Thinking about going to Vietnam. A few questions
 

HMC/Saigon

a friend, who is Vietnamese, is going in Sept for a couple of months.
he's going to visit one of his grown children and is staying there.

I'm thinking of going for 2 weeks at end of sept.

1) Which airline?
$520 round trip from DC (IAD) on Air China. (one stop in Peking)
a little bit more expensive on United.

just pick the cheapest?

2) e-Visa to Vietnam says I need to put down the address of the place of where im staying at?
so I need to book a hotel first before applying? :(

3) which hotel?
he offered to let me stay on the couch at his son's place but I feel funny about that, especially for 2 weeks.

I'm budgeting $1000 for the hotel.
Any recommendations? (im Diamond at Wyndham)

Never fly a mainland Chinese carrier when you can get some excellent fares on Asiana, Korean or EVA! Saigon has excellent hotels for pennies - forget the big chains! If you really want something nice I like Ma Maison Boutique Hotel, but there are many many others. Put down the address of your hotel - no, no need to book first (actually the address is of little importance). I would suggest buying an open jaw ticket (into SGN and out of either DAD or HAN). 2 weeks will go by in a flash - limit your stops since transport in VN is very slow (best to use domestic air - Vietjet or Vietnam Air).

Please do a little research - rather important here.

I agree with the advice to avoid connecting through mainland China if at all possible.

+3 regarding avoiding connecting at at China at all costs. And avoiding big chain hotels too.

Agree that spending 2 weeks in Saigon is too much. Vietnam offers way more to be contained at one place and Hanoi and Da Nang/Hoi An are really good suggestions.

Couple of warnings, some of them are specifically for Saigon:
- read about taxi situation in Vietnam and in Saigon particularly. If possible, simply avoid getting taxi on your own - let locals do it.
- DO NOT flash your cash, camera, phone and anything expensive in public. I would suggest leaving expensive smartphone home and getting something for $50 to take with you.
- When/if walking at sidewalks, stay away from traffic side - walk close to buildings.
- If taking photos, hold your camera/phone firmly with both hands and again - stay away from moving traffic.
- Pay with VND, not USD and don't take/carry too much cash with you. If needed, you can withdraw money from ATM
- Most hotels will request to keep your passport during the duration of the stay. Ask them to take copy and request to give passport back - tell them that you need passport to extend your visa. Keep your passport/cash at room safe.
- If paying with credit card, don't let your card to be taken away from your sight and DO NOT use debit card for retail transactions at all.
- If you decide to fly to DAD/HAN, select VN - in this case possibility to cancel/reschedule your flight will be lower, but you still need to be prepared that it will happen - be flexible.
- Go read TripAdvisor forums and ask specific questions there - more information is available there and people are eager to help and answer your questions.

Good luck. And go and try local street food. It is amazing.

Since you plan to be flying to SE Asia every year now is the time to choose an airline alliance. Star Alliance works well for me. Sign up for the United Explorer card to get the 60000(?) sign-up bonus. Book your flight through united.com with that credit card. Start collecting airline miles.

As an infrequent traveler compared to most people on this site, routing through China is fine, but other routings are preferred. Don't get scared about PEK, although transit for a PEK first timer is no fun.

14 nights, $1000? Your hotel budget is too high. I thought you were looking for a low cost retirement destination? You won't be staying at fancy hotels when you're retired. Might as well start looking at agoda and find a decent place closer to $25 per night. I am not even joking.

Here's a random place that looks fine and is near the tourist area for $28 per night.
https://www.agoda.com/bloom-saigon-h...h-city-vn.html


Keep asking more questions!

Plenty of reasonable hotels in the $30-50 per night range.

Unless your friend is going to show you around a lot, a week is about the longest I'd stay in any single city in Vietnam. I've done SGN for that a couple of times in the last decade. I'm doing DAD next year for a week.

To join all the others, I wouldn't connect in Mainland China. HKG, TPE, NRT, SIN are all fine connection cities.

I went to Saigon last year and had a blast. Paid 50 a night for hotel with breakfast and lunch.Took hydro foil to Vung Thie on a day trip. Make sure you go to " Bar 5" in Sagion lots of expats there and the girls love Americans. I was there for 5 days I got 300$ converted to "Dong" and when I left I converted back to US Dollars I got back 140$ spent 160$ in 5 days of sight seeing. Hotel was already paid for. Traffic is of the wild and crazy. Crossing the street is a " Art" where you must overcome fear and have quick reflexes. Kinda of like learning to walk on the "Rice Paper". Have fun.

1) ok, will avoid connecting thru peking ($518 round trip from Dulles/IAD).

next cheapest is United @ $655, connect to Tokyo/NRT.
hm.. connecting flight is tight. 55min. :o

based on United domestic gimmick pricing, it'll probably cost more since I want to chose my seat and be allowed to use the overhead bin for my 21" luggage. :(

any sign up bonuses for the United credit card?


2) 3rd cheapest flight is ANA @ $779, which also connects in Tokyo/nrt.

3) so don't stay more than a week?
so with allowing 1 day each way for travel, only 9-10 days?

4) my friend said to get a hotel in District 1.

5) destination address is of little importance on e-Visa?
just pick the address of any hotel?

To save $200 I'd book on Air China, but if it was 100 or less I'd get United like you said. Just be aware that transit can be tough. But if you can wait a little, there are often really good fares to here from Chicago, around 500 is common on Asiana via Seoul. If you do go through United, the 55 min in NRT is fine, their transit process is a well oiled machine.

