Originally Posted by
pentiumii
May not be much help as far as how early you can checkin. We left the Metropole in Hanoi at 7 am for the 10:35 flight. took about 30 minutes to get to the airport, maybe less. Used the Hanoi Transfer Service that we found on the internet, and they were fantastic for scheduling airport transportation. Very affordable, like $12 to 18 depending upon how big your vehicle needed to be.
http://hanoitransferservice.com
I can't exactly remember details, but immigration and security was very fast and possibly had some elite lines.
We had access to the VN lounge which was comfortable and had some food and drinks. Employees at a counter would make coffee or pour wine. Perfect for getting ready to actually have a meal on the flight.
It seems like the gate was right outside the lounge but I am a little foggy on that. Certainly wasn't a hike. I wouldn't have left much earlier just to be in that lounge. Traffic was light at that time of day, and it was raining.
I took the bus #86 for 35k from t2 to Long Bien, a 5-min walk from the edge of the old quarter. It had ac, a luggage space, a friendly conductor who spoke some English, even a WiFi, took about half an hour. I'm pretty sure I'm the only CX F pax who travels like this! There's even a cheaper option for 9k, but it seems it takes the double amounts of time. For those familiar with Grab, a car can be hired around 250k ($11) one way between the airport and the old quarter.
I think I've used Hanoi transfer service when I first came 10 years ago. With advancement like Google maps and Grab, and Google Translate when needed, now I can travel more like locals do and pay what locals pay, no more haggling.
I'll run some searches about the VN lounge, but One Mile At a Time has recently posted a review about Song Hong Business Lounge, it looked much better than other Priority Pass lounges at KUL, MNL, etc.