Best Airlines for Traveling to Vietnam

[What's next 1]

I used this site to get my visa on arrival.

http://www.hotels-in-vietnam.com

$14 fee plus $25 stamp fee at the airport in VN

[Anh map 2,098]

Correct, there are zero non-stop US-Vietnam flights.

Northwest/Delta used to have a flight from LAX to HCMC but there was an equipment change at Narita. One flight number, two legs.

From NYC you can go all the way to Asia on several airlines and then connect to HCMC with one stop, that's the best you can do.

Edited August 5, 2010 by Anh map

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

These are the MAIN reasons why we love to live in CALIFORNIA, OC, and Bay Area.

- Only flights going direct to HCM is from San Francisco. American Airline. Cost $1100 (depend on the season). Not sure if AA still flight in VN??? Anh Chim please confirms.

I don't think American has any direct flights to HCMC from the US. I couldn't find any, at least. All that I could find stop at Norita. Many also stop in the US (if you're flying from SFO) - Honolulu, Los Angeles, or Dallas/Fort Worth.

- Don't check online. Go to Vnese travels agency from Cali. The cost is much cheaper. We have thousand of travels agency in the OC, and Bay Area.

Agreed. I've used US Tours for four out of five of my trips. They've always gotten better deals than I could find online. On my second trip they snatched a cancellation seconds after it became available, and saved me nearly $1000 on a trip I was booking only a couple of weeks in advance.

- Best airline to flight are EVA, Cathy, Japan, Korea, Singaphor, and etc.

Out of that list, I've only tried EVA. I've also tried Asiana and China Airlines. Of the three, I like EVA far better. It's about as comfortable as you can expect being packed like a sardine in a can, they have modern aircraft in good condition, a personal entertainment center at every seat (including economy), and the food ain't bad. They stopover in Taipei. If you catch the redeye out of SFO then you'll sleep most of the first leg, and land about 7:00am in Taipei. The airport in Taipei will be practically empty at that time of day, so it's actually a pretty pleasant layover. Catch the 9:30am flight to HCMC, and you'll arrive just before lunch time.

I hate China airlines, though it tends to be a tad cheaper than EVA. Their aircraft are old, the seats are worn, and they still show Chinese movies from VHS tape on a single bulkhead screen at the front of the cabin. It's like getting time warped back to the 1990's.

[dtc 1]

mr 2000 from reading some of your posts here on vj i assum that you never been to vietnam before , if that the case then here are some advices . vietnam is tough to get to , tough to live there and even tougher to bring back a wife . am going to viet nam again in september , using korean air , this gona cost me like 1.1k and i did buy my ticket like 2 months in advantage.from boston i will have to take 4 different airplanes just to hit central viet nam .....intotal 36 hours . normally i will try to travel light in vietnam , and bring along plenty of anti food poisonning pills , anti diaria pills , bug repellants and minimum 3k in us dollars(hide that in your boot if you have to). if you gona stay at your girl place have her take you to the town police deparment and fill out a "temporarry resident register form"(or wut ever the hell they call it) and ask to keep a coppy.this is important because you will need that to show the us consulate in saigon that you and your girl did live togetther. good luck with your trip .

[dtc 1]

err if you gona stay in saigon then you dont need bug repellent that bad , my bad for not reading your post cleally . last few trips that i went to vietnam mosquito tried to murder me .

[luckytxn 2,264]

I liked Asiana the best so far. The babes were hot and nice and smelled good to boot. The food was decent and loved the console on the back of each seat and free head phones with many choices of channels.

[Teacher Mark 53]

Not sure if AA still flight in VN??? Anh Chim please confirms.

They do. They even have an office on Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, but I wouldn't recommend going there. I went there and they quoted me $3000, when itickets were available through their website for $1100.

Edited August 5, 2010 by Mr. Saigon

[Teacher Mark 53]

err if you gona stay in saigon then you dont need bug repellent that bad , my bad for not reading your post cleally . last few trips that i went to vietnam mosquito tried to murder me .

Agreed. I have 2 bottles of Off that I've never had to use. In a year and a half I've only been bitten a few times.

[gvt 0]

Planning to go to Vietnam to meet my fiance and get married, staying there about a month. I've checked the prices for airfare on sites like Orbitz and Travelocity and the flights all require 2-3 connections and cost over $2,000, even if the flight is more than 2 weeks in the future. I heard that there are direct flights between the USA and HCM City, at least from San Diego to HCM, but I live on the east coast of the USA and I could not find any flights that go: Home -> San Diego | San Diego -> HCM City.

If I'm already going to be paying more than $2K for a ticket I'd like to minimize the layover times and not have to connect in multiple airports. I really want to go direct from the USA to HCM City and avoid having to layover in Hong Kong. Hoping some people can give me some tips on planning my trip to Vietnam. When I get there I will be staying with my girl and her family at their house. I was originally going to get a hotel but then I heard there is some weird law that says I cannot bring a VN national into my hotel room. Anyway, her family wants to meet me so it's all good. Just need help planning the actual flights.

Also try Best Travel Store:

www.bt-store.com

I have used them twice flying to Bangkok and they were always cheaper than other online websites. I did a quick check and you can fly from JFK to SGN for $1115 on Cathay for Aug 26-Sept 22. About $1290 for Korean Airlines. Try lots of dates since the prices vary based on the days of travel.

