Vietnam Reopening for Tourists, With Conditions

Just for the record; I have worked closely with Embassies and interior ministries over the last 2 years.  The government don't just let embassies know information. Countries are to open up they need money coming in, we are not talking about North Korea

This is why they hold news conferences, sure things can change at any time but this is why we follow the news to keep an eye on things.

michaeldouglasgroner wrote:

Who are you?? How disgraceful you are to be commenting as you do on this respectable forum. Surely this is a reportable offense and negligent use of the forum. And what in the world are you referring to?? "Conman"? Trang?? You seem to be a bit deranged or at least, out of sorts. Yes, the administration should look into this, as they will, I'm sure.

I know who you are. You lived in Trangs apartment in D2 after you gave her your bleeding heart story about being close to death. You are a slime, I know exactly who you are. You use women to get free rent, food and travel. Go back to Australia you grub.

michaeldouglasgroner wrote:

Who are you?? How disgraceful you are to be commenting as you do on this respectable forum. Surely this is a reportable offense and negligent use of the forum. And what in the world are you referring to?? "Conman"? Trang?? You seem to be a bit deranged or at least, out of sorts. Yes, the administration should look into this, as they will, I'm sure.

That's fine by me, I could also report you for posting false information which is against the rules on the forum as it's closed as spam. I don't see what I have posted is wrong? I have posted 2 links that are correct, you have posted none just to tell the forum not to follow the news.

The best part of your post is calling me deranged or something.

michaeldouglasgroner wrote:

Who are you?? How disgraceful you are to be commenting as you do on this respectable forum. Surely this is a reportable offense and negligent use of the forum. And what in the world are you referring to?? "Conman"? Trang?? You seem to be a bit deranged or at least, out of sorts. Yes, the administration should look into this, as they will, I'm sure.

Wow, you have forgotten the lady you lived off. Best to get your memory checked.

[url=]Just to jog your memory.[/url]

SimCityAT wrote:

michaeldouglasgroner wrote:

that we should NOT rely on what we read at VN Express or any other media source regarding open borders

So you are saying we should not listen to the politicians that make the rules but read a flyer in an Embassy where most people have no access?

Devil's Advocate here:

I'm guessing that officer was saying what those of us who have lived in Vietnam know:

Until a new policy is issued in writing and has the red stamp on it, nothing in the newspapers holds any kind of true authority that can be used for official purposes, such as the issuance of a tourist visa.

On the other hand, the Vietnam Express website and others like it (such as Vietnam news and the Hanoi News website) are all under the control of the government.

They simply cannot print unfounded gossip.

So all of this is good news, but as I previously mentioned in this thread, it's an extremely risky move to purchase a non-refundable cheap airline fare based on this news alone.

Even in normal times it has always been best to have a firm Visa approval (again, in writing with a red stamp) before finalizing flight arrangements.

But Reuters and CNN printing what was said in the News Conference as lies is just silly and only information being given to an Embassy is also just stupid.

The same information has been printed in Vietnam Express. Not to worry, his posts have been removed to be reviewed and Banned in the meanwhile as he has been reported as a con artist.

According to this news update, the covid insurance policy requirement is being dropped from a value of $50,000 USD to $20,000 USD:

e.vnexpress.net/news/travel/vietnam-relaxes-entry-restrictions-for-tourists-before-full-reopening-4429163

According to previous reports, you can get your health insurance through any travel agency or other insurance source in your home country.

I made a suggestion to my Visa agent that her company might want to look into becoming a reseller of insurance for Visa applicants, but she said she doubted they would do that.

