Reader Submission: My experience traveling to Cambodia
Doha (Nuamfolio / Shutterstock.com)
In March of this year I had already traveled to Cambodia and then returned headlong after a week for fear of getting stuck due to the covid-19 virus. Rather sit out the pandemic in Belgium with the family than all alone in Phnom Penh where hospital care is not highly regarded.
My tickets with Thai Air are in the fridge, so I bought a new ticket at Qatar Airways, because there are not many possibilities to get to Phnom Penh today.
My Cambodian college had informed me that the only option was via Korea, Japan or China. So the plan was to leave on Sunday 18 October with Qatar Airways, via Doha then to Seoul and then to Phnom Penh. The last flight with partner Asiana Air.
In Brussels, all the papers were extensively checked, a valid visa, a covid certificate (valid for 72 hours) and insurance. Regarding that covid certificate: after some searching I found out that I had to report to the Medina Lab in Dendermonde on Thursday 15 October and that I would then have the certificate in my hands on Saturday.
Effective on Saturday, the day before my departure, I received a PDF file with the negative covid test result by email. The trip went smoothly and in Seoul I had to go to the Asiana Air transfer desk to get a boarding pass. I was refused it there because my Covid certificate "was not original and had no stamp". My printout of my insurance certificate was also viewed skewedly. There was a stamp and signature with it, but it was not an original either.
The two Asiana staff were not convinced and called a Qatar employee. After half an hour it arrived (there is no Qatar office in the transit zone, so it had to come from the departure hall). The Qatar woman gave me the telephone number of Qatar Doha and there I was. Around me I saw at least 30 people camping in the same corridor and I panicked to end up in the same situation. A Congolese came to present himself and said he had been detained for 8 months and asked for money to eat…
The Qatar Air staff offered no assistance to me and the Asiana Air staff resolutely refused to let me through. So for me it was the finish line and back to Brussels!
Qatar Doha did not want to rebook my December return tickets just like that, they had to have a message from the local staff about what had happened. So I contacted local staff again and had to force them to send an e-mail to Doha. After a long time of telephone calls with Qatar Doha (with their own device), the rebooking was finally arranged subject to payment of a hefty fee. The first possible flight was a day later, so I took a room in the transit hotel that is located on the same corridor. Payment of a room in blocks of 8 hours, at my expense, of course.
I have heard from a fellow traveler that the deposit to be paid upon arrival in Phnom Penh is now USD 2.000 but in CASH. Credit cards are no longer accepted. That person was able to leave for Phnom Penh. Tested on arrival and one of the travelers tested positive, so the whole group is quarantined in a hotel for 14 days. My question then: was there actually an infected traveler or another scam to fill the hotels at high prices.
On Wednesday I was back home and today Thursday October 22 I received the original certificate in the mail. Even without a stamp. I'll frame it and hang it. I have therefore not yet discussed the period of validity of such a certificate / people ask on arrival that the certificate is in the 72 hours.
In the end I'm happy to be back home, sorry about all the lost costs.
Now to fight a little with Qatar to get something in return.
Submitted by Herman
What a situation a person can go through. I can imagine your annoyance. Personally, I think that the airline has failed, because it also did not know about the correctness of the relevant travel documents. The fact that the authorities immediately use (abuse) the situation to force things to be done that cost a lot of money, is another thing that disgusts me. It looks like hyena behavior as you are then plucked. I hope for you that there will be compensation, but given the behavior described earlier, I think it will be a difficult case and reference will be made to the own fault criteria.
In these uncertain times it is wiser to travel with original documents
Dear John, the only covid certificate you will receive in a short time is a pdf file by email.
The original I was sent looked no better than my printout.
Also did not contain a stamp or signature.
If I had known, I would have personally collected this document and had it legalized or I would have put a stamp on it myself. Grts, Herman
Dear Herman,
What a horror story again, and so much effort, time and money wasted.
Hopefully you can recover a large part, although…. as a passenger you have a lot of duties but oh so few rights. !!!
With all due respect, I wonder why you wanted to go there if necessary. Mss for business or an important contract. ??
Obviously none of my business, I'm just wondering.
I sincerely hope that you get the necessary refunds and wish you a lot of strength in the tangle.
Greetings,
These are turbulent times. The rules change quickly in every country, sometimes by province, sometimes by city. Airlines are also finding it difficult to keep up with these rapid changes. And if they make mistakes with documents, they risk fines. In addition, Airlines currently have only 1 goal: survival.
The consequences of COVID-19 are not yet predictable for all of us and for the global economy. But if you don't get infected and don't lose your job, then it's not too bad.
Dear Herman,
I'd like to go that way too, but I'm putting it off based on your story.
That it costs something to get there is a choice you can make. But then you would expect a little more cooperation and not to be back after a few days.
Thank you for sharing your experience!!
You don't know with God what you're getting into on a journey, even though it seems fine on paper. The travel industry will have to offer a solution to this, because these types of horror stories (or stories about horror 'service') do not exactly stimulate wanderlust. Perhaps in 1,5 to 2 years, let's see what is possible again. I'm curious to see what additional barriers will remain compared to pre-corona..
Hi Herman,
Thank you for your story/account. Sorry you ran into so many problems. Glad you tried it again. What I would like to know is about your visa. Did you apply for the e-visa online, or did you have to go to the Embassy?
I ask that specifically, because we do not have a Cambodian Embassy in NL. Then I would have to go to Brussels and that is very difficult now. Last year I went to Phnom Penh from Bangkok 7 times and that was a piece of cake with the e-visa. I would also like to visit PP again asap.
I hope you answer.
Regards, Addie.