Review of Vietnam Airlines flight Hanoi Ho Chi Minh City in Economy

Airline Vietnam Airlines
Flight VN259
Class Economy
Seat --
Aircraft Boeing 787-9
Flight time 02:00
Take-off 02 Jul 17, 17:00
Arrival at 02 Jul 17, 19:00
VN   #36 out of 94 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 228 reviews
ItsKevin
By 1516
Published on 28th November 2017
Hey all!
This is the next part of my summer trip in Vietnam
Click here for part 1
Before flight
I wanted to try Vietnam AIrlines, since it's one of unusual airline to fly in the region. I booked the flight to Ho Chi Minh on VN259 which operated with their newest A350-900. I got very cheap ticket for this 2 hours flight, only paid VND 1.5 million (around USD 60) all in per pax. Who doesn't want to fly with new aircraft with such great deals?
It is usual that Vietnam AIrlines do some aircraft changes. Some time after I bought the ticket, they changed the equipment for my flight to old A332, and I felt so dissapointed. But, several weeks before my flight, I checked it again, and they swap the equipmnent again to newer B787 Dreamliner. Yeah!

The day
After 3 days exploring Hanoi and Halong Bay, it's the time for leaving to Ho Chi MInh CIty. I took Uber from my hotel in Old Quarter to Noi Bai AIrport, and it costs me only VND 90.000
I arrived at the airport around 2.30 PM, and directly printed the boarding pass. Still have 2,5 hours before the flight, I decided to explore the domestic terminal, adn did some plane spotting
This Vietnam Airlines A321 were preparing for its flight to Nha Trang that afternoon
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This Dreamliner already finished her job from Ho Chi Minh City, and being pushed to the hangar
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Then, I moved to other spot, and met this beauty preparing for VN 253 to Ho Chi Minh. I still hope to fly with A359 asap :)
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After that, I went back and waiting at the gate. Not long after, boarding call started, and all of passengers made a line to board the aircraft. I felt so excited, still guess which aircraft will operate my flight, and this is the answer
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Yeah, VN-A866 would fly me to Ho Chi Minh City that evening. I was lucky enough to fly one of Vietnam Airlines B787 with 2 class only.

Entering the cabin, a male, who was the supervisor (purser) of the flight, greet me and checked my boarding pass. I went to my seat directly. Look at this VietJet, being pushback for domestic sector in the evening.
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The door closed around 5.30 PM, and the plane started the taxiing. The captain introduced himself, and gave some information regarding to our route and weather. We took off from Hanoi Capital at 5.45 PM, almost one hour delay, because there were many passengers, so the crews need more time to arrange them all.
Byeeee Hanoi! See you next time!
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I tried to explore the IFE systems. It was quite responsive screen, but the programs weren't updated enough. It contains mainly Vietnamese film and shows, with several choices of Western films and music.
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I was looking for the headset, but I couldn't find it, so I called the crew but nobody came to my seat. Not long after, the crews were ready to serve the dinner. There were only 4 crews (3 stewardesses and the purser ) serving all economy class!. Wow, what a rare moment where the purser serves economy class.
The crews arrived at my row and the purser asked "What do you want to eat, Sir? Today we have fish with rice and pork noodle." My mom chose the pork, and I chose the other one. After they gave the meal, I asked about the headset, and he explained that they didn't distributed the headset because it was only short haul flight, so the entertainment just an "open entertainment" (Still don't kno what is the meaning of open entertainment till today), and we must bring our headset if we want to use the IFE. Come on VN, how can you don't distribute the headsets on this 2 hrs flight? Even other airlines in the region give full meal and entertainment for flights which take above 1.5 hour.
Here are the meals. Although the presentation were decent, the pork noodles had very delicious taste!
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After the crews served the meals, they had a tea run before clear the trays. I tried to take photos of cabin condition after the meal
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When I took some photos in the lavatory, the captain announced that the plane were passing bad weather near Ho Chi Minh City, and seta belt sign were turned on. I went back to my seat as soon, and not long after we passed the bad weather, the captain announced that we would be landing shortly. So sad that the flight would end fastly :(
The landing gears touched the wet runway at 7.15 PM, only 15 minutes after sechedule. Great job for the cockpit crews!
The Dreamliner parked at the gate with other Dreamliner and A330-200, and we disembarked. I went to my hotel with bus 109 to Pham Ngu Lao area (23/9 Park Bus Terminal), and it costs only VND 30.000 per person.
The end.

Thanks for read this report!
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Verdict

Vietnam Airlines

7.3/10
Cabin8.5
Cabin crew7.0
Entertainment/wifi6.0
Meal/catering7.5

Hanoi - HAN

6.8/10
Efficiency6.5
Access6.5
Services7.0
Cleanliness7.0

Ho Chi Minh City - SGN

7.0/10
Efficiency7.0
Access7.0
Services7.0
Cleanliness7.0

Conclusion

After I tried some 4 star airlines (based on Skytrax rating), I think Vietnam Airlines was the best one. Everything went well on this flight. The crews weren't as hospitable as other carrier in the region (SQ/MI or GA), but they still served with smile and kindness. Legroom and food were okay.
I think their service will be better if they do some updates on IFE contents, and give headset for shorter roues, so passengers can enjoy the IFE more.

Information on the route Hanoi (HAN) Ho Chi Minh City (SGN)

Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 20 avis concernant 3 compagnies sur la ligne Hanoi (HAN) → Ho Chi Minh City (SGN).


Useful

La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est Bamboo Airways avec 7.6/10.

La durée moyenne des vols est de 1 heures et 48 minutes.

  More information

3 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 420832 by
    cheapflyer.JP 58 Comments
    Hi, ITSKEVIN
    I had experienced VN N787 from SGN to Japan. It was roughly 5 hours flight, so I could enjoy the full-service include a headset.
    You mentioned that they didn't distribute a headset. The reason is VN provides an expensive?? headset (At least, It was fine), which are retrieved before landing. This procedure may be difficult and costly to commence within the 2-hour flight.
    And I would like to try its brand-new A350.Someday...
    • Comment 420835 by
      ItsKevin AUTHOR 26 Comments
      Hey mate!
      How about your experience? I want to hear more about your trip with their 787, maybe you can share your experience with me?
      Wow really? I thought the headset just had average quality. Yeah same here, I still want to fly with A350 someday, maybe I can fly with other carriers since A350 is a quite common aircraft type nowadays.
  • Comment 420959 by
    KévinDC TEAM SILVER 6658 Comments
    Hi new Kevin :-)
    Thanks for sharing this next report in the series! The 787 and A350 look really great in VN's new livery. It's nice that you get a full mean on a domestic flight and it looks quite good. Too bad about the headphones--I always carry my own just in case. The VN Dreamliner experience looks good overall. Hope you get to try the A359 soon!

    Thanks for sharing!
    • Comment 420989 by
      ItsKevin AUTHOR 26 Comments
      Hi Kevin!
      I think I got full meal because the time of this flight was around dinner time. I heard from some people, VN only serve full meal on flight which depart around breakfast/lunch/dinner time. Other time, they only serve snack
      Thanks for your compliment!

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