Review of Vietnam Airlines flight Hong Kong Ho Chi Minh City in Economy

Airline Vietnam Airlines
Flight VN599
Class Economy
Seat 30D
Aircraft Airbus A321
Flight time 02:50
Take-off 24 Aug 16, 07:50
Arrival at 24 Aug 16, 09:40
VN   #36 out of 94 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 229 reviews
KriegerHo
By 1386
Published on 18th September 2016
Hi, readers! This will be my 2nd FR. This is about the journey with Vietnam airlines flight VN599 from Hong Kong Chek Lap Kok International Airport/Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) to Ho Chi Minh Tan Son Nhat International Airport (SGN). Hope you'll enjoy reading it!

Earliest wake-up time and head to the airport:

24/8/2016 2:50 am, I woke up with a yawn. Very tired. Not getting enough sleep last night, as I can't sleep before the day of travel. So I only slept for 1 hour, then I woke up. After waking up, I did my grooming. At 3:52 am, I left home. I am joining Wing On's tour, AVSGP05B. Before I head to the bus stop, I went to OK for add-value. Then I head for the bus stop. Since it was so early, I have to take the Overnight Express bus to HKG Airport, it was NA29. The bus is very fast. At 5:05 am, we arrived, 20 mins before the scheduled gathering time.

NA29 route information
photo na29

Airport in early morning
photo airport lane d

Vietnam Girl
photo vietnam girl

How to spend my time at the airport:
After checking in and delivered my luggage at Lane D, Terminal 1, I passed immigration quickly and had a breakfast at McDonald's. After breakfast, I took a photo of a Cathay Pacific A330-300 in old livery and an airplane wheel.

Airplane wheel
photo wheel lines

Cathay Pacific A330-300 in old livery
photo planes 1

Lane D
photo d sign

My Air Ticket
photo 14390903_1577516469222188_5783070526274695748_n

McDonalds at Terminal 1 Airside
photo mcdonalds

Currency list at McDonalds
photo currency mcdonalds

After breakfast, I had a walk in the terminal and used the toilet before heading to gate 511.

Instructions to gate 501-530
photo sign 501-530

Then turn left for gate 501-519
photo sign 501-519

The lane at gate 512
photo 512 lane

Boarding should be commenced at 7:05 am but delayed to 7:15 am. The same boarding procedure: Business class passengers board first, but we are on the same bus. We took the bus to the plane, which is parked at gate N145.

Line up for boarding. Two lines: Business and Economy class.
photo boarding

Cathay Pacific B777-367(ER) in new livery
photo cx b773new livery

Please stop
photo stop

A few minutes later, we arrived at the plane.

HKG Tarmac
photo airport tarmac

Our plane
photo back of the plane

Stairs for boarding at the back. For rows 27-39
photo tail and stairs

Wing of our plane. VN-A325, an A321.
photo vn-a325

Plane:
After I board the plane, there were no greetings. no good mornings, no welcome on board, no hi and etc… their mouth should be stuck by AA Glue. The Y class was about 65% full, about 103 passengers on board.

Last row of empty seats
photo last row

Magazine for Vietnam Airlines: Heritage
photo heritage

Toilet door
photo toilet door

Vomitting Bag
photo vomiting bag

Taxi and Takeoff:
The plane started taxiing at 7:53 am, 2 minutes ahead of scheduled time. After a 24 minute taxi, we took off from Runway 07L. Smooth takeoff.

Food:
Meal services started about 10 minutes after takeoff. The meal for this flight is breakfast. There are only 2 choices of breakfast, congee, and noodles. Adding on is a juice/beer/champagne and a plain yogurt. If you want a bread, you have to ask yourself. They won't ask you if you want it or not. Also, there is only ONE laminated menu, so people will have to wait for the people in front to choose, thus wasting time. As I said before, their mouth are stuck by AA Glue, they just give it to you with ONE hand (The Chinese tradition is TWO hands since it is a manner), and then you tell him/her, and then they give it to you without speaking. Most airlines do say 'Enjoy your meal", but this is not the case. I chose the noodle set with the bun. The noodle is ridiculously good, the fruit was amazingly sweet, and it is the best meal I've ever eaten before (sarcastic). The bun is hot and tasty, so they gained themselves half a mark. After meals were distributed, they would ask you if you want tea or coffee. I chose the tea and they gained themselves another half a mark.

Meal before opening the covers
photo disgusting meal

Tea
photo tea

Landing and taxi:
After 2 hours 14 minutes in the air, we landed in Ho Chi Minh Tan Son Nhat International Airport on 9:31 am. The landing was also smooth. We taxied for 9 minutes. The journey was still uneventful. But when we neared to the terminal, the airbridge malfunctioned, so we have to take the bus to the terminal, pass immigration, reclaim baggage, and finally arriving at landside.

Thank you so much and please continue to support me. There will be another flight report soon. Also, please give comments!
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Verdict

Vietnam Airlines

3.0/10
Cabin6.0
Cabin crew2.0
Entertainment/wifi2.0
Meal/catering2.0

Hong Kong - HKG

9.8/10
Efficiency10.0
Access9.0
Services10.0
Cleanliness10.0

Ho Chi Minh City - SGN

6.3/10
Efficiency6.0
Access6.5
Services6.5
Cleanliness6.0

Conclusion

Hong Kong International Airport: Always good. Clean and hygienic. First time taking a bus to a remote stand and it is quite fast as usual (took it to the North Satellite Concourse before). Microphones are very loud and clear, for finding missing passengers.

Flight: Extremely unimpressed. When we board the plane, the FA doesn't welcome passengers. The seat is average, very normal (Standard seat width is 18 inches and Seat Pitch is 32 inches). The food is revolting, very plain, and the fruit is terribly sour. They won't ask you if you want a bread or not, if you want it, tell them. The nice thing is that the bread is hot and the tea is also hot and with tea taste (at least not like the tea). Flight is uneventful and smooth, take off and landing is perfect. Except that, it was a bad time with them.

Ho Chi Minh Tan Son Nhat International Airport: A small airport. The line for immigration takes a very long time except for SkyPriority people. The Agent there (for the arrival level) is friendly and polite. Baggage Reclaim is very quick.

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