We woke up at 5:00 am to check out and catch the first Yamanote line to transfer to the Haneda airport monorail. This was the start of a terrible uncomfortable travel day! (To Book Train Travel in Japan Click Here)

We got to the airport around 6:30 am, our flight was at 8:30am. The check in line was massive… but for some reason when we finally got to the counter we were treated extra terribly. In the time it took to check in the three of us, about forty other people were checked in. They said we couldn’t sit beside each other on any of the three flights (more about that lie later).

The lady walked away from us and took Gaby’s passport with her, which made all of us nervous… She then asked Gaby if she had cancelled her reservation. I’m pretty sure that this was a tactic to try and get more space on the flight, which they had over sold.

Eventually we got checked in, but Jives and I would have to go through security and recheck our bags in Montreal, and we would only have a maximum of 45 minutes to do that. After all the check in delays we barely made it to the boarding gate in time to board the first flight to Beijing. Also because we would have to leave the airport in Montreal and recheck our bags, we could not buy sake at the airport to bring home, (thanks to Air China changing the last leg of our flight to Air Canada. This was a huge issue on the way over to Japan as well).

Long story short, we will never fly with Air China again. Air China also records audio and video of the entire flight for the Chinese government.

We barely made our second transfer in Beijing too, but then we sat in the plane delayed for two hours because someone needed their bags to be taken off the plane.

I had to sit between two people I didn’t know (the middle seat on a 16 hour flight is terrible), because for some reason Air China re booked all of our seat reservations so that we didn’t sit together.

Both Jives and Gaby were served vegetarian meals, but the flight attendant claimed I hadn’t booked one… but because we were sitting so far apart, I was unable to trade meals with either of them. I decided to eat the rice out of the meat meal, but realized that I had not been given utensils, so I resorted to sorting the meat out of the rice and eating with my hands. On top of being out of vegetarian meals, I was told I could not have a beer because they had run out, but then they served the guy behind me a beer a few moments later… so many lies.

I had a full blown panic attack half way through the flight from the anxiety and the feeling of being trapped, but I was stuck between two people who were asleep, and couldn’t get out to breath. On top of being trapped, the T.V screen at my seat did not work, so I sat in miserable silence for 16 hours.

In Montreal we had to run through the airport to barely make our connection. Once we were seated on our finally flight to Toronto I had 4 EMPTY SEATS BESIDE ME!!!! Air China told me that Jives and I could not sit together, so I asked the flight attendant if Jives could move and sit next to me, and she said “of course”.

We arrived in Toronto at 8:00pm and Jives’ parents picked us up at the airport, ending the long hellish day!!