Well, been a whirlwind trip over the half term with my family. this trip nearly didn’t happen as we finally got to use our virgin air miles. to then find out the route to Shanghai from London had been cancelled the flight path.
We were swapped to British Airways which was great well for my wife and son as they were in business class and I was in premium economy on the way out and business class on the way back gave me a chance to review both classes.
there was a hope I could upgrade at the airport, but this was dashed as the flight was full in business class. whilst we were checking my wife and son both got fast track I didn’t I did ask if I could join them in the lounge again was told not possible.
we asked at fast track I was allowed to join them, and they said yes which made for a speedy trip through security at terminal 5 Heathrow. we then approached the south business lounge and again I was given entry with my family. was busy but that’s because its half term. we spent 2 hrs there as the flight was delayed.
We then made it to the plane and went down the gangway we greeted by the flight manager who took pity on me. said that if there was a spare seat I would have been given it. but asked if would like the first-class food I said just the cheese board and port.
so, I sat in my roomier chair to find it was broken I asked to swap and was given another window seat with working chair. the flight manager brought me first class goody bag and said I was welcome to come to drinks whenever I wanted in business class. so back to the flight was comfy enough for me being 6’4″ I had leg room. only downside to the seats is when the passengers in front reclined made it hard to leave the seat especially when the passenger next to me fell asleep. but the fight manager did come through with cheese board and 300-pound bottle port that I was given a missive dose. I did take him up on offer of going up for drinks as well. the flight had free messaging for executive members so I could WhatsApp wife throughout the flight I could have paid more for full streaming. film selection was good same with tv even thought I was playing on steam deck for most of the flight.
13hrs later we made a smooth landing into Pudong airport. we departed the plane. then we had to get 24hr temp visa this was done by completing 3 landing cards. we queued for 10 mins before a 40min check on us was carried out felt quite hostile to be truthful. but after that stress we were happy to leave to go get our bags which were there waiting for us. then after 1 more x-ray of our bags we were out time to get a taxi to the hotel.
we headed down to the taxi rank and got a cab who then tried to rip us off 200rmb for 80 rmb journey we left the cab and then had to be re x-rayed to get back into the terminal.
note to self only use Alipay in China and Didi for taxis note the pickup point for terminal 2 is carpark p2 note where driver says he will be we were collected B1 on first trip out this was a modern taxi cramped as we were traveling heavy.
the Marriot hotel did not disappoint we checked in by this time was 12ish in the morning we had already been awake for 24 hrs. so decided to check out Disney town as no tickets were available for that day. walked around the shops and had dinner headed back to the hotel and crashed out at 9pm 32hrs awake we slept till 5 am Ish. as travel with a 7-year-old is always fun.
after an Asian breakfast of bow buns dim sum and some western bits we packed up and used Didi to get back to the airport his time in a 6-seater to the airport.
now to the leaving process from China to Japan word of warning if you’re carrying anything over 100000 ma/h battery you need a customs waver from the check-in desk. or face losing your power pack. I was singled out had to go back to departures to get this. wasn’t willing to lose a 100-pound power pack. leaving passport control was a lot easier than coming in just issues with my power pack delayed us. now as we were going business with Japan air had express que so wasn’t too bad in the end. once we were in, we were invited to China eastern business lounge which was not that bad at all had some yummy noodles and dim sum before the flight to Tokyo.
Japan airways well we were blown away by the service they treated my son with such love gave him a choice of toys and took good care of him such a friendly flight. 2hrs 30 we were on the ground and ready for our next adventure.
As we landed, we directed to passport control and greeted by people happy to help us though the process within an hour of landing we were in a taxi at our hotel. wow a country that wants you to be there.
After good night’s sleep a slap-up breakfast of curry and noodles with Japanese omelette. we went to Disneyland Tokyo for a fun day of rides we didn’t get up at the crack of dawn like a lot of the bloggers had suggested and using the 40th anniversary ass that’s free to ticket holders. We did all the major attractions and only paid for 2 splash mountain and beauty and the beast. without issue. the next day we did the same with Disney Sea we paid for a few rides but all in all was stress free the staff were amazing and will defiantly go back.
We then had a day off shopping which my wife loved and shopped to she dropped. so did Shibuya crossing and missed out on Harajuku and briefly made it to Akhara but alas no tech shopping for me.
We then made to team labs planets well worth it with its interactive art exploration 3 hrs of entertainment for around 20 pounds each book this in advance
My wife and son had a blast in karaoke at diver city we saw the unicorn Gundam robot whilst I went off to buy some cases my wife had found so I went off to Tokyo station to grab them had the squeeze of rush hour but as I am a Londoner was no more worse than being London during rush hour.
The next morning was an early start to get back to Shanghai but again the whole experience was amazing we will be back in Japan next year.
Entry into Shanghai was not as painful as we separated and this seemed to make the process quicker. we had splashed out on this hotel oriental mandarin. was worth the money as we treated like royalty. we had a quite Sunday enjoying the pool and food we were taken out by a friend for a local meal was very nice.
the next day was Shanghai Disneyland now done 5 out of the six Disney only Hong Kong to do and I have done the full set.
loved pirates of the Caribbean one of the best ones I have ever been on and loved the park wisent as happy as Japan but still a great park to visit, we ventured in to the bund for a few hours before heading back to pack up for early morning flight to the UK
Long day we got up early to catch taxi to airport made it through customs and security with the usual hassle of power pack and leaving China, I won’t take it next time even though I used to charge my sons iPad on the way home.
This is a 14-hour flight with British airways business class not we didn’t get to enjoy the lounge as was late getting to airport due to shanghai rush hour traffic.
We boarded again was sat alone as due to some issues with British aways which I will cover at the end.
I was alone between 2 seats was greeted with a welcome drink and soon after my chose of meal was requested. Meal service followed an hour into the air. Then pudding. Was not offered a coffee or tea then no service for 9hrs this isn’t the business class I remember when requesting drinks in the galley they pointed to some tins of soft drinks crisps etc. was infect 10hrs before our order was taken, I discovered after asking for food for my son they rolled out some rolls and humus. But that was after a request not what I am used to usually you offered food throughout and there’s tuck shop on virgin.
Landed after 25 hrs of being up we finally got home and crashed out.
So, as our flights were cancelled and swapped to British airways. We had the following issues.
- I couldn’t upgrade my flight with air miles with either virgin or British airways.
- We couldn’t sit together or book seats as for some reason I’m blue member and wife’s bronze I have since been upgraded.
- Call centre for British airways has offloaded there call centre to somewhere abroad who work of scripts. So, my 7-year-old had to confirm his identity before they would talk and link my wife and son together this is ridiculous.
- Fight back older plane lacked Wi-Fi and felt dated one of the loos were not working. They need to upgrade their fleets on long haul.
- Just feel like we are no longer customers more just money they need to step up their service to make travel more enjoyable.
Glad to be back but also looking forward to our next adventure off to NYC in October.
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