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Vietnam Liberalizes Visa Policy


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British citizens no longer need to apply for a visa to enter the country, it was announced yesterday, as long as they are planning to stay for 15 days or fewer.

 

Travel will be visa-free from July 1 until June 30, 2016, according to an announcement made to tour operators at the Mekong Tourism Forum. The Vietnamese government has come under fire recently for falling tourist numbers. Chinese tourists are visiting Vietnam in smaller numbers since the two countries became embroiled in dispute over islands in the South China Sea.

 

This means that Britons travelling to the slither of country known for limestone island-speckled Halong Bay, its fresh and flavoursome street food and crumbling colonial cities, will save at least £54 on the cost of a single-entry visa.

 

The new policy also applies to French, German, Spanish and Italian nationals. The change comes in time for anyone wanting to fly to Vietnam on a new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, with the new, high-tech plane coming into service on direct flights from Heathrow with Vietnam Airlines; it is the first non-stop Dreamliner route between south-east Asia and Europe.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/asia/vietnam/11694223/Vietnam-to-lift-visa-requirement-for-Britons.html

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I've flown on the 787 a number of times over the past year and think it sucks. Nothing special about it. In fact some of its features are stupid in design. For example the entertainment and lighting controls are built into the seat's armrests. This means every time you move your elbow you turn the video on or off, the sound volume up or down, or the lights on or off. Really dumb. It also feels cheap overall. The 777 is far more superior and still my choice of aircraft.

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The visa thing is a furphy to sound good & help boost a bit of short term (15 days or less) tourism on occasion of Dreamliner route beginning.

 

The real story is that VN has cracked down hard on visas for both visitors & expats.

Expat visas have been cut to no more than 3 months - no more 6 months or year visas available without work permits.

And the cost has about quadrupled as of early this year (2015).

What used to cost me to renew a 3 month visa (about 40 or 45 USD) now costs me about 180 USD.

And whereas we could always renew through travel agent, now after 2 renewals we have to leave the country if we want a third one back to back.

Mostly this just means a border run to Cambodia, but it's still a fucking nuisance.

Word among bitter expats is VN government no longer wants us in country - or wants to cut our numbers anyhow.

 

 

And yes lance, that's true about the shrink examination for marriage.

I think they just want to confirm to themselves that only the insane ones would contemplate marriage to VNese women.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I've flown on the 787 a number of times over the past year and think it sucks. Nothing special about it. In fact some of its features are stupid in design. For example the entertainment and lighting controls are built into the seat's armrests. This means every time you move your elbow you turn the video on or off, the sound volume up or down, or the lights on or off. Really dumb. It also feels cheap overall. The 777 is far more superior and still my choice of aircraft.

 

There are some improved things about the 787 Dreamliner that are not obvious. I have flown once on it recently in premium economy. The air is pressurized to a lower altitude than most airliners 6,000 feet, vs 8,000. Cabin humidity can be set up to 15% vs 4% for the older planes. In addition they have added a special gaseous filtration system that removes more odors, particles, bacteria and viruses than then older HEPA only based systems. The air used to pressurize the cabin is no longer "bleed air" from the engines, so is free from possible fuel and oil fumes.

 

I have also flown the 777 several times, and I would say that I had less jet lag, and dehydration flying on the 787 vs the 777. I will fly the 787 again on the way back to work in August and see if my experiences will bear out on the next flight.

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  • 1 year later...
On ‎26‎/‎06‎/‎2015 at 7:02 PM, SiamSam said:

I've flown on the 787 a number of times over the past year and think it sucks. Nothing special about it. In fact some of its features are stupid in design. For example the entertainment and lighting controls are built into the seat's armrests. This means every time you move your elbow you turn the video on or off, the sound volume up or down, or the lights on or off. Really dumb. It also feels cheap overall. The 777 is far more superior and still my choice of aircraft.

Your post is 2 years old Sam so I am way out of date, but Vietnam Airlines has just upgraded some of its fleet to 787s, & I flew on one for first time in Feb of 2017, flying back from MEL to SGN. Those arm rest controls drove me nuts, to the point where I managed (unwittingly) to pull the whole box & dice out of the arm rest trying to shut the system down in order to cease inadvertently switching things off and on. The cabin attendant shrugged his shoulders & said helplessly "have to get mechanic." So I went without. (My own fault, but ...) This was an hour or so into an 8 hour flight. I was not impressed.

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9 hours ago, KenW said:

I managed (unwittingly) to pull the whole box & dice out of the arm rest trying to shut the system down in order to cease inadvertently switching things off and on.

Good for you Mr. Ken, hahahaha!

I have flown them (787s) a number of times since my post 2 years ago. Not all of them have the flight entertainment controls in the armrests. They have either gotten wise to the stupid design flaw or some airlines elected to install different types of seats. 

Good to see you posting again. I hope you are well.

XO

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