News and Views

We had a few minor events on the trip here, but nothing as exciting as seeing a mountain lion.

Because of complications in the itinerary, we had two separate reservations on Eva Air; one from Los Angeles to Taipei, and the other from Taipei to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City). Our flight from Phoenix was delayed almost an hour, and we were the last ones to check in for the Taipei flight out of Los Angeles. I told the agent that we were going to Saigon, but in the hurry she saw the first reservation and checked us to Taipei and we didn’t notice. Half way to Taipei I suddenty suspected what had happened and confirmed it when I checked the baggage claim. That stressed me out a little, imagining that when we arrived in Taipei we would have to go through immigration and customs, find our luggage, recheck it to Saigon, and then go back in through immigration and security.

Fortunately the Eva transit agent in Taipei was able to divert our bags without our intervention, and they arrived with us in Saigon.

We flew Eva Air this time, a Taiwan airline noted for pretty good service. Business class with the flat beds would have been very expensive, over $5000 each, so we opted for the next best “Elite” class. It’s slightly better than economy, but far from business class. There’s a little more legroom, the seats are a little wider, they recline a little further and there is a foot rest, plus we get to board ahead of economy. A worthwhile upgrade for just a few hundred more. We didn’t sleep as well as we would have lying down, but better than we would have in the back. One nice feature that I wish all airlines would implement: When you recline, instead of leaning back into the passenger behind you, your seat slides forward and the back drops almost straight down. The result is that reclining reduces your owns space, not the space of the passenger behind you. I think this reduces inter-passenger friction, and means you can stay reclined during meals if you want.

We arrived at our hotel and I met the rest of the tour. More about that in the next post.