Becoming an Unexpected Translator

Today I went to the airport to go to California for nationals. As I was standing in line to check my bag, a woman behind me says in broken English that she's from Beijing while trying to talk to the person behind her in line.  I started talking to her in Chinese. Speaking with a native must have made me nervous so I ended up having messy grammar and apologizing for such things afterwards. So I begin to check my bag and she comes next to me to check hers.  The attendant is clearly oblivious to the fact that this woman doesn't speak English and she doesn't know how to operate the machine that is only in English. I take my 2nd chance at using my Chinese and ask her if I can help her (我帮你吗？. She says ＂对＂ meaning correct. She gives me her information and I check her bags in for her. Then I tell her "it's nice meeting you" (认识你很高兴） and I continue to my destination. Later on the plane, I hear report that she didn't understand one of the attendants when she was trying to ask about the whereabouts of her luggage. When our plane lands to drop off some people in New Orleans, I mouth to her to （请坐）please sit, for we have not yet gotten to our destination. As soon as we were approved to stand, she ran to me and I asked her (你好吗？） "how are you? Are you good?" And she starts talking about her luggage. I told her that her luggage would be in California when she got there. I then directed her to the restroom and she looked very grateful. We finally get to LA and she made her way to baggage claim and she came up to me and said "my husband" and points at a man. She asks me where I'm from and where I learned to speak Chinese so well. Eventually, we both find our luggage and she gives me a hug. That was the most amazing experience. I was able to  utilize the Chinese to actually be able to help someone. Every minute I spent studying in intensive language programs was worth it just for that one experience.