Vietnam Airlines Economy and Business Singapore Hanoi & Ho Chi Minh & London Heathrow
Jan 6, 2017, 5:05 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Singapore
Posts: 977
Vietnam Airlines Economy and Business Singapore Hanoi & Ho Chi Minh & London Heathrow
Did a search and couldn't find any detailed review of Vietnam Airlines on the FlyerTalk thread. I could be wrong, but anyway, here is my contribution.
Turns out that in 2016, we ended up flying Vietnam Airlines in both Economy and Business. The Economy flight (Singapore to Hanoi and return) was on a whim. We wanted to go away for a long weekend and my wife found this Vietnam Airlines return flight Singapore to Hanoi for under SGD$1,000 for the 4 of us, or $250SGD per pax. (SGD$1,000 is about 700 USD). So why not. We haven't been to Hanoi before and we wanted to stay at the JW Marriott.
The Business class flight was to London Heathrow, and that was planned. More on that later, first on the Economy class flight.
Vietnam Airlines operates the Airbus A321 on the Hanoi to Singapore route. A check on flight aware indicates that the planes are not new, around 10 to 15 years old. They typically have 4 rows of Business class seats in a 2-2 configuration, followed by the Economy section in a 3-3 configuration (based on Seat Guru). No in-flight entertainment system. Given the price we paid, we weren't expecting too much. Singapore to Hanoi was 3 hours by plane, and we flew on VN 660.
So, the flight turned out better than expected. The seat pitch was surprisingly good. Plenty of legroom for economy. They even had a leg rest. The Food and Service was also enjoyable. We had a full meal service, no less than what you would normally get on a long-haul flight in Economy class. After the main meal was served, the stewardesses worked hard and went around serving additional wine, coffee and tea. They also had slices of fresh lemon to go with the tea. Very nice.
There were no menus handed out to passengers, but I noticed they had some pictures of the food printed on menu cards that they showed to some passengers who had questions about the food. The stewardesses offered us Fish or Beef with rice. I chose the Fish and rice. My wife had the Beef with rice. You can see the meals in the video below.
Hanoi Airport has a relatively new international terminal. When we arrived, we took a metered taxi to the JW Marriott. Similarly. at the end of our holiday, we took a taxi from the hotel to the Airport. Here are some scenes from the airport. We had a burger king meal and I found it to be rather expensive. Well, this is the airport after all.
The return flight was pretty good too. Very similar in service. This time, for the food, I had a chicken with noodles option. I also tried Halida Beer, which I believe is a local Vietnamese beer. Here is the video review.
The above, in brief, shows you the Vietnam Airlines regional experience, which definitely whetted our appetite for our 2016 year-end flight from Singapore to London Heathrow! This flight came about while planning a year end trip to the UK in early 2016 (ok, this was before Brexit). We chanced upon Vietnam Airlines flights to London Heathrow and noticed that they were operating new Boeing 787-9 on this leg. (They operate the Airbus A350 on the flights to Paris). Also, their new Boeing 787-9 had a 1-2-1 configuration in Business class. The price was very competitive, for a long-haul Business product, so we decided to go for it and bring the family along too!
Forgot to mention earlier that Vietnam Airlines operates from Singapore Changi Terminal 3. The day soon came for our flights to London Heathrow. Upfront, I have to say that because we were hunting for the cheapest tickets on Vietnam Airlines website, the flight schedule was such that we had a relatively long layover in Vietnam both ways. On the way to London, we flew via Ho Chi Minh. Coming back would be via Hanoi. The layover at Ho Chi Minh was almost 6 hours, and we spent all our time chilling in the Vietnam Airlines lounge. More of that later.
First, check in at Changi Airport Terminal 3 was very smooth and quick. There was some Christmas decorations at Changi and this crazily huge Pikachu near the departure gates. Things got a bit Pokemon crazy at Changi the past Christmas. This video shows you the crowds and all the photo-taking of Pikachu.
Another video on some Pikachu parade. Parade of the yellow monster Pokemons!
