We did get our upgrade to business class which made for a very restful flight, which was quite quick...some good tailwinds got us from Hong Kong to Toronto in under 14 hours which meant that we arrived about 30 minutes early.
Zahava picked us up and we are now busy unpacking our suitcases, both old and new.
A brief story....standing in line with us last week, while we were waiting for our flight from Hanoi to
Hong Kong, was a very nice gentleman originally from Scotland, who has lived in HK for many years. He was a policeman there until he retired.
Once he retired, he got bored, so he began to look for a part time job. He is now an "on call courier" for DHL, which means that when hey have an important package that needs delivery quickly and reliably, a package that just has to each its destination quickly, they do not courier it via their regular channels, but they send it with people like the gentleman we met.
So the day before we met him, they had a package that had to get to Hanoi. They call him and he immediately heads for the airport. They give him the package, he flies to the destination and hands it off to the recipient, and then either stays overnight or heads back on the next flight.
If he wishes to explore the city to which he flies, he simply pays for the extra nights out of his own pocket.
He showed us his passport. There was not one clear spot where the authorities could stamp his passport. We asked him why he doesn't get a new one. He said that since he is a citizen of the UK, it takes 4 weeks from HK to get a new one and he would not be able to travel during that time. So he has asked DHL to find him a package that has to get to the UK and that way he could get his new passport while in the UK in under 6 hours.
He says that he gets paid well, but the hidden benefit is the points that he gets for flying. He is super elite on Star alliance, super elite on Skyteam and super elite on Oneworld. Wow!
Fran has advised me to get the thought out of my head......
Oh well ......
See you next time we fly....it has been great!
All the best
Fran and David
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