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I was in Vietnam with a ticket booked to Cambodia. I received an email from Vietnam Airlines customer services asking me to call them. When I call then I was surprised that my flight was put forward more than 4 hours.

I didn't have any issue with the Hotel, lunch or dinner, but this early flight made me anticipate my trip to airport and I lost the opportunity to see some monuments and tourist hotspots.

Can I get compensation for this?

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    It may be relevant how in advance did they inform you. Also, did you mean to use "anticipate" in "made me anticipate my trip to airport"?
    – Howdedo
    Commented Apr 13, 2016 at 12:59
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    In this question the flight was rescheduled for 12 hours earlier, may be useful.
    – Howdedo
    Commented Apr 13, 2016 at 13:11
  • I'm pretty sure I've seen situations like this where the airline waives the change fee if you want to take a flight on another day. (The rationale is that you may still have some business in your point of origin, and if you can't complete it because the flight is now too early, you should be allowed to take a later flight without penalty).
    – Eugene O
    Commented Apr 13, 2016 at 14:04
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    As noted in various similar threads, what the airline is required to give you is set forth in its Conditions of Carriage (and any superseding laws or regulations)— which often means nothing. But they may reschedule you as a customer service gesture on a different flight, especially if you are a frequent flyer with them.
    – choster
    Commented Apr 13, 2016 at 14:12

2 Answers 2

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Firstly - more for the benefit of anyone else in this situation in the future - Vietnam Airlines should rebook you for free if your flight is scheduled to depart earlier than planned: https://www.vietnamairlines.com/en/terms-of-use/information-and-service-in-irregular-flight

The same link also alludes to compensation for delays of over 4 hours; for the benefit of anyone who speaks Vietnamese, it's in regulation 14/2015/TT-BGTVT. In the case of a flight from Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi to Siem Reap, that would be 25 USD as both flights are under 1000km. It's not clear to me whether this would also apply to an early departure, but regardless it does only apply if you're told about it less than 24 hours in advance.

From personal experience, it's not uncommon for Vietnamese carriers to cancel flights on their more frequent routes, and to do so relatively close to departure (but more than 24 hours in advance). My educated assumption would be that if they can fit everyone onto three flights say, rather than four, they'll gladly cancel the fourth.

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Sounds like you want compensation for not seeing some sites in Vietnam. Were you on a package tour from a tour company that included the flights or a package tour from the airline?

If it was a package tour, then you have grounds to ask for refunds for the missed activities.

If you were doing your own thing, then they owe you nothing, as every airline's terms & conditions covers the fact that schedules can be changed without advance notice.

You can write a polite, factual letter requesting some form of compensation. They may offer something, like frequent flyer miles or a future credit. But they are under no legal obligation to provide compensation for your missed sightseeing.

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