Back to our flight. Vietnam Airlines uses the SATS Premier Lounge at Terminal 3, which is located very near the KrisFlyer Gold Lounge. I think many airlines use this contract lounge. The food variety was reasonably good (self-serve Mee Siam, sufficient hot food), perhaps just a shade below the SilverKris. We had plenty of fun with the OSIM leg massagers as well as the OSIM massage chairs. They also had nice corners where you could work, and some large flat screens (I think Samsung). It wasn't too crowded at this time of the day (around 4pm) and we had plenty of space. Small USB ports by the seats made it easy to charge our mobile devices. Didn't eat too much since we had plenty of food ahead. Just nibble here and there. The lounge had showers which were unoccupied. Take note, no boarding calls, so you have to monitor the time carefully. I did recall a rather long walk to the gate (Gate A19). 15 minutes, maybe a bit more. But it was good to walk. After all we would be on the plane for many hours later on.
In my next post, I will start on the flights. Stay tuned!
Turns out that in 2016, we ended up flying Vietnam Airlines in both Economy and Business. The Economy flight (Singapore to Hanoi and return) was on a whim. We wanted to go away for a long weekend and my wife found this Vietnam Airlines return flight Singapore to Hanoi for under SGD$1,000 for the 4 of us, or $250SGD per pax. (SGD$1,000 is about 700 USD). So why not. We haven't been to Hanoi before and we wanted to stay at the JW Marriott.
The Business class flight was to London Heathrow, and that was planned. More on that later, first on the Economy class flight.
Vietnam Airlines operates the Airbus A321 on the Hanoi to Singapore route. A check on flight aware indicates that the planes are not new, around 10 to 15 years old. They typically have 4 rows of Business class seats in a 2-2 configuration, followed by the Economy section in a 3-3 configuration (based on Seat Guru). No in-flight entertainment system. Given the price we paid, we weren't expecting too much. Singapore to Hanoi was 3 hours by plane, and we flew on VN 660.
So, the flight turned out better than expected. The seat pitch was surprisingly good. Plenty of legroom for economy. They even had a leg rest. The Food and Service was also enjoyable. We had a full meal service, no less than what you would normally get on a long-haul flight in Economy class. After the main meal was served, the stewardesses worked hard and went around serving additional wine, coffee and tea. They also had slices of fresh lemon to go with the tea. Very nice.
There were no menus handed out to passengers, but I noticed they had some pictures of the food printed on menu cards that they showed to some passengers who had questions about the food. The stewardesses offered us Fish or Beef with rice. I chose the Fish and rice. My wife had the Beef with rice. You can see the meals in the video below.
Hanoi Airport has a relatively new international terminal. When we arrived, we took a metered taxi to the JW Marriott. Similarly. at the end of our holiday, we took a taxi from the hotel to the Airport. Here are some scenes from the airport. We had a burger king meal and I found it to be rather expensive. Well, this is the airport after all.
The return flight was pretty good too. Very similar in service. This time, for the food, I had a chicken with noodles option. I also tried Halida Beer, which I believe is a local Vietnamese beer. Here is the video review.
The above, in brief, shows you the Vietnam Airlines regional experience, which definitely whetted our appetite for our 2016 year-end flight from Singapore to London Heathrow! This flight came about while planning a year end trip to the UK in early 2016 (ok, this was before Brexit). We chanced upon Vietnam Airlines flights to London Heathrow and noticed that they were operating new Boeing 787-9 on this leg. (They operate the Airbus A350 on the flights to Paris). Also, their new Boeing 787-9 had a 1-2-1 configuration in Business class. The price was very competitive, for a long-haul Business product, so we decided to go for it and bring the family along too!
Forgot to mention earlier that Vietnam Airlines operates from Singapore Changi Terminal 3. The day soon came for our flights to London Heathrow. Upfront, I have to say that because we were hunting for the cheapest tickets on Vietnam Airlines website, the flight schedule was such that we had a relatively long layover in Vietnam both ways. On the way to London, we flew via Ho Chi Minh. Coming back would be via Hanoi. The layover at Ho Chi Minh was almost 6 hours, and we spent all our time chilling in the Vietnam Airlines lounge. More of that later.
First, check in at Changi Airport Terminal 3 was very smooth and quick. There was some Christmas decorations at Changi and this crazily huge Pikachu near the departure gates. Things got a bit Pokemon crazy at Changi the past Christmas. This video shows you the crowds and all the photo-taking of Pikachu.
