Los Angeles
• Checking in at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
• LAX-PVG on American Airlines
• Another quick stop in Shanghai
• Getting to Shanghai Pudong Airport (PVG) and checking in with VNA
• PVG-SGN on Vietnam Airlines
• Arrival at Tan Son Nhat Airport (SGN) (current entry)

Upon our arrival, our Airbus A321 parks at a remote stand, thus requiring airport buses to get us to the terminal. Along with past experiences, it seems that when Vietnam Airlines (VNA) uses A321s for regional services, those flights are highly likely to be assigned to these remote gates, probably saving the jetbridges for widebodies.

Read more: Vietnam Airlines' Boeing 787: New Lie-Flat Seats in Business, 2 Different Economy Configurations

Image source: Vietnam Investment Review

One (very tiny) upside to the remote stand is that they deplane and board through both the front and back at the same time, so those stuck in the rear of the plane aren't waiting forever to get off.

Those in business class are provided their own shuttle bus, which departs quickly. The economy passengers are directed to 3 other larger buses, each one taking off once full.

Pro Tip: Stand near the left-side doors to be the first to get off at the terminal.

After a 5-7 minute ride to the terminal, we are deposited at the entry doors which lead to a narrow escalator that took us up to the arrivals level. We follow the signs to the arrivals hall, just a short walk away.

The arrivals hall at SGN is divided up into three sections:

• The main immigration inspection section, where passports are checked before entry.
• A visa window, for those who pre-arranged to receive a "visa on arrival."
• A transfer desk, for those who are making onward international connections.

Today was a little busy, with at least 3/4 of the immigration booths manned, and each having lines of 15-20 passengers each. The visa window had about 20 people waiting in line, with another 30 waiting for their applications to be processed.

Our line has a passenger that they examined more closely than normal, so it takes us about 30 minutes to finally get through (should have been about 15 minutes). We head down to claim our baggage, which is already sitting off the belt, as our flight's bags have completed offloading. We load our bags onto free carts provided by the airport, and my wife goes for a restroom break.

While I'm waiting, I scan the customs inspection lines that we have to go through before exiting. A customs "officer" tries to wave me over, but I give the "not ready" hand signal and continue waiting.

Pro tip: Never go towards a customs line that you've been directed to, since frankly you don't have to follow their direction. The sad reality is that forced bribery is alive and well at SGN and other airports, and the agent is essentially fishing, trying to get me to come over so I can be "carefully inspected" and assessed some sort of trumped up violation, in hopes that I will "pay the fine" on the spot.

What one should do is to choose a line that looks like someone is already "being spoken to" since they already busy with that person and will let you pass.

When my wife returns, I guide our carts to a line far away from that agent. We successfully have our baggage x-rayed with no challenge, and we were quickly on our way out to the curb.

As we pass by, I overhear a poor American fellow in his mid-50s who was trying to reason with the customs agent, who in turn threatened to detain his baggage for 3-4 days. Shameful... I wanted to help him too, but I also didn't want to stick around and be inspected myself (though I probably would have if I was by myself).

We make our way through the throngs of people waiting for their loved ones, make a left turn and head towards the taxi "stand" near the end of the terminal building, past the Popeye's Fried Chicken stand (great place for a quick and cheap snack or drink).

The stand is really more of a collection area where taxis pick up customers, and no real defined queue, even with the permanent corral set up.

Pro tip: Walk past the taxi corral and the crowds, farther along the curb. Flag down the taxi of your choice when it approaches. The driver doesn't really care who they pick up. This is how the system at SGN works. 

If you're uncomfortable with this, you'll probably be waiting a while, but you can get a dispatcher to help you. Each taxi company has its own dispatcher in uniform in the taxi area.

I prefer Vinasun... it has the most number of taxis in the company, are the most reliable, and always use the meter. MaiLinh is a decent Plan B. I pretty much avoid all other taxi companies.

Taxi pickup area at SGN.

We quickly get into a Vinasun taxi van and we're on our way into the city.

Stay tuned for the rest of my trip report, before our Shanghai-Saigon flight and on our way home. Thanks for reading!
- VNAFlyer

Trip Report: Flying PVG-SGN on Vietnam Airlines on an A321

Other chapters:

• Intro: Ticketing and Getting Ready
• Checking in at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA)
• SEA-LAX on Alaska Airlines
• Quick stop in Los Angeles
• Checking in at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
• LAX-PVG on American Airlines
• Another quick stop in Shanghai
• Getting to Shanghai Pudong Airport (PVG) and checking in with VNA
• PVG-SGN on Vietnam Airlines (current entry)
• Arrival at Tan Son Nhat Airport (SGN)

Author's note: Yes, it's weird that I have a VNA segment in this itinerary. It was an AA fare where the rules allowed for a connection onto VNA from AA's PVG flights.

