I just passed through SGN immigration and there is a separate line for ABTC. It's obviously much shorter than the regular line,but I would expect there to be scrutiny on whether your trip qualifies as business for ABTC... beyond just having the card.

So, apologies if you have looked into the legal/license side of things and thus already know the following but in case you haven't: one major issue for tourists is whether they can legally drive in Vietnam. Assuming said tourist does not have a VN driving license they will need a valid driving license from their home country PLUS an International Driving Permit (IDP) from the 1968 Vienna Convention. That last part is important since some fairly prominent countries have not ratified the '68 convention:

• Australia
• Canada
• Iceland
• India
• Ireland
• Japan
• New Zealand
• United States

A lot of people renting motorbikes in VN are doing so illegally (though I hear this is far less common than it used to be). Of course the big risk there is if you have an accident your troubles will be compounded and you won't be covered by your insurance.
As to why there simply may not be any availability of cars for tourists with all the right documents, I'm not sure, but would guess the locals just don't trust tourists to drive safely, even on Phu Quoc - and you can do a lot more damage in and to a car compared to a motorbike, both in terms of money and injury.

Hi! I am heading to Vietnam in January 2025. I am planning on visiting Hanoi, Hoi An, Hue, and DaNang, and then I will travel to Laos and Cambodia for a bit.

I am unclear on how to best travel between these areas within Vietnam and its border countries. When traveling, I typically fly in, rent a car, and road trip it all, or take express trains, walk around local cities, and then take quick flights to neighboring countries.
I am largely not comfortable in taxis or buses. I am willing to travel on public transport under the right conditions. I have taken an overnight ferry to Crete—a good experience; a cross-country day train in Norway—a great experience; several express trains throughout Europe—varying experiences; and a sleeper train in Sweden—a poor experience. I see very mixed reviews on the Reunification Express. Does Vietnam have good, clean, reliable, comfortable trains? And if so, is this the best route? Or should I fly between each destination?

Once I reach these cities, how best to navigate them? I find many blogs/videos by backpackers using motorbikes and tourists taking tour buses. I am not interested in either avenue. Is a private driver the best route? Will one drive us throughout Vietnam? Or do I need to schedule them individually throughout? Will any go into neighboring countries? And what range of cost might this be?

Thanks for any assistance!

The first area in Vietnam I rode a motorbike in was Phu Quoc. I stayed at the Regent and road all the way south to Hon Thom Departure Terminal - Sun World Hon Thom Nature Park. The next day, I road north past the airport road to the night markets.

I only have videos of the main road but it’s very well done and traffic is very light outside of the night market area.

This island is perfect for beginner tourists who want to ride a bike. I would highly recommend!

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...3eb53d7e7.jpeg
Major road once you get to the fake Venetian area in the south

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...e43f1878f.jpeg
Side roads along the south part of the island. Clearly well paved and drivers aren’t crazy like in the cities.

Almost everything you have mentioned here that you have done before is in first world countries with high tier public transport and train systems. Vietnam is just not this. Fly into hue/Danang, use Grab or private drivers to get around then fly into Cambodia/Laos.

Agree with the last poster. Flying is very easy and inexpensive except to siem reap which is full of western tourist vs domestic Vietnam flights. We are in Vietnam Cambodia right now. HCMC city is very walkable for tourist destinations in D1. We used get your guide for airport transfers and it worked great with what's app msgs with car type drivers phone number and license plate sent the day before. We flew into Hue which we highly recommend over Hoi An if you want to see culture and transferred to Danang for flight to Siem Reap. Siem Reap is super easy to navigate and small. Just be sure you have airport transfer arranged in siem reap..the new airport is far out. Off to Hanoi tomorrow. If u have more questions be happy to answer..

We got through HCMc airport in 5 minutes. Very efficient. Get your visas online before you go for Vietnam and cambodia. Did Laos before loved it too..a little less advanced but eminently doable. Luang Prabang is great. Vientiane is ok ..we also did plain of jars which is awesome.

Thank you for your advice. I have the correct IDP and now we just arrived in Vietnam. In a few days we are going to be in Phu Quoc and we'll see if anybody is going to rent us a car!

Thank you for your post and pictures. It definitely looks like I have driven in way crazier places. Let's see if anybody is going to rent us a car!

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No scrutiny and allowed three of us through line even though only two has APEC card. Entered Hanoi on Nov 21 and it was pretty chaotic in the other lines, do definitely advise to use the line if you have the card

Does Hanoi have a fast track line for business class?

Also will be arriving in SGN a week later in tourist (from Cambodia), any tips?

We heard there was and flew on Vietnam in business but a bunch of planes arrived at the same time and the arrivals hall was full and you couldn't see to the front of the line. That said. I believe that business class ticket allows you to use the priority line which also processes apec.

Part 2..
even with the chaotic arrivals hall in hanoi it only took about a half hour to get through. it would have been much shorter if we had seen the priority line so look at the line headers before you decide which line.

Sgn..what time. We arrived early morning and we're out in 5 minutes. There is vip service that meets you before immigration but didn't seem necessary.

Be sure you have multi entry visa for vietnam easy to do online. Cambodia visa and park pass also available online.

Received following message from my hotel:

Is this worth?

- see next

I can now confirm this is totally wrong. Self-driving in Phu Quoc is a extremely doable and it's not a problem at all to find a rental agency which is used and requires an IDP.