Last Friday, I took a cab from my apartment in Manhattan to Newark Airport.
I arrived at Newark at noon, in plenty of time for a 3 p.m. flight to Beijing, where I was going to speak at a forum put on by Chinese Internet company Tencent.
I was excited, and not just for China.
The flight was going to be great.
Tencent had generously shelled out for business class tickets.
That meant there was going to be a lay-flat bed, movies, and lots of food.
Problem was, my United flight wasn't a 3 p.m. flight. It was a noon flight. And I missed it.
Oh, #&%*@!
I'd confused my departure time with my arrival time.
Fortunately, United has a partnership with Air China, which did have a 3:50 p.m. flight to Beijing that day – out of JFK.
So the wonderful woman at the ticket counter booked me onto that flight and I raced to get a cab.
In the cab, I looked down at my new itinerary. It showed how much Tencent had paid for the whole trip.
It was over $8,000!
Want to see the flying experience that kind of money gets you?
I left my apartment at 11 a.m. – plenty of time to get to the airport for a 3 p.m. flight.
I took a car to Newark Airport. It's way faster than the train, and cheaper than long-term parking.
Looking out the window, I wondered how different China would look from New Jersey
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