What is the value of a lesson learned? In this case, $832. When booking our flights to SE Asia, I was presented with myriad scheduling challenges. After many hours spent researching, I finally came up with an itinerary that would waste no full days, and left a comfortable 3-hour layover buffer at all stops. Denver to Tokyo to Saigon to Manila to Cebu, where we would catch a bus to Dumaguete. Such a good plan.
Except:
- Flights in Asia are rarely on time.
- Nobody is in a hurry at any airport, it seems.
- Customs and immigration is, expectedly, a laborious and frustrating process.
- Apparently certain budget airlines only operate their check-in counter for an hour every day.
- Bypassing this brief window by checking in online renders your ticket non-refundable and unchangable should you miss your flight.
- Not speaking a word of Vietnamese is not conducive to speeding things along.
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