REVIEW VIETNAM AIRLINES FLIGHT 780

THE BRIEF

A few firsts for me in my world travels included a vacation in Vietnam and a flight to the country on the national airline. VIETNAM AIRLINES flight 780 would be on an A350-900 from Melbourne, Australia (MEL), to Saigon(SGN), which is now called Ho Chi Minh City. I would transfer to an Airbus 321 in SGN for the short flight to Da Nang(DAD).

I got to the gate on time, as usual, and found that there was a dedicated business lane. Unfortunately, they were boarding business class along with economy class, so there was a mix of passengers in the jetway. A bit counterproductive, if not just a plain nuisance, if you paid extra for the front end.

Nonetheless, even after suffering the delay in the jetway, I found there was lots of room in business class, and my overhead was wide open and spacious. I got my bags stowed and made myself comfortable in the pod.

I found the seating rather confined, as is the case with most of these pod configurations. Although I love the single-window seat layout on any airline, I do prefer carriers with a suite-like offering, especially for long-haul flights.

Business class slippers were first class.

The service was good on board in business class. Food was good, and there was a great selection of wine and spirits.

THE DEBRIEF

I would recommend this airline based on value alone. They have a fairly new fleet of aircraft with very well-trained, polite staff and are a member of SkyTeam, so you will have lots of connections to choose from. The onboard product is good, although I found the Pod-like seat a tad uncomfortable. My biggest complaint was having to board the aircraft via a stairwell after a long bus ride through the tarmac, even though it’s a large A350. There was no jetway until we arrived in Da Nang.

👍👍