Flying Air China to Beijing

I took Air China instead of SQ up to Beijing today, in part just to get a break from SQ, but also since their schedules were a little more reasonable. There were a number of interesting surprises, like this Wi-Fi sign on each seat back. Unfortunately, the Wi-Fi wasn't on today, nor was the power outlet. They did have a camera on the nose of the plane at least.

Perhaps more interesting was that Business Class was nearly empty when I boarded (and I was one of the last to board), which makes me wonder why I didn't get my upgrade request cleared. Presumably they only allotted a limited number of upgrades and were holding seats for possible last minute revenue passengers, but I kept checking each day at 72 hours, 48 hours, and 24 hours before the flight to see if they'd release them. They didn't...at least, not through United's website. I wonder if they limited them by carrier; I overheard two passengers in the lounge who said that they were Global Services members - and they were in Business Class, so I suspect that they may have snagged the seats that United had.

Anyway, I got stuck back in economy class, and they didn't even put me into Premium Economy despite me being on a full-fare Y ticket. There was only one person in Premium Economy too (I'll spare you the details of that lovely fish that they served for lunch today, BTW). Oh well...at least I got my upgrade cleared for my return flight later this week.