Flights to and from China

We’ll be flying to China via Northwest Airlines. We have a non-stop flight from Minneapolis to Narita Airport in Tokyo. From there we transfer to another Northwest flight to Beijing. The flight duration from Minneapolis to Narita is about 12 and a half hours. The flight from Narita to Beijing is about three and a half to four hours. On our return trip we fly from Guangzhou to Tokyo and then fly non-stop from Narita back to Minneapolis. The flight from Guangzhou to Tokyo is about four hours while the return flight to Minneapolis will be about 11 hours. We will be flying trans-Pacific on a 747 both ways.

When we flew to China last time, we flew coach to China and then we used our frequent flyer miles to upgrade to business class on our return flight. That worked very well since there were empty seats in business class. We had seats in the first row and the flight crew set up a bassinet for Hua Mei. We did not have to buy a seat for Hua Mei on the return flight. For this trip, we bought coach tickets but are using frequent flyer miles to upgrade to business class for both legs of the trip. We did have to pay a higher coach fare in order to be able to upgrade but given the length of the flight and brining Hua Mei along, we decided to splurge. Here’s the seating plan for the 747:

The seats in business class each have a TV with video on demand and AC power. I’ll be able to keep my laptop fully charged through the entire flight. I’ve been loading movies on it to keep Hua Mei occupied, hopefully. The seats also recline nearly flat and have a canopy to reduce light and sound.

I also got some noise canceling headphones that will hopefully reduce the noise during the long flight.

Perhaps I’ll actually be able to sleep during the flight, though I rarely can sleep on flights. The most important issue though is whether Hua Mei can sleep on the flight. One can only hope.