Also try:

www.kayak.com

They aggregate all the websites including the airlines.

Good luck!

[Sayha or bust. 71]

I'd advise going through a Vietnamese travel agency, I'm in Vietnam as we speak and I paid 2,000 dollars, the same flight was advertised on the net for 2500 on up to 3600. I could of went through Korean Air but had double booked being impatient with my the first travel agency for about 1600. I went with United and will never fly again,lost my baggage, the food was terriable as was the service. I will continue my greviance when I get stateside. Good luck with your flight.

[Sayha or bust. 71]

Agreed. I have 2 bottles of Off that I've never had to use. In a year and a half I've only been bitten a few times.

I'd like to be were your at, I'm 7 hours south of Saigon and there making a meal out of me. I do have off and she lights some sort of repellant at night.

[Sayha or bust. 71]

mr 2000 from reading some of your posts here on vj i assum that you never been to vietnam before , if that the case then here are some advices . vietnam is tough to get to , tough to live there and even tougher to bring back a wife . am going to viet nam again in september , using korean air , this gona cost me like 1.1k and i did buy my ticket like 2 months in advantage.from boston i will have to take 4 different airplanes just to hit central viet nam .....intotal 36 hours . normally i will try to travel light in vietnam , and bring along plenty of anti food poisonning pills , anti diaria pills , bug repellants and minimum 3k in us dollars(hide that in your boot if you have to). if you gona stay at your girl place have her take you to the town police deparment and fill out a "temporarry resident register form"(or wut ever the hell they call it) and ask to keep a coppy.this is important because you will need that to show the us consulate in saigon that you and your girl did live togetther. good luck with your trip .

From the info i gathered from my attorney,that police report doesnt mean a thing. My last one cost me 140 U.S dollars. Your proof is your boarding tickets,passport stamps,pictures plus your officially getting married. No need to hide money,Maybe a money pouch ive carried several thousands dollars without worry, try explaining 3000 dollars hiding in your shoe, it would be hard at least for me since I speak very little Vietnamese and more Cambodian. If not mistaken you can carry 12,000 usd, don't quote me on that. Enjoy your trip your loved one will take good care of you and won't let anyone take advantage of you.

[JimVaPhuong 4,863]

I'd like to be were your at, I'm 7 hours south of Saigon and there making a meal out of me. I do have off and she lights some sort of repellant at night.

They are just as bad in central Vietnam. When I was there last August they were biting the ####### out of everyone, and they had to sleep under mosquito nets, but they wouldn't touch me. I guess I don't taste good.

The repellent she lights is probably citronel. It works pretty good, if you stay really close to the candle. More than a few feet away and it's practically useless.

[Sayha or bust. 71]

They are just as bad in central Vietnam. When I was there last August they were biting the ####### out of everyone, and they had to sleep under mosquito nets, but they wouldn't touch me. I guess I don't taste good.

The repellent she lights is probably citronel. It works pretty good, if you stay really close to the candle. More than a few feet away and it's practically useless.

I think your right, the candle sits next to the bed, ive managed to step on it twice getting out of bed. The mosquito net impedes my fan so i'm in no win win situation. lol

[BinhJerome 14]

From where you are, you will NOT get a direct flight to HCMC, at least not for $2000 or less. As others have said check the days that you are flying from, if you leave on a Friday it is much more expensive than say a Thursday, or a Wednesday. I think the cheapest days to fly in and out on are Wednesday and Thursday, so change your date to reflect that and see if that helps. I understand the fact you don’t want to get a connecting flight, but there are some good reasons to get one. First and foremost if you do not get a connecting flight, what if the stewardesses are rude? What if you sit next to a screaming baby or a stinky person? Yes you have to disembark the plane and then get on another one yada yada yada, but if you are already complaining about the $2000 price, quit looking for a straight through shot. I usually use Delta, had a snafu the last flight with them charging me way too much for my extra baggage, but after a couple of months of arguing I did get my reimbursement from them. If you find an airline that you like, stick with it, even if the fair is more, my half brother just used my sky miles and brought his daughter to Alaska for a summer vacation with him, if you always search for the cheapest flight you will lose out on some of the perks that come along with the frequent flier. Just my two cents worth, and if you really want a nonstop flight, then you will need to get to Cali, this means because you are using separate airlines to book your flight then you will have to pay extra for any bags that are not carry on, and don’t forget the best part, if your first flight is delayed, because it wasn’t a package deal, you have to now fork out more money for the flight YOU missed because you were trying to get the best deal. Friends of mine just went through this and believe me he was not too happy about shelling out even more money since it is far more expensive to buy a ticket on the day you leave versus two or even three weeks in advance. My plane ticket costs for my 4 trips are as followed December 2008 $2300 round trip Louisville KY to HCMC I had 2 stops one in Chicago, and another in Tokyo, on the way home Tokyo and San Francisco July 2009 $1500 once again Louisville to HCMC this time stops in Atlanta and Tokyo both ways October 2009 $715 (real price no BS) same as last trip, then my last trip one way from Oklahoma City to HCMC stopover in Atlanta then in Seoul South Korea. All of these were done through Delta I have to admit the stewards are not the best in the business, but at each of my layovers in Tokyo and Korea I had much better ones for the remainder of the flights. I also always use Orbits, and I have never tried any of the travel agents and when we were hoping for the Visa Binh used local ones here to get prices and they were usually higher than what I could get online from the states. Jerome