Andybris2020 wrote:

March 17th .. skyscanner and scoot already have ticket prices,,, was 245AUD from Goldcoast sold out in 20min

Well, various airlines have been selling tickets to Vietnam throughout the pandemic. For example last year a friend of mine booked a flight with Turkish Airlines (Geneva to Saigon) for April (2021). She didn't believe me when I told her that there were no regular flights yet, but she received the cancellation notice shortly after having booked (and paid).
Obviously this time it's a little different, since flights might actually resume, but I wouldn't make plans just yet…

Kurterino wrote:

Andybris2020 wrote:

March 17th .. skyscanner and scoot already have ticket prices,,, was 245AUD from Goldcoast sold out in 20min

Well, various airlines have been selling tickets to Vietnam throughout the pandemic. For example last year a friend of mine booked a flight with Turkish Airlines (Geneva to Saigon) for April (2021). She didn't believe me when I told her that there were no regular flights yet, but she received the cancellation notice shortly after having booked (and paid).
Obviously this time it's a little different, since flights might actually resume, but I wouldn't make plans just yet…

And those refunds can take a long, long time.

Just a few days ago, Ciambella told me that she finally got a refund they've been waiting for almost 2 years.

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

And those refunds can take a long, long time.

Just a few days ago, Ciambella told me that she finally got a refund they've been waiting for almost 2 years.

Wow that's really a long time…! Do you know which airline it was? I try to fly with KLM whenever possible, and I've had several flights canceled the last two years, and the refund procedure was easy and reasonably fast. I wonder if in these cases, it's easier if you booked directly with the carrier, on their website, rather than through an agency?

Kurterino wrote:

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

And those refunds can take a long, long time.

Just a few days ago, Ciambella told me that she finally got a refund they've been waiting for almost 2 years.

Wow that's really a long time…! Do you know which airline it was?

AirAsia

Probably much slower because they filed for bankruptcy during the pandemic:

english.kyodonews.net/news/2020/11/c7ca97220d43-update1-budget-carrier-airasia-japan-unable-to-refund-23000-air-tickets.html

So it's especially amazing that they got any cash refund.

Kurterino wrote:

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

And those refunds can take a long, long time.

Just a few days ago, Ciambella told me that she finally got a refund they've been waiting for almost 2 years.

Wow that's really a long time…! Do you know which airline it was? I try to fly with KLM whenever possible, and I've had several flights canceled the last two years, and the refund procedure was easy and reasonably fast. I wonder if in these cases, it's easier if you booked directly with the carrier, on their website, rather than through an agency?

Actually all airlines have basically the same fare return policy. 7 to 30 days. The key is to keep contacting them.
The only airline that I know of that has a 100% refund policy is  Qatar Airlines. Some say they have but many stipulations, one like that is United.

Kurterino wrote:

Andybris2020 wrote:

March 17th .. skyscanner and scoot already have ticket prices,,, was 245AUD from Goldcoast sold out in 20min

Well, various airlines have been selling tickets to Vietnam throughout the pandemic. For example last year a friend of mine booked a flight with Turkish Airlines (Geneva to Saigon) for April (2021). She didn't believe me when I told her that there were no regular flights yet, but she received the cancellation notice shortly after having booked (and paid).
Obviously this time it's a little different, since flights might actually resume, but I wouldn't make plans just yet…

Yep i would agree, the thing that caught my eye was they have been well over 1,000AUD towards 2,000 AUD then soon as news of march 15th they dropped to 245AUD.
But as stated yes buyer beware.

Also 2 days ago @ Jigs sent we a visa agent link that said the above dates and was asking people to subscribe for notification as soon as visa were available to get buisiness, so visa agents are lined up and also waiting for the red stamp.

pogiwayne wrote:

Actually all airlines have basically the same fare return policy. 7 to 30 days. The key is to keep contacting them.
The only airline that I know of that has a 100% refund policy is  Qatar Airlines. Some say they have but many stipulations, one like that is United.

Several airlines instituted a full refund (or voucher, your choice) policy right at the beginning of the pandemic. Those who didn't are probably the exceptions.

Kurterino wrote:

pogiwayne wrote:

Actually all airlines have basically the same fare return policy. 7 to 30 days. The key is to keep contacting them.
The only airline that I know of that has a 100% refund policy is  Qatar Airlines. Some say they have but many stipulations, one like that is United.

Several airlines instituted a full refund (or voucher, your choice) policy right at the beginning of the pandemic. Those who didn't are probably the exceptions.

