Insanity.
It’s really the only word I can think of to accurately describe it.
It’s big and new and shiny. Looks great! But dysfunctional would be an understatement.
Problem 1: Transferring flights.
So I arrive in Beijing at Terminal 3 (the big new shiny one they built for the Olympics) and have to fly out to Mongolia on MIAT (Mongolian Airlines). But for political reasons MIAT flights to Mongolia leave from Terminal 2 (whereas the Air China flights to Mongolia leave from Terminal 3…Go figure). Whatever, I can deal with that, changing terminals is hardly something new, I do it in Singapore all the time. But oh no, this is different. Firstly, I go up to immigration at the “International Transfer” counter. Since you know, Mongolia is international and all. Only to be told that the International Transfer counter is only for those transferring to another international flight leaving from Terminal 3. Apparently Terminal 2 is considered domestic. Amusing since the only flights that leave from Terminal 2 go to Macau, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Mongolia etc. Terminal 1 is the actual domestic terminal. So after having to argue with the immigration officials that Mongolia was in fact international and my flight just happened to leave from Terminal 2, they let me go. It basically came down to a visa issue and that I didn’t have the right visa in order to simply transfer terminals. Unlike Singapore where you just get the little transit rail thing between terminals, in Beijing, you actually have to clear immigration and leave the airport to get to the other terminals.
Which brings me to…
Problem 2: Getting bags transferred
Apparently whoever is in charge of baggage handling at Beijing Airport is mildly incompetent. For some bizzare reason they won’t transfer bags from Terminal 2 to Terminal 3 or vice versa. So after clearing immigration in order to transfer terminals *insert eye roll here* you have to go and get your luggage, get the transfer bus to the next terminal and then check in again. So leave copious amounts of time between flights so you can get your luggage if you need to go between terminals.
Problem 3: No airport hotel?
Seriously? They build a new multi-billion dollar airport and don’t include an airport hotel? Nobody wants to have to wait to clear immigration and then take a 40+ minute taxi ride in to town to get to the nearest hotel when they’ve got a 7 hour layover. This was really bad planning on someone’s part. It’s a shame really, they had tons of land, it wouldn’t have been hard to build one. Nearly every major airport has a hotel within the airport terminal/precinct itself (so you don’t have to clear immigration), or has one no more than 5 minutes drive away (if your layover is slightly longer). So me not realising this until it was too late ended up having to spend a 7 hour layover (overnight) sleeping on the very uncomfortable chairs near the check-in desks at Terminal 3. Additionally, WTF is up with the severe lack of seating in the check-in area? There is an abundance of room, yet there’s only like 100 chairs?
Problem 4: The departure area in T3
Ok, this is probably minor in comparison, but it’s probably the thing that pissed me off the most personally. I’d just arrived and was waiting to transfer flights in Terminal 3 but had a 3.5 hour layover. Like most weary travellers, all I really wanted to do was get something to eat and drink, have a wander around the shops and then fall down into a comfy chair and lounge around until my flight left. Simple enough, it’s what I do all the time when I’m on the road. So I go up to the Travelex (foreign exchange) to buy some RMB so I can buy some food and stuff. But the guy tells me that I can’t use my Visa/MC to pay for it, that they only accept cash. Well that sucked since I didn’t have much cash on me (only about $15 in Aussie dollars) which wasn’t really enough to buy lunch at an airport. So I asked him where the nearest ATM (cash machine) was so I could just get some cash out from there instead. Only to be told that the only ATM’s at the airport were before immigration and security! There is not a single bloody ATM in the departure area at Beijing airport! So you have shops that only accept cash, but then there’s no way to get the cash out to actually pay for stuff! Which means to get any cash, you have to clear immigration to get out to the pre-departure area and then re-clear immigration and security again. And since I didn’t have another entry visa for China, I couldn’t actually leave the departure lounge and clear immigration to get any cash out to use in the departure lounge. It’s a joke. That was probably one of the worst layovers I’ve ever had.