Another video on some Pikachu parade. Parade of the yellow monster Pokemons!
Back to our flight. Vietnam Airlines uses the SATS Premier Lounge at Terminal 3, which is located very near the KrisFlyer Gold Lounge. I think many airlines use this contract lounge. The food variety was reasonably good (self-serve Mee Siam, sufficient hot food), perhaps just a shade below the SilverKris. We had plenty of fun with the OSIM leg massagers as well as the OSIM massage chairs. They also had nice corners where you could work, and some large flat screens (I think Samsung). It wasn't too crowded at this time of the day (around 4pm) and we had plenty of space. Small USB ports by the seats made it easy to charge our mobile devices. Didn't eat too much since we had plenty of food ahead. Just nibble here and there. The lounge had showers which were unoccupied. Take note, no boarding calls, so you have to monitor the time carefully. I did recall a rather long walk to the gate (Gate A19). 15 minutes, maybe a bit more. But it was good to walk. After all we would be on the plane for many hours later on.
In my next post, I will start on the flights. Stay tuned!
Jan 6, 2017, 7:18 am
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Singapore
Posts: 977
Airbus A321 to Ho Chi Minh in Business
Check-in counter at Changi Airport for Vietnam Airlines Business Class.
Business class passengers were boarded first and I was surprised to find that this aircraft had just 2 rows of Business class seats in a 2-2 configuration, for a total of 8 seats. Family occupied all 4 seats in Row 2. Welcome drink and hot towel were served once we settled into our seats. I chose the Champagne. Kid took water. I think we got a lot of stares from passengers as the rest of them boarded the plane, since all of them had to walk past the Business cabin before going to the Economy class section. Oh well.
The Business class seats looked like this. Sorry for the orientation of the pic.
This flight on VN 654 was to Ho Chi Minh City. Flight time was just under 2 hours. Once airborne, we hit some light turbulence, but that passed quickly and soon it was time to eat. The stewardess came around to take our meal orders, and the meal was served. I recall choosing the noodle with fish option, while the kid with me choose the pork with rice option. Here is the noodle.
Finished off with some decent coffee.
The flight was short. Service was fast, efficient and attentive, since there were only 6 pax in the Business cabin and two cabin crew looking after us. And soon it was time to land. Here is the flight review video containing many more details on this short-haul Airbus A321 experience from Singapore to Ho Chi Minh. Do check it out.
Landing was smooth and the aircraft soon came to a halt. As expected, we had no aerobridge. I said as expected because I had read some reviews ahead of this flight that it was highly likely that we had to bus to the terminal. So we made our way off the plane, to a rather small-looking bus. The moment I got on board (I was the last Business class passenger to get on board), the bus closed her doors and left. Yes, this smaller bus was catered just for Business class pax. 6 passengers today. Interesting ride on the tarmac to the terminal. I saw a couple of Vietnamese ladies cycling! I assume they must be airport staff. See this video @ 1:45 we go past the cyclists. Fascinating!
Business class passengers were boarded first and I was surprised to find that this aircraft had just 2 rows of Business class seats in a 2-2 configuration, for a total of 8 seats. Family occupied all 4 seats in Row 2. Welcome drink and hot towel were served once we settled into our seats. I chose the Champagne. Kid took water. I think we got a lot of stares from passengers as the rest of them boarded the plane, since all of them had to walk past the Business cabin before going to the Economy class section. Oh well.
The Business class seats looked like this. Sorry for the orientation of the pic.
This flight on VN 654 was to Ho Chi Minh City. Flight time was just under 2 hours. Once airborne, we hit some light turbulence, but that passed quickly and soon it was time to eat. The stewardess came around to take our meal orders, and the meal was served. I recall choosing the noodle with fish option, while the kid with me choose the pork with rice option. Here is the noodle.
Finished off with some decent coffee.
The flight was short. Service was fast, efficient and attentive, since there were only 6 pax in the Business cabin and two cabin crew looking after us. And soon it was time to land. Here is the flight review video containing many more details on this short-haul Airbus A321 experience from Singapore to Ho Chi Minh. Do check it out.
