Bad Timing, for the second time
I seem to have a knack for leaving the country at exactly the wrong time to board an international flight.
I’ve been glued to CNN this week, since Brittish law enforcement arrested two dozen suspected terrorists apparently plotting to blow up passenger jets bound for the United States. As a result, the airline industry and Transportation Security Administration officially shat a brick: no liquids of any kind brought on board, longer waits, more security checks and a general headache all around. At least I’m not coming from the UK, where you can’t even bring a laptop or iPod in your carry-on luggage. This is Code Red, so, be scared.
While I’m hopeful that all this helps (really, I have no desire to be blown up for someone’s obscure political statement) it’s frustratingly familiar.
When I flew to Europe three years ago, it was only a few days after the US, UK and others (don’t forget Poland) invaded Iraq. I’ve never seen an airport so empty. Los Angeles International is usually the fifth-busiest in the US, but with terrorism on everyone’s minds, I think a lot of people decided it was a bad time to fly.
I don’t know what to expect this time around. Everyone seems to have gotten used to a little extra scrutiny, but this looks like a new level.
Just to be prepared, I went to check Air China’s website. No confidence there. This is what I found:
Error 403–Forbidden
From RFC 2068 Hypertext Transfer Protocol — HTTP/1.1:
10.4.4 403 Forbidden
The server understood the request, but is refusing to fulfill it. Authorization will not help and the request SHOULD NOT be repeated. If the request method was not HEAD and the server wishes to make public why the request has not been fulfilled, it SHOULD describe the reason for the refusal in the entity. This status code is commonly used when the server does not wish to reveal exactly why the request has been refused, or when no other response is applicable.
The Humanaught ran into the same thing yesterday.
August 16th, 2006 at 1:57 am
Haha… damn 403 errors eh? I chock that one up to just poor English-language Web management.
FYI: You probably caught this on the entry you commented on today, but in case not: Buying the Dalian flight is bang-on easy at the airport. I even got a 50% discount (with no explanation). There’s an Air China ticket booth almost immediately after you get off the escalator to the second floor. Ignore all touts… Beijing airport is horrible for people who look “official” and try to give you “advice”… just give them a smile and say “bu yao xie xie…”
And as for the security issue… yup, not a problem. I intentionally packed light with my carry-ons. Anything you can check, check.
Best of luck both on the flights and in Dalian, I’m sure you’ll love it - it’s a great city.