Thinking of flying Vietnamese Airlines?

I flew from Can Tho to Con Dao, no problems, so I wasn’t prepared for my next ordeal.

I was booked on a 13.20 flight from the island to Ho Chi Minh City but the flight was “delayed.” After over an hour, no one could tell me when the flight might be underway because of “technical difficulties” so I rebooked on a 17:00 flight.

Goodbye Con Dao Islands (or so I thought)

 

Finally, it was announced that the 13:20 flight was cancelled and later the17:00 was cancelled as well. Frustrated passengers who had been at the airport for over five hours were given no answers. We were taken to a first class hotel for the night at the airlines expense, but in the morning, I was sceptical about the 6:50 flight. Would it leave on time so I could make the 9:00 train I’d booked?

I did catch the train with ten minutes to spare and now fully understand the Lonely Planet’s reference to the local airlines having experienced it first hand.

I had one more internal flight from Dalat to Danang that I approached with caution but this flight was right on time. My advice, leave twenty-four hours spare between any Vietnamese flight and your connection.