Landing was smooth and the aircraft soon came to a halt. As expected, we had no aerobridge. I said as expected because I had read some reviews ahead of this flight that it was highly likely that we had to bus to the terminal. So we made our way off the plane, to a rather small-looking bus. The moment I got on board (I was the last Business class passenger to get on board), the bus closed her doors and left. Yes, this smaller bus was catered just for Business class pax. 6 passengers today. Interesting ride on the tarmac to the terminal. I saw a couple of Vietnamese ladies cycling! I assume they must be airport staff. See this video @ 1:45 we go past the cyclists. Fascinating!
Jan 6, 2017, 7:54 pm
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Singapore
Posts: 977
Ho Chi Minh Saigon Lounge
Good morning from Singapore. Let me continue the review.
Arrived at the terminal, followed the signs and soon we were at the Immigration area. Wait a second, we were in transit, and not supposed to leave the airport. I spotted a Vietnam Airlines counter and approached it. The chap checked our boarding passes, and then proceeded to issue us lounge invites.
Thereafter, he pointed to a side door and asked us to go through. We went in, and it was a security checkpoint (i.e. X-ray plus metal detector). It was quite funny because it was manned by a single lady who looked rather sleepy and gave me the 'please don't disturb me' vibes. Her first reaction was to wave us away, but when she saw that we held foreign passports plus Business class boarding passes, she reluctantly let us through.
We cleared security very quickly, since we were the only ones there. Not sure if the security clearance was done with any seriousness, but hey, that's the topic of another thread. Very soon we were in the departure area of the Ho Chi Minh airport (technically it is called Tan Son Nhat Airport. I think the name Ho Chi Minh is very famous, thanks or no thanks to the Vietnam War. But who or what was Tan Son Nhat? Frankly, I don't know. And frankly if you google, the airports in Vietnam do not have a great reputation, as evidence by articles like these - http://www.thanhniennews.com/travel/...rts-52643.html
Well, the good thing was that the departure area was moderately busy, as you can see in the video. Passengers walking around, and the airport shops looked normal (at least not run-down). We found our way to the Lotus Lounge quite easily, well maybe not so easy if you didn't know that it was upstairs. I had read that the lounge was one level up so once I found an escalator to go up, we went up. Overall, the airport isn't a big place, and the lounge is on the second floor. How to walk there? This video gives you an idea.
The Vietnam Airlines Lounge was operated by SASCO (Southern Airports Services Company).
Here is a map of the lounge, which they displayed on the wall.
The lounge had these nice looking 'huts'. However, they were all occupied when we first got to the lounge. You will see in the video of walking to the lounge that the place was fairly crowded when we got there, probably the peak. Our flight was late, so the crowds thinned out over time.
I liked the decor of the lounge. It felt quite new, though I may be wrong. The feature wall was beautiful. Here was the drinks section.
I am no wine expert but I did notice that their wines were all from France. As somebody pointed out previously, this was a recurring theme, from their French colonial times!
This is the area where they put the hot food. The Vietnamese Pho was good. They had porridge too. Very well received, probably because our taste-buds are very Asian.
From this angle, you can see the seating area for having a meal. Also some bar seating farther behind.
Turns out that the plane that would bring us to London parked at the gate just below the lounge, giving us an awesome view of the plane. And with the modern wonders of flight apps. Was thrilled to discover that the plane, serial number VN-A870, was almost brand new. First flight 28 Oct 2016.
Here is the video of the plane watching from the lounge.
The wines tasted so-so. Or maybe I wasn't in the mood for wines. Anyway, since I was in Saigon, I thought best to try some Saigon Beer. And this was what I chose - the Saigon Special!
We spent a good 5+ hours in this lounge. Thankfully it was comfortable and the food was decent. The Wi-Fi was strong and time passed rather quickly. A longer video review of the Ho Chi Minh lounge in this video.
Next, the flight to London Heathrow!
Arrived at the terminal, followed the signs and soon we were at the Immigration area. Wait a second, we were in transit, and not supposed to leave the airport. I spotted a Vietnam Airlines counter and approached it. The chap checked our boarding passes, and then proceeded to issue us lounge invites.
