This post is written by Katie about her flights from Beijing to Austin after the World Robot Contest in Beijing.

The closet in the bathroom to keep your belongings from potentially getting wet on the ground.

Immigration and security also featured long lines. I headed to the BTS business lounge for a shower after reaching the gate areas. There was only one shower in the women’s bathroom, but luckily it was empty, clean, and well stocked. There were cabinets for luggage, as well as shower sandals provided. The towel was fluffy.

After showering, I noticed on my app that my upgrade had cleared. I went to the gate, where boarding had begun. The guys had just arrived at the gate! My throat was very sore at this point, so Josh gave me some cough drops.Instead of printing a new boarding pass, they instead just scribbled out my old seat number and wrote in the new one. The extra bag check security before boarding was done by Chinese police, and was surprisingly weak.

My business class seat on the 787 from Beijing to Dallas.

Departure meal drinks and nuts.

Departure meal duck appetizer and salad.

Departure meal vegetarian pasta main dish.

Departure meal dessert – American’s famous ice cream sundae!

The flight went well. I had a vegetarian pasta for dinner with a duck appetizer, salad, and ice cream sundae for dessert. I started feeling strong flu symptoms during dinner, so I went to sleep shortly after dinner and woke just 2 hours before landing. I slept very well on this flight, but was very feverish and hot during the night.

Arrival meal quiche.

I awoke with about 2 hours remaining in the flight. I felt a good bit better at this point. I chose the quiche for the arrival meal, which seemed to be much more popular on this flight than the pork noodles. The quiche and potatoes ended up being good, but the cheesecake for dessert was flavorless.

It was impressive how much time having Global Entry and TSA Pre Check saved me. I kept having to wait for the guys as I cleared each stage significantly quicker than they did.

I took them to the Admirals Club since access through my Citi Prestige allows me to bring two guests. The lounge was rather crowded, but we eventually found a two person table and pulled up a chair.

I barely missed an upgrade for the short flight to Austin – but did have a seat with massive legroom.  Since I was feeling sickly, I was just happy to be home!