Another VNA A321, heading to Hanoi (HAN)

Thankfully, the scrum that seems to always occur at Chinese airports didn't occur here... it might have even been quite orderly! They call boarding for business class first, and then economy in general, with everyone observing the queue. Armed with hand-notated BPs saying that we were in Row 14 exit row seats (and out of Row 33), I'm feeling mighty content as we board Flight VN523...

... until we actually get to our seats. For some reason, Vietnam Airlines (VNA) designates the row in front of  the doors on an A321 as exit row seats as well. No extra leg room, no recline, and not even a window! Much to our chagrin, all the seats in Row 15 (the actual exit row, as we all know what "exit row" actually means) are actually assigned. How they got assigned, I have no idea, because they were clearly non-status passengers (based on a quick, coincidental scan of their BPs, as well as their fairly naive questions about such things as tray tables and such). The fact is, what the manager and agent said at check-in was completely wrong. Those seats were definitely preassigned, even on a flight that was not full.

A Juneyao A320 parked next to us.

In any case, what also seems to happen is that Rows 10-14 (no Row 13) also are the last to be assigned. When boarding was complete, no one was sitting in Rows 10-14 except for us. I quickly flag down the nearest flight attendant (FA) to ask if we could move, and she happily said that we could choose any seat we wish. Interestingly, this same FA was earlier policing this section, asking passengers who sat down in this section for their BPs and moving them along to their original seats.

Read more: VNA's Airbus A321: The Most Accurate Seat Map Available

Thankfully, we moved out of Row 14 to Row 12. A few other passengers apparently take our move as their cue to move as well, but it isn't a total exodus, more of a spreading out, with a maximum 2 passengers for every 3-seat section.

Interlude: The lesson with VNA is to be persistent, and don't accept their answer, even from a manager or supervisor. It's like a game of chicken or a staring contest... who will give up first? I've had other experiences with VNA that leads me to the same conclusion. Just don't give up, because the culture of the ground staff is to refuse first, hoping passengers will accept what's given to them.

The door closes and we push back 10 minutes past our time of departure. Safety announcements are conducted in Vietnamese, Mandarin, and English. It takes about 15-20 minutes for us to taxi to a runway on the other side of the terminal, giving us a nickel tour of PVG.

A China Southern 737-800 heading towards PVG's control tower.

An American 777-200 followed by a China Eastern 737-800.
Love it or hate it, that new tail makes the AA bird easy to spot.

No further delay as we smoothly take off towards the northwest, make a left turn, and loop around Shanghai then south to Vietnam. The smog is unbelievable... not as bad as Beijing, but still sickeningly thick, much worse than LA has ever gotten.

Read more: Vietnam Airlines' Boeing 787: New Lie-Flat Seats in Business, 2 Different Economy Configurations

When you need a paint
that can withstand
Armageddon....

As soon as we hit 10,000 feet and hear the ding, the FAs all jump into action, and the curtain to the first class cabin is ceremoniously closed. The FAs walk down the aisle was a basket of packaged refreshing wipes for the economy passengers, quickly followed by drink service. 

There is a small lull before meal service, so I check out the VNA inflight magazine, Heritage, which has articles in both Vietnamese and English.

The crew comes through with an offering of chicken or fish. As a personal rule, I always avoid airplane fish in coach, so chicken it is!

The chicken is similar to a teriyaki chicken, with linguini, and steamed green beans... definitely better than expected. 

I wasn't going to buy
Kohler, but the attractive
model with a rose
changed my mind.

The side salad, on the other hand, is quite frankly gross. The shrimp look like they were frozen for too long, then dipped in hot water before being tossed onto the salad, and the veggies look wilted. I don't even bother opening the salad.

Dessert was cut fruit ("fresh" was questionable), and the crew also came through with hot tea and coffee. Overall, it's a serviceable lunch on a 4-hour flight, but I'm glad we had brought snacks.

The rest of the flight is pretty uneventful.  Entertainment is in the form of Vietnamese variety shows on small overhead screens, with headset provided in the seatback pocket. Blankets and pillows were also provided, nice touch for coach.

The FAs did their jobs quite well, and was generally personable overall. Interestingly, the FA who primarily served our section was a native of Japan who spoke only Japanese and English... no Vietnamese.

Only a couple of people try to go up front to use the lav, and they were turned away. There are 3 lavs in the far rear of the plane, so the parade of passengers was constant. The cabin temperature was a touch on the warm side, but tolerable. 

Descending into Saigon.

We land at SGN right on time, and taxi to a remote stand for arrival.

Next chapter: Arrival at Tan Son Nhat Airport (SGN)

Trip Report: Getting to Shanghai Pudong Airport (PVG) and checking in with VNA

Other chapters:

• Intro: Ticketing and Getting Ready
• Checking in at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA)
• SEA-LAX on Alaska Airlines
• Quick stop in Los Angeles
• Checking in at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
• LAX-PVG on American Airlines
• Another quick stop in Shanghai
• Getting to Shanghai Pudong Airport (PVG) and checking in with VNA (current entry)
• Flying PVG-SGN on Vietnam Airlines on an A321
• Arrival at Tan Son Nhat Airport (SGN)

Author's note: Yes, it's weird that I have a VNA segment in this itinerary. It was an AA fare where the rules allowed for a connection onto VNA from AA's PVG flights.