Thereafter, he pointed to a side door and asked us to go through. We went in, and it was a security checkpoint (i.e. X-ray plus metal detector). It was quite funny because it was manned by a single lady who looked rather sleepy and gave me the 'please don't disturb me' vibes. Her first reaction was to wave us away, but when she saw that we held foreign passports plus Business class boarding passes, she reluctantly let us through.
We cleared security very quickly, since we were the only ones there. Not sure if the security clearance was done with any seriousness, but hey, that's the topic of another thread. Very soon we were in the departure area of the Ho Chi Minh airport (technically it is called Tan Son Nhat Airport. I think the name Ho Chi Minh is very famous, thanks or no thanks to the Vietnam War. But who or what was Tan Son Nhat? Frankly, I don't know. And frankly if you google, the airports in Vietnam do not have a great reputation, as evidence by articles like these - http://www.thanhniennews.com/travel/...rts-52643.html
Well, the good thing was that the departure area was moderately busy, as you can see in the video. Passengers walking around, and the airport shops looked normal (at least not run-down). We found our way to the Lotus Lounge quite easily, well maybe not so easy if you didn't know that it was upstairs. I had read that the lounge was one level up so once I found an escalator to go up, we went up. Overall, the airport isn't a big place, and the lounge is on the second floor. How to walk there? This video gives you an idea.
The Vietnam Airlines Lounge was operated by SASCO (Southern Airports Services Company).
Here is a map of the lounge, which they displayed on the wall.
The lounge had these nice looking 'huts'. However, they were all occupied when we first got to the lounge. You will see in the video of walking to the lounge that the place was fairly crowded when we got there, probably the peak. Our flight was late, so the crowds thinned out over time.
I liked the decor of the lounge. It felt quite new, though I may be wrong. The feature wall was beautiful. Here was the drinks section.
I am no wine expert but I did notice that their wines were all from France. As somebody pointed out previously, this was a recurring theme, from their French colonial times!
This is the area where they put the hot food. The Vietnamese Pho was good. They had porridge too. Very well received, probably because our taste-buds are very Asian.
From this angle, you can see the seating area for having a meal. Also some bar seating farther behind.
Turns out that the plane that would bring us to London parked at the gate just below the lounge, giving us an awesome view of the plane. And with the modern wonders of flight apps. Was thrilled to discover that the plane, serial number VN-A870, was almost brand new. First flight 28 Oct 2016.
Here is the video of the plane watching from the lounge.
The wines tasted so-so. Or maybe I wasn't in the mood for wines. Anyway, since I was in Saigon, I thought best to try some Saigon Beer. And this was what I chose - the Saigon Special!
We spent a good 5+ hours in this lounge. Thankfully it was comfortable and the food was decent. The Wi-Fi was strong and time passed rather quickly. A longer video review of the Ho Chi Minh lounge in this video.
Next, the flight to London Heathrow!
Jan 6, 2017, 11:15 pm
#7
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Singapore
Posts: 977
Vietnam Airlines HCM to LHR - Boeing 787 Dreamliner
Our flight, VN51, was a little delayed in boarding due to the late arrival of the plane. By the time we left the lounge, it was almost empty. I suspect the remaining pax in the lounge were on the same flight to LHR. A short walk brought us to Gate 19 and we were too early to board. A cursory look at the passengers waiting at the gate gave me the impression that this flight was quite full. Many passengers were foreigners (i.e. non-Vietnamese), perhaps not surprising since this plane was going to London Heathrow and I'd imagine it would be pretty hard for the average Vietnamese to afford to go to the UK, with Vietnam's GDP per capital only around USD $2,000. Of course, Vietnam has a fairly large population (about 90 million) so perhaps their elites are very rich, I don't know.
Once boarding started, we quickly got on board the plane and went to our seats. A very exciting time for the family, especially the kids. We have brought them on many long-haul flights but this is the first time we are flying long-haul business. Thank God for the opportunity and I certainly hope that the kids do not take such privileges for granted!
I chose to take 4 aisle window seats, so that we sat as a column, each kid on his/her own. I was confident that the kids were well behaved enough to do that and I was right. So it looked something like this. Kid, kid, followed by adult and adult.