If that were so, then the US Government wouldn't have needed to become involved:

transportation.gov/briefing-room/usdot-details-efforts-secure-refunds-american-families-flights-cancelled-due-covid-19

(from the webpage)

"Airlines and ticket agents have a legal obligation to provide refunds to consumers if the airline cancels or significantly changes a consumer's flight. However, in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, airlines had difficulty processing the significant volume of refund requests that they received. Many airlines were also initially reluctant to provide the required refunds.

"This resulted in USDOT receiving a flood of complaints about carriers' failures to provide refunds. In the five years before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department received an average of 17,420 aviation consumer complaints annually with refund complaints accounting for approximately 8.25% of the total. In calendar year 2020, the Department received a total of 102,561 consumer complaints—the highest number on record and an increase of 568.4% from the prior year. The volume remained high for the first half of 2021 with the Department receiving a total of 22,357 consumer complaints. Of the complaints received over this 18 month period, 84.3% concerned refunds."

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

Kurterino wrote:

pogiwayne wrote:

Actually all airlines have basically the same fare return policy. 7 to 30 days. The key is to keep contacting them.
The only airline that I know of that has a 100% refund policy is  Qatar Airlines. Some say they have but many stipulations, one like that is United.

Several airlines instituted a full refund (or voucher, your choice) policy right at the beginning of the pandemic. Those who didn't are probably the exceptions.

If that were so, then the US Government wouldn't have needed to become involved:

transportation.gov/briefing-room/usdot-details-efforts-secure-refunds-american-families-flights-cancelled-due-covid-19

(from the webpage)

"Airlines and ticket agents have a legal obligation to provide refunds to consumers if the airline cancels or significantly changes a consumer's flight. However, in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, airlines had difficulty processing the significant volume of refund requests that they received. Many airlines were also initially reluctant to provide the required refunds.

"This resulted in USDOT receiving a flood of complaints about carriers' failures to provide refunds. In the five years before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department received an average of 17,420 aviation consumer complaints annually with refund complaints accounting for approximately 8.25% of the total. In calendar year 2020, the Department received a total of 102,561 consumer complaints—the highest number on record and an increase of 568.4% from the prior year. The volume remained high for the first half of 2021 with the Department receiving a total of 22,357 consumer complaints. Of the complaints received over this 18 month period, 84.3% concerned refunds."

What I said is 100% correct. When individual airlines don't comply DOT will contact the airline but as most federal agencies it is really not effective when dealing with customer problems.
Also note that DOT cannot deal with foreign airlines not refunding. DOT becomes a toothless dog when trying to get foreign carriers to comply with anything except safety rules.

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

Kurterino wrote:

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

And those refunds can take a long, long time.

Just a few days ago, Ciambella told me that she finally got a refund they've been waiting for almost 2 years.

Wow that's really a long time…! Do you know which airline it was?

AirAsia

Probably much slower because they filed for bankruptcy during the pandemic:

english.kyodonews.net/news/2020/11/c7ca97220d43-update1-budget-carrier-airasia-japan-unable-to-refund-23000-air-tickets.html

So it's especially amazing that they got any cash refund.

Last year around May I had 5 tickets for HCMC - Da Nang, covid shut everything down and we applied for a refund at first they said no then Da Nang announced lock down zone which was during the time we would have arrived. The airline agreeded but the refund took nearly 8 months to get.
Their reason was the amount of refunds that had to be done and asked for extra time over the normal 90 days.

pogiwayne wrote:

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

Kurterino wrote:

Several airlines instituted a full refund (or voucher, your choice) policy right at the beginning of the pandemic. Those who didn't are probably the exceptions.

If that were so, then the US Government wouldn't have needed to become involved:

transportation.gov/briefing-room/usdot-details-efforts-secure-refunds-american-families-flights-cancelled-due-covid-19

(from the webpage)

"Airlines and ticket agents have a legal obligation to provide refunds to consumers if the airline cancels or significantly changes a consumer's flight. However, in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, airlines had difficulty processing the significant volume of refund requests that they received. Many airlines were also initially reluctant to provide the required refunds.

