ksflyer

I'm flying Sydney to London with VN on the 787 in about a month, I can't find many reviews of the product online, does anyone have experience with the product?

siw

Flew LHR-HAN-LHR in Decemeber 2015 and will be flying LHR-SGN-LHR next month all on VN B789 busniness class (seat 3A each time). Pleasently suprised with VN. Couldn't complain about anything: London office customer support, online check-in, food, reverse herringbone seat, cabin crew etc. were all good. Did not use the IFE beyond watching one film on the LHR-HAN after that it's just sleep and didn't bother with the IFE on the LHR bound flight as the timing suits a long sleep for LHR morning arrival.

The HAN lounge was crazy busy due to all the Japan & South Korea and Europe (LHR, CDG, FRA) departures at 11pm to 1am, so I'm expecting the same when leaving SGN next month.

Matewx

Brace yourself - SGN lounge is awful!

Matewx

VNA uses 787 & 350 for the SGN-HAN & HAN-SGN routes which I frequently use. I always target these planes - love them!

I haven't used the VNA business on longhaul so cant comment on the service.

IFE is limited, could be due to the fact I fly them regularly. But I always run out of options quickly...

Great seats, nice big TV as seen on their website

TravelDream

There are a few reviews here that provide a fair amount of detail.

I'm going to plug mine (HKG-SGN-LHR-HAN-HKG) from last summer.
Vietnam Airlines HKG-LHR in J


And yes, the VN lounges are not that nice.

Annalisa12

Did a few internal flights in J. Not sure of the plane type. I was pleasantly surprised. Planes were new, service was fine. I can't remember what we ate so I guess it must of been good otherwise I would of remembered it as being horrible.

I only recall the HCMC lounge with wasn't flash. Better than the terminal I guess but not 5 star. One of my favourite things was a sign on the rubbish bin lid in the ladies toilets that said "do not sit here.

ksflyer

I’m flying through Hanoi hahah.

Matewx

Then you're sweet! Lounges at International & Domestic terminals in Hanoi are good in my opinion!

I think my message was for siw who's flying through SGN soon...

siw

I found that the HAN lounge would be good if it was not so crazy busy; as I said I was there when all the long hauls leave over a 2 hour (or so) time frame.

The only lounge I have visited in SGN was before a SGN-HAN flight, so not sure if this was for domestic flights only. That too was on a B787-9 and also was perfectly OK - there were more VN pilots in J than regular passengers.

Matewx

I think you said it was in 2015 - I can't remember if new lounges were already opened then in HAN. In any case, I have been in these lounges when busy & indeed it's crazy & not enjoyable.

That would have been at Domestic terminal.
And indeed, on the SGN-HAN & HAN-SGN, it's always full of pilot in J. I counted 10 last week!!!

kaffir76

Well written trip report by another member here -

Vietnam Airlines Economy and Business Singapore Hanoi & Ho Chi Minh & London Heathrow

Search by keyword "Vietnam Airlines"

Perhaps u may want to send the OP a thank u note, it's definitely well written & detailed.
It was so good that I decided that I did not have to do mine as the experience was very similar

The lounge in SGN is just fine, nothing too fancy. It took a while for me to locate the lounge on the outbound, so definitely ask for directions if u see an airport staff or just look for a Burger King on the mezzanine level above

The 787 was brand new & looked beautiful.

The service & meals were decent though not fantastic. On the outbound, it was an overnight flight so I maximized the flat bed fully by sleeping a lot!

However on the inbound, it was entirely a day flight and the cons were -

1. IFE choices were very limited, not good if like me, you were awake for most of the flight.
2. In between meals, there were no snacks like sandwiches or even chips, nuts/dried fruit except lots of instant bowl noodles (beef & chicken pho), leftover fruit, dessert & cheese plate from the lunch service
3. And most horrendous of all - there was only enough champagne (maybe 1 bottle or 2 max) for pre departure drinks and by the time lunch service began, it had run out.
Mostly thanks to the pax seated adjacent to me!
And also VN for not loading additional bottles in LHR; I can't imagine that it had run out from the inbound as it was a night flight & most (if not all) the pax would have been sleeping.

kaffir76

Perhaps u might come back with a trip report, to see how the airline has progressed in a year & also to add a review on the HAN lounge as it's not in the TR that I referenced.

Have a great trip!

Goldorak

Here are some relatively recent pictures of the HAN VN lounge (taken back in march, but I was there again this week and still the same).
Not the best lounge in the world, but very acceptable. Showers are OK.
I prefer this lounge to the SGN one.

siw

Goldorak's photos from March this year show what the HAN lounge was like when I was last time there in December 2015.

nikkoap92

It is just a decent hard & product, catering. Nothing to impress about, and you get a decent flatbed. That's it. Although I'm Vietnamese, I don't recommend it.