The meal voucher story. 😆
Update on the Vietnam Airlines (VNA) flight from Munich to Saigon that was delayed 4 hours and then canceled, which I posted about before.
The situation is that after announcing the cancellation, VNA asked customers to contact the counter for resolution. Apparently, if you want to continue flying with VNA, they will take passengers to a hotel, provide food and drink, and fly back the next day at this same time. Otherwise, you can get a refund to buy another ticket. This info is what I heard from other passengers because they were in line ahead of me, so I'm not entirely sure, but I think it's something like that.
The airport opened a line right away for our flight's passengers to re-enter. And I was held back here. Because my visa is still valid but only allows 1 entry. So at that time, I couldn't re-enter. There were many other passengers in the same boat as me. Some passengers' main flight day was the last day of their visa, so if delayed to the next day, they would be in violation of the law, so customs held us back to resolve later.
I stayed calm and waited, and then an airport technician ran out smiling excitedly to report that the plane had been fixed and could fly again. 🤪 At that time, more than half the passengers had completed re-entry procedures and the other half were waiting in line.
We were also happy about the sudden change. Not sure if it's true because the technician spoke German with customs, so the info we got was uncertain as it was relayed by someone who understands German.
So what to do now?
After a few phone calls to someone, German customs decided to let all passengers re-enter, then proceed with security checks and re-check-in with the same old ticket and old boarding gate.
And in my case, German customs explained that you just take this passport to customs and they will handle it, no problem. 😂
So on my passport, there are 2 exit stamps on the same day, one of which is crossed out with two lines and some "take noted" or something. Also a special thing. 😆. And at this time, I saw an email from VNA announcing the new flight time change.
Back to the meal voucher story.
If anyone who travels internationally often encounters a situation like mine, they probably know.
After completing security checks and re-exit, customers were informed to go back to the previous boarding counter and receive vouchers worth 20 euros to buy food and drinks while waiting, only usable at designated counters.
I took the voucher to the counter, lined up, and boldly ordered a can of German beer for 6.7 (6.7 euros), but the counter told me that with this voucher, you get 1 piece of fried chicken + 1 serving of french fries + 1 bottle of water.
Actually, the counter next to it also accepts the voucher with more varied and tastier food, but unfortunately, the whole flight seemed to line up there, so the line was super long. I chose the worse food option but without waiting too long.
And then the plane announced boarding again while many passengers still hadn't bought food or finished eating. Including me, who hadn't finished eating. 😆. (because during the re-entry resolution, I was near the end)
I quickly grabbed the fries and chicken and took them on the plane to continue eating. 🤣
Luckily, not long after, VNA served dinner, so it was okay.
And now I happily announce that I have arrived in Vietnam.
Despite the delay, fortunately, the issue was detected early; if it had taken off and happened mid-flight, that would be scary. So in the misfortune, there is still luck.
I don't blame VNA or Munich operations at all. They tried to fix and resolve for customers. Flying long-haul to harsh weather areas like Europe this time, machinery sometimes has such issues, not uncommon. And what I want is more meticulous, dedicated, higher quality inspection coordination between the airline and airport operations so passengers have safe and secure flights.
And one more thing that can't be overlooked is claiming compensation for the delayed/canceled flight according to EU regulations for the airline. Because if according to the law, delayed over 3 hours not due to force majeure like natural disasters, weather, politics, then for distance over 3500km, I would get 600 euros. I'll mention this in later posts. The truth is, it's not as easy as I say. 😂
Cre: Hien Nguyen