"This resulted in USDOT receiving a flood of complaints about carriers' failures to provide refunds. In the five years before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department received an average of 17,420 aviation consumer complaints annually with refund complaints accounting for approximately 8.25% of the total. In calendar year 2020, the Department received a total of 102,561 consumer complaints—the highest number on record and an increase of 568.4% from the prior year. The volume remained high for the first half of 2021 with the Department receiving a total of 22,357 consumer complaints. Of the complaints received over this 18 month period, 84.3% concerned refunds."

What I said is 100% correct. When individual airlines don't comply DOT will contact the airline but as most federal agencies it is really not effective when dealing with customer problems.
Also note that DOT cannot deal with foreign airlines not refunding. DOT becomes a toothless dog when trying to get foreign carriers to comply with anything except safety rules.

My point is not that DOT is effective.

I'm simply making a point about the exceptionally high volume of complaints during the pandemic, which was obviously the result of bad experiences by customers with many airlines.

As the article states, many airlines did have policies established, just as you mentioned.

However it's clear that established policies were not always followed, to a significant degree.

It's not good enough to have a policy if you don't follow through on it.

Wonder when the land border crossings will open

Kurterino wrote:

pogiwayne wrote:

Actually all airlines have basically the same fare return policy. 7 to 30 days. The key is to keep contacting them.
The only airline that I know of that has a 100% refund policy is  Qatar Airlines. Some say they have but many stipulations, one like that is United.

Several airlines instituted a full refund (or voucher, your choice) policy right at the beginning of the pandemic. Those who didn't are probably the exceptions.

I started my refund March13, 2002 with Qatar Airlines just before the 100% refund policy started and I lost 25% and took 6 weeks with so much trouble. From the beginning they kept saying they already returned and they did not. So every time I contacted them the notes they had said they returned it with no proof just the notes they had in the computer....it was a lot of trouble. They finally refunded it a few hours after I told them I was going to dispute the charges with my CC company.

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

If that were so, then the US Government wouldn't have needed to become involved:

transportation.gov/briefing-room/usdot-details-efforts-secure-refunds-american-families-flights-cancelled-due-covid-19

(from the webpage)

It could be that airline passengers in the EU have better protection than elsewhere in the world. I don't remember when and where, but I think I once read something like that, a few years ago. However, that doesn't mean that there can be delays and excuses, especially during this pandemic, where some airlines had serious liquidity problems.

Edit: Returning to the topic: it seems that Bamboo Airways has resumed regular flights?
https://e.vnexpress.net/news/news/bambo … 30109.html

Good news 😊:
Regular flights have resumed to the Philippine capital Manila, the 20th destination to which Vietnam has restarted flights post-Covid-19.
The earlier 19 are Bangkok, Doha, Dubai, Guangzhou, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Istanbul, Kuala Lumpur, London, Moscow, Paris, Phnom Penh, San Francisco, Seoul, Singapore, Sydney, Taipei, Tokyo, and Vientiane, the Ministry of Transport said Tuesday.

Before the pandemic, Vietnam has operated flights to 28 destinations.

Eight have yet to agree to resumption of flights: Brunei, Finland, India, Indonesia, Italy, Macau, Myanmar, and Switzerland

(Source: VNExpress International app)

Covid insurance = extortion.

QuidProQuo wrote:

Covid insurance = extortion.

Not unless they only accept insurance through a designated agency of the Vietnamese government.

Everything I've read so far says that if you have travel insurance that covers the requirements, then it's okay.

Yes, agree the CoVid insurance is another added, unnecessary expense.
What I am in the process of doing to provide the Vietnamese Immigration folks, on arrival in Vietnam, to meet the current requirement of, (“must provide proof of CoVid insurance of $20,000) is:
And this is from an American traveling to Vietnam in April,
I contacted my American insurance commpany, Blue Cross Blue Shield.
Since there is nothing in my insurance policy that nicely states, “$20,000 CoVid coverage”, they are going to send me a letter stating the same.
They said this will tahe 7-10 days.
If I get this letter, it will save me the cost of buying the travel insurance.
I hope having a letter from my insuarnce company stating I have a +$20,000 CoVid policy will satisfy the VN authority….and….I hope other can save money, too. Any feedback is appreciated.
Note - if the requirement has been dropped ($20k CoVid coverage) please let us know.