You could also look at flying to BKK or SIN for a day or two to sight see and scout out if you like the idea of living in BKK. They also have cheap fares to those places often.

I would book a hotel for one night or two in advance, so that when you arrive you are comfortable and can head there straight away without the hassle of dragging bags around while looking for a place. District 1 is a little big, I'd narrow it to within D1 to two areas - I'd look for a hotel either in the "Ben Thanh" area, which is mid-range (see the one linked above), or in the "Bui Vien/Pham Ngu Lao" area, which is the backpacker area but also has mid-range hotels a tiny bit cheaper. After you stay a day or two at that place, you can move to another if in your visit you see another area or hotel you want to try.

Usually the visa address thing isn't a big deal, but you could list a hotel you see online if you wish, or as mentioned book one and use that. Or just use your friend's address.

Re: taxis, uber is available and usually cheaper than taxis. Grab is more common than uber here (competitor to uber), but a tiny bit higher pricing. If you get a taxi, use VinaSun or MaiLinh and you'll be fine.

Re: theft, there are motorbike thieves, who will drive by and grab your stuff. It's an issue, but not a huge deal. No need to worry, just be careful and hold onto your stuff tight. Walking a bit further away from the curb is good advice.

Re: passports in hotels - meh. I give it to them. It's for the police reports, and I don't think I've ever heard of one getting lost. I figure it's safer with them than in my safe anyway. I've even left it with motorbike guys on the street when I rent, although that feels less secure for sure.

Re: time - if you're with your friend, two weeks will go fast and you can visit many fun local places rather than just doing the touristy stuff, of which there is less and is why many move on quickly. But since you want to find a place to stay long term, I agree you could easily get a cheap flight to other places. Many like Hanoi, although I don't like it at all. Some of the smaller towns in the central areas are popular for expats, like Da Nang and Nha Trang and Phan Thiet and Phan Rang/Cam Ranh. Any of those could be a good place to try.

1) did a mock booking on United.
the $655 price is United Economy, and not the stupid Basic Economy!
but all aisle/window seats were taken. :(
I really want an aisle seat.

they also have Economy Plus for $189 more each way, so +$378 total.
for that price, I'd probably look at ANA first.
but in general, is Economy Plus worth it?

2) whats the cheapest way to get lounge access?

3) friend narrowed down District 1 to Ben Thanh Market area.

1) This website is full of people that fly first class often. You're going to get mixed replies about the flights (and hotels). Aisle is nice for a 15+ hour journey. Economy Plus is nice, but it's just a couple more inches of legroom. Also you get off the plane quicker so you can get to the immigration/security lines quicker. If you're not used to 12+ hour flights to Japan or Hong Kong then you may want to go for economy plus. In the end, your bank account is probably going to have a say in what you pick.

2) United Club. Buy passes for around $15 on Ebay. There's a United Club in Narita (Tokyo) and Hong Kong.

3) I always stay over by Pham Ngu Lao, but over by Ben Thanh should be okay. Can anybody chime in on metro construction in that area?

E+ depends on your height,Im 6'2" so E+ is a make it or break it deal for me.It allows me to fly in Y even to Asia and Im booked for a EWR-HKG.That said 2 items are important 1- I get E+ for $0, 2nd it all depends on the plane many of Uas 777 now are 3-4-3 in Y, which I refuse to fly on even in E+. On a 777 3-3-3 I take an aisle in the middle section, that way if all seats are taken worse case the person in the middle will ask both aisles to get in and out and thats only 1person to deal with , along the 2 sides its 2 people that will bother me to get in and out. If Im really lucky then the D & E seats are flying together = even less times I will be asked to let the middle seat out or back in

So no matter if you fly E or E+ make sure the plane isnt 3-4-3 in Y

For Lounge passes, get the Chase Hyatt card it comes with 2 passes, but that will only help at United Clubs

im 5'9", 150lbs.

No idea what Y is.
United is 3-3-3.
Ana is 2-4-3 (Economy K)

How do you get E+ for free?

and ANA's website is SLOW :(

My strategy would be get the Chase UR bonus points and transfer them to Korean Airlines so you can book a business class ticket. But $520 is a good price for a R/T with 1 stop, even though I am not a big fan of Air China and definitely don't recommend stopping in Beijing because it's a pain. I'm seeing ANA with a layover in Tokyo for about $610 (9/19-10/3), which would be more appealing to me.

As for hotels in Vietnam, I've stayed at some under $10 a night to over $100 a night. If you're staying in D1, then it's going to be more expensive. You're best bet would be independent hotels for about $25-50 a night. The major chains will be closer to the $100 range. You can also try AirBnB.

Two weeks will go by fast since travel time will be 2 days and then you have to deal with jet lag as well. It's also hot and humid there so most of the time you will just want to stay in your hotel during the day and sleep. 1 week has been my shortest trip and 3 months has been my longest.

I would recommend 3 weeks and use AirBnB for some nice places for under $30 a night.

Y = coach

you better click on "seats" to see the layout for each UA flight there are several arrangements on UAs 777s its either 3-3-3 or lately 3-4-3 especially on the 77W(777-300) eg EWR-TLV the afternoon flight(84) is a 777CO so its 3-3-3 but the night flight is a 773 and its 3-4-3

the 150 lbs is OK but 5'9" Im not positive but I think reg coach might be a bit tight if the person in front is like me and reclines the whole way. Check it out on the UA forum

E+ is free due to my status with UA (LifeTime Gold)