fotographer

That really sucks... never done that before, but then again, all my visa's are for 10 years.
When we went to Vietnam, we , left it a bit late, but enough time to fill in a form on line, which included a service person upon arrival.

stephem

This!!! What a bummer OP didnt come onto FT and post, I bet you could have gotten someone on the VN travel thread to point this out, and indeed I just posted about the PQC option when I was in VN in December. It's a little known but quite valuable option in a pinch like this. There are tons of flights each day down to PQC and you could have secured a VN VOA by the time you were landing in VN given how fast they process the letters now.

Crisphoarder

I did the same thing for a trip to Goa last year. I go to India 2 to 4 times a year over the past decade for various clients and just plain forgot this time. Waited 3 days for my visa to "clear" and then was allowed to fly over. Arrived just in time for the wedding.

355F1

The entire Vietnamese government is shut down til Jan 31 for Chinese New Year.

chris8796

I have another friend who got hit by Vietnam visa. I just transited there (HAN) recently on Cathy and I got a visa just in case and I don't remember them asking for it. So, one option would have been to buy a cheap flight to BKK, then get an eVisa to return. I know it doesn't help you, but it may save someone in the future. You can transit HAN without clearing immigration as long as you have a BP.

The closest I came was when my passport was almost full, I spent a few days in HKG before heading to BKK. The checking agent said, "you are required to have a free visa page to enter Thailand", I said "no problem, I still have a page or two." . But the last two pages are for "endorsements", not visas. They finally let me go, after finding a page only half full.

I really enjoyed my time in Vietnam, one of the best "food" countries in the world.

FlyerTalker688786

I got caught by the new New Zealand ETA back in October. The new ETA requirement was implemented in September and somehow slipped my notice. Thank goodness the flight was over a little 40 hours including a length layover in the airline. The airport employee decided to let me fly to their hub while I applied the new ETA at the desk and awaiting for approval. It almost became a denied boarding situation. But kudos to the airline I was flying with.

mvoight

I am happy that as of last June a visa is no longer needed to visit Brazil for Americans

emcat

PQC is still a pretty nice destination by itself, assuming you couldn't get a sponsor for the visa on arrival into HAN or SGN by the time you got there

carlitos

I also applaud the OP for owning the mistake. I know of colleagues that threaten to fire the corporate travel agency for ruining their personal travel by not reminding them they needed a visa. And it was these colleagues honeymoon (yes, married inside the company). So long story short, French colleague marrying a Mexican colleage in a European country office of a big corporation, and the french guy is the CFO and future wife is a manager. They booked them a trip to Indonesia and Thailand and she doesn't get a Visa for Thailand (Mexican Passport) and after a great 7 nights in Bali, she lands in Phuket just to be denied entry into the county. They come back to the office 5 days early and the CFO fires the travel agency for not letting them know the manager needs a visa to Thailand

And that is when I had it with this arrogant guy which happened to be French.

So congrats on custom building your new house and I would have gone to Hong Kong and stay there for a week in the ultra cheap hotels getting pampered with the low prices for accomodation.

PD: That is why I did not take my American SO to Vietnam, as the need for a Visa for US Citizens was a great way of travelling on CX's Mistake Fare in F to DAD and back !!!

paulTX

I screwed up royally last year.
I was trying to check-in online for a flight to HKG connecting to KUL for a very important business trip. I got an error message telling me my documents were invalid so I wondered if it didn't like my UK passport and me checking in for a trip originating in the US. Anyway, I called CX and the agent told me I can't enter Malaysia without 6 months validity on my passport! I had completely forgotten my passport was due to expire in 5 months and 3 weeks time.
Anyway, long story short, I called the British Embassy to see if there was anything they could do, and of course there wasn't. I also called the Malaysian embassy to ask them and was told if I did get to KUL without 6 months validity I could be prosecuted a jailed for 6 months. ... result was abandoned trip with a lot of egg on my face.
Such a rookie mistake ... the worst part was having to explain it to my boss.

GaryZ

[QUOTE=paulTX;31991603]I screwed up royally last year.
I was trying to check-in online for a flight to HKG connecting to KUL for a very important business trip. I got an error message telling me my documents were invalid so I wondered if it didn't like my UK passport and me checking in for a trip originating in the US. Anyway, I called CX and the agent told me I can't enter Malaysia without 6 months validity on my passport! I had completely forgotten my passport was due to expire in 5 months and 3 weeks time.

I faced the exact same issue for MXP/CAI...3 months, where I had 2 months 28 days! Fortunately the very kind folks at the Milano US consulate (they are beyond amazing) helped me out and I was on my way the following day.

nk15

Another lesson here I guess is don't give up, post on FT immediately!

gr8pirate

You managed to finish a house in six months? The forgotten visa fumble is a small and cheap side effect, my hat is off to you and I’m bowing deeply.

Took me years (admittedly a lot of DIY).

travelinmanS

I’d wager that you might get your visa denied if you show up in Vietnam during Tet wishing them a “Happy Chinese New Year”!

Uzzar

Excuse me but this is FlyerTalk. You are supposed to blame AA for this, not take responsibility for your own mistake. I am very disappointed.