schleger wrote:

Yes, agree the CoVid insurance is another added, unnecessary expense.
What I am in the process of doing to provide the Vietnamese Immigration folks, on arrival in Vietnam, to meet the current requirement of, (“must provide proof of CoVid insurance of $20,000) is:
And this is from an American traveling to Vietnam in April,
I contacted my American insurance commpany, Blue Cross Blue Shield.
Since there is nothing in my insurance policy that nicely states, “$20,000 CoVid coverage”, they are going to send me a letter stating the same.
They said this will tahe 7-10 days.
If I get this letter, it will save me the cost of buying the travel insurance.
I hope having a letter from my insuarnce company stating I have a +$20,000 CoVid policy will satisfy the VN authority….and….I hope other can save money, too. Any feedback is appreciated.
Note - if the requirement has been dropped ($20k CoVid coverage) please let us know.

It sounds like you have a good plan, as long as you are able to keep that insurance policy while you live in Vietnam.

I'm very impressed by what you've written on your profile, and I hope you have great success in all ways when you finally make your move to Vietnam.

I would simply disagree with the word "unnecessary".

Hopefully we won't get into a big debate here about whether covid is a deadly or serious problem anymore.

But prior to covid there was no requirement at all for expats to have health insurance.

I don't know any exact numbers, but I was regularly seeing posts on social media about foreigners who either got sick or were injured in Vietnam and were receiving care in a Vietnamese hospital but had no means to pay for that.

It seems quite reasonable and understandably necessary for the government to make sure that people are insured.

As the government mentioned in a number of authorized articles, travel insurance is acceptable and it tends to run between $30 and $40 for a short-term tourist stay.

Anyone planning to actually live in Vietnam and not return to their home country would be unreasonable to expect the Vietnamese healthcare system to provide care without remuneration.

I arrived last year November when COVID insurance was also mandatory.
The requirement was a coverage of at least 50kUSD back then.

Coincidentally my international health insurance already provided coverage.
But the same problem as Schleger described: it did not mention 50k, just that they cover all of the COVID related costs.

I printed the letter to be on the safe side, but I was a little surprised because nobody asked for it or bothered to check it at all.

I wonder if that has changed now.

schleger wrote:

Yes, agree the CoVid insurance is another added, unnecessary expense.
What I am in the process of doing to provide the Vietnamese Immigration folks, on arrival in Vietnam, to meet the current requirement of, (“must provide proof of CoVid insurance of $20,000) is:
And this is from an American traveling to Vietnam in April,
I contacted my American insurance commpany, Blue Cross Blue Shield.
Since there is nothing in my insurance policy that nicely states, “$20,000 CoVid coverage”, they are going to send me a letter stating the same.
They said this will tahe 7-10 days.
If I get this letter, it will save me the cost of buying the travel insurance.
I hope having a letter from my insuarnce company stating I have a +$20,000 CoVid policy will satisfy the VN authority….and….I hope other can save money, too. Any feedback is appreciated.
Note - if the requirement has been dropped ($20k CoVid coverage) please let us know.

The amount first quoted was $20,000 it has since been amended to $10,000 (around 30USD)

what I dont get about this opening for tourists on the 15th March....like 10 days away is that nothing is in place for getting a visa to come here. So who is going to book a flight to come here on the off chance they will start issuing visas? & from what I can gather still no mention on whats happening with the land borders.

goodolboy wrote:

what I dont get about this opening for tourists on the 15th March....like 10 days away is that nothing is in place for getting a visa to come here. So who is going to book a flight to come here on the off chance they will start issuing visas? & from what I can gather still no mention on whats happening with the land borders.

Stop it GOB, you should now by now that you get that sorted later.

colinoscapee wrote:

goodolboy wrote:

what I dont get about this opening for tourists on the 15th March....like 10 days away is that nothing is in place for getting a visa to come here. So who is going to book a flight to come here on the off chance they will start issuing visas? & from what I can gather still no mention on whats happening with the land borders.

Stop it GOB, you should now by now that you get that sorted later.

