exwannabe

I have no issue with paying that much for a seat up front on such a flight if I would like to. My choice, even knowing the risk of metal.

But 69GPB is the full price difference between the cheapest Y fare and business. So THAT Optiontown offer is not a deal on that route.

But some good Optiontown deals have been posted. So perhaps one needs to price shop.

jms_uk

Well, they didn't wait until last minute - less than 2 weeks before the flight I can see that equipment has been changed from A350 to A332.

Also, there were couple of SGN-HAN flights that day on A350, now they are all gone. Also, I think the number of B787 flights has gone down as well.

Bit bummed, as QR changed A350 to B77W on my way to SGN and now this - was really looking forward flying at least one [for the first time]...

FlyerBeek

Are Option Town upgrades offered on reservations with multiple travelers? Or, is it better to have separate bookings for each individual traveler if looking to possibly take advantage of an Option Town upgrade offer?

-FlyerBeek

Firemansam

Always booked for the 2 of us and always get the email.

FlyerBeek

Thanks. Good to know. I prefer the simplicity of keeping everything together on one booking. Also, if it's a multi-segment booking (with stopovers en route) I imagine we might get offers for each segment, correct?

-FlyerBeek

adampenrith

I have used Optiontown on VN and found it to work like a charm.

I struggled to print out the confirmation, so I took screenshots of the email on the iphone, as I was not using roaming for data.

However when I arrived at the airport, approached the empty Business line, presented my passport - ah yes mr Adampenrith your Business Class Boarding pass - is already printed for you, just the one bag SIR,

Please turn right for security and sorry no Business Class Lounge Access as you upgraded.

I could not have been more impressed.

I'm sorry the OP had a bad experience, BUT I am not sure if their story is 100% AUTHENTIC

seattle29

Just wanted to add my experience on 2 occasions:

May 2016: CGK-SGN-LHR
Got an email saying "Upgrade to Business accepted subject to availability - ask airport staff for final confirmation".

Check-in staff at CGK were useless, had never heard of Optiontown and thought I was crazy. Eventually got to speak to a manager and with some computer magic, a boarding pass for the first leg was spat out. Couldn't print the second, so told to go to the transfer desk in SGN. A nice first flight with plenty of wine. Upon arrival at SGN, I was advised at the desk that J was now unavailable but they would upgrade me to Y+ instead, the man spoke excellent English and was very apologetic. 3 days later I got an automatic refund from Optiontown (so the Y+ upgrade on second leg was free in effect, I just paid for the first upgrade).

November 2016 (last week): KUL-HAN-LHR
Got the same email saying "Upgrade to Business accepted subject to availability - ask airport staff for final confirmation".

Check-in staff at KUL had a list of Optiontown customers (just me and one other on this flight), no problem at all in printing both boarding passes. I was told they weren't supposed to give me lounge access but if I picked up the invitation left lying on the counter, they wouldn't stop me unfortunately the first leg was delayed, so didn't experience the lounge in HAN, but the whole Optiontown experience was a lot smoother compared to my first one.

wco81

I'm being offered business class for a ticket with HKG-SGN and HAN-HKG in February.

The email says lie flat seats. Do VN A321s have lie-flats? The flights are only suppose to be 1.5-2 hours each way. According to Seatguru, the VN A321s have 16 business class seats with "10 recline" with 45 inch pitch and 21 inch width. So probably not lieflats

Optiontown is offering $200 total for both ways (I'd paid $305 in Sept.).

The main items of interest for me would be:

1. Better baggage allowance, including carryon items. I think the weight limit for Y is like 7 kg?

2. Fast Track Security and Faster Immigration - "Enjoy faster security checks and save your precious time" and "Enjoy faster immigration service." This is the wording on the email but when I click through, I can't find anything on the Optiontown site about these.

Does Faster Immigration means I can jump the queue for getting my Visa on Arrival letter stamped?

3. "Gourmet meals and drinks" - I don't know how good VN soft product is, especially in their business class.

Really the first two might be worth it if it saves me time and avoids hassles.

Anyone familiar with these features, greater baggage allowance on VN and faster immigration and faster security checks at SGN or HAN?

Firemansam

A321 are not lie flats. But more than comfortable for a 2 hour flight.
no queue jumping for VOA but fast track access for immigration.

wco81

What does that mean fast track access for immigration?

My VoA letter provider linked me to a service which offers "fast track" for $15 USD. Says get me to the "luggage lounge" in 5-10 minutes.

If there another immigration process besides getting the VoA and having the letter stamped?

Firemansam

Once you have finished at the VOA line you must then present your passport to immigration which at SGN can have little to quite significant times of the day. After VOA flying in business you can then use the fastrack queue of the immigration lines.
​​​​​

wco81

Ah OK, I thought when they stamped your letter, they'd also stamp the passport.

Hmm, so I'm considering Fast Track service for $15. They claim 5-10 minutes to get to the luggage lounge so presumably I'd jump the quue to the immigration line too?

Firemansam

I've never done VOA I just send my passport in to have the visa put in it.
i wouldn't put my hotel money on 5-10 mins when we came through the other day fastrack lane was 15-20 minute line up. Mind you that's the longest I've ever seen it.

Ditto

The "fast track" service you got with your VoA letter simple means that a local guy will hand over your visa request, and it will be processed before some others, I doubt it will really be 5 minutes, and it might or might not be worth the extra money, depends on how many PAX are queuing before you.

Business class passengers do not get any sort of "fast track" on arrival immigration, also no "fast track" on departures form HKG.

So the only "fast track" you will get is for your departure from HAN, and on check-in/boarding for both flights, one other nice feature though is that if you wait long enough to get out of immigration in SGN, you will find your bags were already offloaded from the belt and waiting for you next to a big 'SkyPriority' sign

Vi Mai

This service is questionable and Vietnam Airlines employees make it worse.

I received an email from Vietnam Airlines promoting Optiontown as a great way to upgrade so I used it to upgrade an economy ticket for my mom (Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi) and paid $63 which is okay pricing given that the plane is older, not the fancy A350 or the Dreamliner.

Anyway, I was advised to purchase a separate Lounge Access Option (LAo) for $18. (I later found out the airline charges LESS than that for their Domestic Lotus Lounge access.) Anyway, I got confirmation emails for both the business class upgrade (subject to availability) and the LAo confirmation that access was granted. My mom got the business class upgrade just fine. But then the agent did not give her a lounge access pass. We did not know that she would have to ask for it or that it would make any difference. She got to the lounge and the Vietnam Airlines agent there, after taking an eternity to check the Optiontown email and calling someone, flat out denied my mom access.

I tried to talk to her and explain that the email states clearly that we have already purchased the access pass via Optiontown but the agent did not hear any of it. She brushed my mom aside and hang up on me, so rude. I felt horrible for my mom. I asked my mom to go to a Vietnam Airlines gate and ask the agent there to get her an access pass. Again, she got denied with a lame reason that Optiontown does not have authority to grant access, it has to come from the airline itself. (Then why promote this Optiontown service to us to begin with.)

I called Optiontown and they could not do anything. At this point, I did not see the need to push further, I just want my money back. I was told to send them an email with a picture of the boarding pass to get a refund which I did. Still no money back yet.