The check-in hall at PVG.

We take good old reliable UberX from our hotel to Shanghai Pudong Airport (PVG). Our driver, with a clean and fully-optioned Nissan sedan, spoke decent English, well enough to crack a couple of jokes, then quietly and efficiently got us to the airport, even offering us bottled water along the way. 

UberX is my preferred way to travel to/from PVG, definitely over taxis, but with 2 people and luggage, it was nearly the same price and more convenient than the maglev train, which requires walking about 250 meters to transfer to the Shanghai Metro subway system.

43USD and 45 minutes later, we find ourselves in the terminal. 

First order of business is to retrieve the bags we had deposited at the left luggage counter. We pay our remaining balance of 25CNY (~4USD; 200CNY [32USD] paid from before) and grab our bags and boxes from the back room, untouched from where we left them the previous day. I'm quite pleased with this service and would totally use it again... it made our short visit to Shanghai so much easier.

We load our luggage carts (free at PVG) and head upstairs to the central check-in area. 

We find the Vietnam Airlines (VNA) counter, which has plenty of staffing but no one in line, even with 2 departures to Saigon (SGN) and Hanoi (HAN) within 1.5 hours. The counters are actually staffed by China Eastern (MU) employees, overseen by VNA managers... the boarding passes are even printed on MU paper. 

While the employees obviously know how to work the computer system, they don't seem to be authorized to do anything beyond basic functions. Our agent speaks English well enough, and to her credit we are checked in very quickly, in under 5 minutes. When the boarding passes (BPs) are printed showing seats in Row 33 on the A321, we politely asked to move forward. On the map below, you can see why:

Click for: VNA's Airbus A321: The Most Accurate Seat Map Available

This is where the fun really started. The agent says that there aren't any other pairs of seats available. I ask about seats by the emergency exit, and she says that it was VNA's policy of not assigning exit row seats on flights that are not full, so the the system blocked her from assigning those seats.

Read more: Vietnam Airlines' Boeing 787: New Lie-Flat Seats in Business, 2 Different Economy Configurations

At this point I know I wasn't going to get anywhere, so I ask to speak with the VNA manager. He is very friendly and tries to help (or so I think), but he repeats the policy of not being able to assign the exit row seats, and that there are no other seats available for us.

After a few minutes of going back and forth, we give up and proceed towards security.

We first go through exit immigration, which is first come-first served. It only takes about 5 minutes since crowds were light, but I can see how it may get backed up during busy times.

Nice architecture at PVG.

Next is security screening, and I notice that in the middle of the area, there is a designated priority security line for VIPs, elites, and premium passengers. Regular lines are about 10 people deep. Yes, I know I'm bad, but I decide to press my luck and hold out our AA Platinum cards with our MU boarding passes for a VNA flight in economy class. By all rights, we shouldn't have been allowed to use the line (no relevant status, no premium cabin, different alliance), and I figure the worst that would have happened would be getting shooed away into another line.

Read more: 8 Simple Tips for Preventing Theft on Your Next Flight

I had guessed correctly that the line attendants either weren't knowledgeable or didn't care, and we are allowed in with no problems whatsoever. I would label this a YMMV (your mileage may vary) situation. We scan our BPs (which, my guess, only checks to see if we have a valid BP or not), had our bags X-rayed (shoe removal not required), and we are through to the gate area in less than a minute.

Passengers milling around  Gate D82
before departure.

We take a couple of people-movers to get to our gate, D82 for the day. The gate area is full of waiting passengers... I guess they showed up 3-4 hours before departure. No signs of gate agents yet, so we find a place to sit and eat some of the snacks we brought along in preparation for being in economy class for 4 hours.

At about 1h15m before boarding, the gate agents show up to start processing the flight. Being the persistent type, I approach another agent about seating. This time, nothing about the policy about not assigning exit row seats, but rather that the seats are already assigned.

Boarding is about to start.

I thank her and step away... and no, I'm totally not satisfied with this answer. When she walks off, I speak to another agent, and her reply is that the seats are open, but they can't assign them at the gate!

If one thing's clear to me, it's that VNA just doesn't want to assign these seats, instruct the agents to not assign the seats, but leave the agents to rely on their own creativity on why the seats can't be assigned.

Finally, I spot another VNA manager who shows up, and I start chatting it up with him. I ask him about the seats, if there was any possibility of getting an exit row seats, and he asks for our BPs and walks away (score!). 

He comes back with the same BPs, but he had scratched off our original seats and handwrote 14A/14B. I inquire about if this was ok, and he assures me that he blocked out those seats for us, so it will be fine.

The happiness of succeeding through persistence is short-lived when we finally get on board...

Next: Flying PVG-SGN on Vietnam Airlines on an A321