A very good early afternoon to you from busy Saigon as we cross into the central District
1 and welcome to this trip report which you probably think you’ve seen before.
But I’ve got something a bit different today. The route between Saigon and Bangkok is easily
the route I fly the most often. For as many trip reports as I have published about it,
I’ve probably actually flown it two or three times since I only
like to make a trip report about it when I have something different to show. In today’s case,
it’s actually a bit of premium economy action. So this is my first of four flights that are
getting me from Saigon today to Athens some 34 hours later. It is interesting since I
have this seat today too which means this four leg hop will have economy,
premium economy, business and first class. First though we need to get to the airport
here in the center of the city. So, this city is huge, basically everything to the
left of the line is Ho Chi Minh City or Saigon as it’s usually called locally. To those that
like to correct me for saying Saigon, I’ll just leave you with this gem, the seal of the city,
which lists both. Anyway, Tan Son Nhat International airport was built in the
1930s by the French Colonial government and has for nearly a decade now been operating
way over capacity. So, there is a new airport that is finally starting to take shape way out
here in Long Thanh. It’s expected that the future will see a similar system to Bangkok,
where Vietnam Airlines would move to the new airport along with most full service carriers,
while the old airport would be turned into Vietjetland. I’m hoping it’ll take the code HCM
just so we have equal representation in the city. Anyway, as we now head inside to the check in
hall now, let me welcome any of you that are new to the channel. My name
is Kevin and I am The Flip Flop Traveller. I think the internet is in need of a whole lot
more honesty when it comes to airline and hotel content and that’s why I’m here- I’m just here
to be real. I make trip reports and high end hotel reviews and I always self fund my trips. In fact,
you’ll always be able to find the exact price I paid in the description below. I don’t alert
any companies I’ll be filming because I want as normal of an experience as possible. So,
in this video today, I’m going to give you nothing more than my real, honest and unbiased
opinion based on my personal experience. I have Skyteam Elite Plus status which is
what allowed me to check in at the SkyPriority lounge. That is also what allowed me to select
today’s seat. Policies are slightly different from carrier to carrier, but Skyteam Elite and
Elite Plus members essentially can choose any seat on their flight for free when booking.
Vietnam Airlines very frequently uses their Widebody 787s and A350s on short routes for
some frequencies such as this afternoon’s flight. There are two versions of the 787, one has premium
economy and one has economy plus. Luckily today we had the full premium economy so when Booking
i selected the seat for free, since they don’t offer a Premium Economy product on this route.
I think this is a pretty unique and valuable benefit if you fly Skyteam a lot. Keep in mind
if you open the Air France Bank of America credit card, that automatically gives you Skyteam Elite.
Anyway, let’s get through to the Vietnam Airlines Lotus Lounge.
The entrance leaves a bit to be desired, but once inside it’s nice and bright and
open with a variety of seating and eating areas. Don’t expect any Singapore or Cathay
luxuries though. Food is your standard Vietnam lounge food fare, but the views are fantastic,
making this my favorite lounge in the airport. Vietnam Airlines currently has 97 aircraft
in their fleet with a further 61 on order, 50 of which are 737 Max Family,
which is a totally new type for the carrier. Of their aircraft, 29 of them are widebody
which are the true work horses. On a normal day, they have around 30 flights in each
direction between Saigon and Hanoi, around 20 on wide bodies. As Lunar New Year comes around,
that will increase to possibly near 100 per day. Here is your yearly reminder to stay away from
Vietnamese airports in the days leading up to Tet. Here’s your friendly reminder to click that thumbs
up button, subscribe to the channel and share this video with friends and family. Those are
truly the easiest ways- all free for you- to help the channel grow. If you’d like to
support me further my Patreon is linked in the description below. Thanks very much in advance.
Anyway, let’s head down to the very busy bus gate area. In the coming years this crowding should
be eased a bit as another terminal here at this airport is already under construction, finally.
I figured today we could take a look at the connectivity in general between
Vietnam and Thailand at the moment. Over the years, connectivity to 2nd tier cities
has expanded a lot, relatively speaking- but overall the market is still below pre-covid
levels. There are currently six carriers that fly between the countries which is
down from a peak of I believe eleven carriers which have served the route over the years.
VNA currently fly to 61 regular destinations, 22 of which are domestic with an additional 17
charter destinations, 16 of which are 2nd and third tier cities in China.
Despite signage that said we were going to Siem Reap, they assured us this was boarding for
Bangkok. I’ll take there word for it that there are no 787s flying to Siem Reap anytime soon.
The bus was confused as well. As we drove to the other side of the
airport, we started to get some peaks of perfect sunshine to let some of these aircraft really pop.
Let’s take a look at today’s flight stats on the way.
And here’s one of my favorite things on earth. Boarding a widebody aircraft by stairs.
There are five rows of premium economy on these 787-9s and for today’s flight I was in 14A.
These are the same seats you’ll find on the ex-Norwegian birds as well as in Scoot’s
premium class among I’m sure many other airlines that are slipping my mind.
They’re really comfortable seats. My only two gripes would be the airbag in the seat belt
which is just uncomfortable to sit with as well as the arm rests extending quite far forward,
preventing you from wide crossing your legs. There is a foot rest though and
universal outlets for each seat. The seats themselves are 20 inches wide,
which is good for Premium Economy and even better, they’re nearly 22 inches deep which is
really good and provides great support. Plus they have legroom for days and an additional footrest.
By the way, I should mention even if you have no status, you can buy these seats for
an additional reasonable fee within a few days of departure- just keep your eyes on the seat maps.
The entertainment monitor is in the center console and has your call buttons on the bottom of it.
Wet wipes were passed out and it was time for push back, the safety video and taxiing to the runway.
Here’s where they’re building the new terminal. The spool up, take
off and airport stats are coming up next. The tray table pops up from the side and is a good
size and sturdy enough. A lunch service followed. Unfortunately Vietnam Airlines has done away with
hot meals on this short flight as of a few months ago, so now we just get a sandwich.
As far as egg salad goes, I suppose it was pretty good,
but I'd much rather have a beef curry of course. Let’s take a look at the entertainment on board.
For a regional carrier like VNA, I think it’s as expected. There’s enough to pass
the time and also a good in flight map. And, thankfully, overhead air vents as well.
Well, with a flight time of just 70 minutes today, things were quickly wrapping up as we
began to approach Bangkok from the southeast. A quick comment about service on board. 90% of
the crew were great and smiley and just all around pleasant. I’m not sure who was actually running
the show, but one of the two in Purser uniform was just not having it today and looking like she was
on a mission to make all of the crew miserable the entire flight. Perhaps she was just mad that she
wasn’t in charge. No idea. A rarity for VNA. Alright, I’ll let you enjoy the descent and
landing in Bangkok, the airport stats are also coming up.
So, it was short and sweet but I’m very glad at least I was able to show you a new product that
I haven’t featured on the channel previously. To be honest, I’d love to feature more premium
economy products on the channel, but I find so many of them overpriced and the fares just
continue to rise. Southeast Asia to New York pre Covid was regularly under $1400
round trip on a variety of carriers. Now you’re lucky when you can find something under $2000.
Overall, it was a perfectly nice little flight. Shame to see the hot meal service go by the
wayside, but I’ll take a cold sandwich and a better seat any day of the week.
I really hope you enjoyed this trip report today. If you did, please be sure to click
that thumbs up button and subscribe with notifications on so you don’t miss out
on my twice weekly content. I upload full length videos every Thursday and Saturday. I’ll see you
next time at the absolutely sublime Regent Phu Quoc. Oh and thanks for watching until the end.