:tu::tu:
Thank you! I think we are definitely looking at 3 Days in HAN, 3 days in HCMC (with the sights you suggested) ...
After that, will think if we want to do 2 more nights elsewhere.

We went with this tour for the Mekong Delta day tour and would recommend them. They were booked through our travel agent so we didn't know about them beforehand but it was wonderful.
https://www.mangocruises.com/

Oh wow! that is so helpful!! thank you!

Regarding 2 more nights, you can consider spending in Mekong Delta instead of a day trip from HCMC or Dalat.

My K6 flight from REP-DAD was cancelled and moved from July 4 to the 5th. I am considering Air Asia but after adding luggage, it is about the same price as Vietnam Airlines.

With VN, I would switch planes in SGN. Since I applied for my Vietnam visa with Da Nang as my entrypoint, would this be a problem?

HCMC/ Saigon is the port of entry so you should apply for a new evisa. Entry point is a must, while you can leave VN from any exit point.

I have a question for finding a mid-range hotel in Hanoi. I am not interested in major chain hotels there, because it seems like smaller hotels have pretty nice rooms too. I see in Tripadvisor that almost everybody suggested the Old Quarter, which seems shabby and too chaotic with backpacker hostels and foreign-centric eateries. I am thinking of the French Quarter, just below Hoan Kiem Lake. Is this a better choice? Where else do you suggest I consider?

Thanks very much.

Thanks. Not fun paying for a new visa but I want to be sure I can get to Da Nang if I fly with VN.

Vaccine recommendations
 

A group of us are heading to Vietnam (from the UK) at the beginning of August and looking at some of the websites I can see a long list of recommended vaccinations/boosters, tablets: Hep A & B, Diphtheria, Typhoid, TB, Japanese encephelitus, Tetnus, Malaria and Rabies.

Main stop offs and hotels are in Hanoi, Halong bay, Hoi An/de Nang and Ho Chi Min. Can those that have been let me know which ones they had, all or selective (based on risk I assume)?

Went from the US in December. Visited Saigon, Hoi An, Hanoi, and Ha Long Bay. Didn't get any of the vaccinations/boosters prior to the trip. Edited to add: We all had the regular diphtheria/tetanus shots that are regularly given in the US. But none of the other ones you listed.

Have friends and family living in Vietnam. We never get any before travelling to there. But I do know Japanese encephalitis is around at the moment. That would only be a worry if your in an area with mosquitos.

Before we did our Mekong cruise, we had all those immunizations. (Well, any we didn't already have). We knew we'd be in the country and around livestock etc, not just in cities. Plus, if there's a vaccine I'm eligible for and any question I might need it, I get it. I think only japanese encephalitis was new for us, and new malaria prep for the trip.Mosquitoes LOVE me, I will get bites.when no one else does and it's dry season. So I also bring deet.

Local mosquito repellant, Remos/ Soffell works well in VN.

Asking for a friend (since she knows me as the STC - Senior Travel Consultant)... Has anyone successfully applied and paid for a Tourist EVisa for Vietnam recently (directly by themselves not going through an agency)? The payment seems to be failing and her bank claims they are never even seeing the payment request. She was trying to use a Local Massachusetts Bank Issued Debit Card. (And is now trying one of my Capital One Credit Cards).

Do either of these cards have SCA (Strong Customer Authentication) enabled by your bank where you get a one time passcode for online purchases? If they don't, and knowing how the US banking sector is rarely keeping pace with the rest of the world, then this could be the problem - the payment provider for the Vietnam government probably requires SCA and if the card issuing bank doesn't support it then it fails.

In this case, there are two options.

1. Ring the bank that issued the card, ask them to check for failed transactions, and ask if they can do a manual pre-auth for SCA for this failed transaction and then try again.
2. Find a bank card that supports SCA. Typically from a challenger/digital bank with modern backend systems.