Yea, I should know better by now right enough, makes sense all them tourist flights coming in empty, but at least its open for tourism

goodolboy wrote:

colinoscapee wrote:

goodolboy wrote:

what I dont get about this opening for tourists on the 15th March....like 10 days away is that nothing is in place for getting a visa to come here. So who is going to book a flight to come here on the off chance they will start issuing visas? & from what I can gather still no mention on whats happening with the land borders.

Stop it GOB, you should now by now that you get that sorted later.

Yea, I should know better by now right enough, makes sense all them tourist flights coming in empty, but at least its open for tourism

Maybe they are waiting to fix the runway that they just repaired.

goodolboy wrote:

what I dont get about this opening for tourists on the 15th March....like 10 days away is that nothing is in place for getting a visa to come here. So who is going to book a flight to come here on the off chance they will start issuing visas? & from what I can gather still no mention on whats happening with the land borders.

The VN government website is now accepting visa applications. My application has been pending for several days. I'll go to the VN embassy with my completed application on Monday and see what they say.

pogiwayne wrote:

goodolboy wrote:

what I dont get about this opening for tourists on the 15th March....like 10 days away is that nothing is in place for getting a visa to come here. So who is going to book a flight to come here on the off chance they will start issuing visas? & from what I can gather still no mention on whats happening with the land borders.

The VN government website is now accepting visa applications. My application has been pending for several days. I'll go to the VN embassy with my completed application on Monday and see what they say.

Will be interesting to hear about that then. My main point (forgetting about embassies) was the usual Visa on arrival stuff & don't see any agents offering their services yet as they definitely would "if they knew"

colinoscapee wrote:

goodolboy wrote:

colinoscapee wrote:

Stop it GOB, you should now by now that you get that sorted later.

Yea, I should know better by now right enough, makes sense all them tourist flights coming in empty, but at least its open for tourism

Maybe they are waiting to fix the runway that they just repaired.

Or ghost tourists   as a point of interest I am just back to HCMC from holiday in Phu Quoc & even midweek the plane to & from was nearly 75% full & the place we stayed was very busy as was Vinpearl Safari!I was quite surprised about how many people & only one goodolboy foreigner to be seen. Never  realized how many super models there were in Vietnam even on Safari

Man this thread has been dead for 10 days.  No news is bad news.
Only 4 days left to
               M A R C H  15

I personally don't care about the tourists or their troubles, but I am thinking about traveling Beyond The Border, and that will require aircraft with reasonable fares.  Without tourists, there will be neither aircraft nor reasonable fares.

gobot wrote:

Man this thread has been dead for 10 days.  No news is bad news.
Only 4 days left to
               M A R C H  15

I personally don't care about the tourists or their troubles, but I am thinking about traveling Beyond The Border, and that will require aircraft with reasonable fares.  Without tourists, there will be neither aircraft nor reasonable fares.

And depending upon where you fly to, it may be a real pain in the rear to turn around and come back, eh?

gobot wrote:

Man this thread has been dead for 10 days.  No news is bad news.
Only 4 days left to
               M A R C H  15

I personally don't care about the tourists or their troubles, but I am thinking about traveling Beyond The Border, and that will require aircraft with reasonable fares.  Without tourists, there will be neither aircraft nor reasonable fares.

I think the "reasonable fares" bit may go up soon

Andybris2020 wrote:

gobot wrote:

Man this thread has been dead for 10 days.  No news is bad news.
Only 4 days left to
               M A R C H  15

I personally don't care about the tourists or their troubles, but I am thinking about traveling Beyond The Border, and that will require aircraft with reasonable fares.  Without tourists, there will be neither aircraft nor reasonable fares.

I think the "reasonable fares" bit may go up soon

Without a doubt, if nothing more than the fuel surcharges.  I'm looking to come for a visit using airline miles, but there aren't many seats available, so I may be paying cash.  Haven't done that in a while, so there might be sticker shock.

I would love it if the Vietnam Embassy in the US would enable their link for online purchase of a visa, so that I would know what is available and what the cost is.  Maybe on the 15th.