Here is a screenshot of the Vietnam Airlines Dreamliner Seat map. The Business cabin has 7 rows of 4 seats in a 1-2-1 configuration, for a total of 28 seats. We took rows 3,4,5,6 (all window). I noticed the cabin was full (almost all Caucasian) and I took pains to remind my kids that they were the only children in the Business cabin, and if they misbehaved, the cabin supervisor would kick them back to Economy because the other passengers would complain, and if that happened, Daddy couldn't do anything about it. (Scare tactic)
Thankfully kids were very well behaved. Sitting in this manner made them feel important and facilitated them walking up and down the aisle to come look for their parents. Most important for them (after playing with their amenity kits, which came in a very nice bag) was to decide on what to eat.
I had told them that the cabin crew would come around to take orders for their drinks, dinner and breakfast. Daddy would not order for them. They must communicate to the cabin crew on their own, and get what they want. My son asked cheekily whether he could get beer or wine. I told him the cabin crew would scold him, so he got scared.
Here was the menu. Supper.
And breakfast.
My first course - I chose the Marinated scallop, sauteed mussel, prawn in lemon grass. The crew came around with warm breads, and I chose the garlic bread. It looked like this. Sorry, the picture is a bit dark. Watch the video for a closer look. The food tasted good. Notice that the food was served on a tray, and the dessert was already served. The supper service was a bit quicker since this was a red-eye and the crew knew that passengers would want to sleep. Still, it was enjoyable.
After I was done with the first course, my main came. I chose the grilled pork loin with crab cake. The pork loin looked a bit dry, but it wasn't too bad. Gave me more excuse to try their signature drinks!
I broke up my video flight review on the Vietnam Airlines Dreamliner SIN-LHR into 2 parts. This first part shows you boarding, the seat, the amenity kit, supper.
This was a red-eye and we had nice flat beds. I faced an issue with the lie-flat bed, which turned out to be my own fault. At first, I couldn't deploy the bed to a completely flat position, even though I kept pressing the button. I went to check on my kids and both of them were fast asleep, their beds completely flat. After examining my seat again, I realised that my shoes and backpack were blocking the way! Yes, I had to rearrange them, and the seat could now be fully deployed. Wonderful.
All of us had pretty good sleeps. I had a good 5-6 hours of sleep and woke up naturally. Cabin crew walked around with some snacks and I got something light to eat, plus some tea. It was soon time for breakfast and cabin crew came around taking orders again. All of us chose the Vietnamese Pho for breakfast, and it suited our tastebuds perfectly.
Looking again at this picture, I noticed my kid got a Coke Light with her Pho for breakfast. LOL. Oh, doesn't matter. I told them they could ask for any drink they wanted since we were on holiday, other than alcohol of course.
The Pho was so good I ate up everything and drank up all the soup. This picture to prove it! In case you were wondering, I am not Vietnamese. We are from Singapore and my ancestors were from China. That said, the Chinese have a tradition of noodles soups, so the Vietnamese Pho dish suited our tastebuds. Thank God for good noodle soup on the plane!
As part of the breakfast tray, there was a bowl of yogurt. The Syrup art was fantastic!
I had to make a video of this Syrup Art.
As we approached London, we had to circle a bit so our landing was slightly delayed. No matter, we were not in that big a rush. Landing was smooth and it was 6 Deg C on the ground. Before landing, I asked the crew if there were fast track passes. I remembered I didn't get any even though they had handed out UK landing cards. I was told that we would be given those at the gate. True enough, when the aircraft gate opened, there was a ground staff waiting with a stack of Fast Track cards. I took four.
I can't usually claim any firsts, but I believe that this and the next video is the first detailed review of the Vietnam Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner long-haul flight. Making YouTube history perhaps?
Vietnam Airlines Ho Chi Minh to London Heathrow Dreamliner Part 1
Vietnam Airlines Ho Chi Minh to London Heathrow Dreamliner Part 2
Some final words. Was the experience on Vietnam Airlines a 5-star one? Well, no. If I wanted to be picky, I am sure I could find many areas to complain about. Definitely the crew is hampered by a relative lack of English proficiency. I assume if you had complicated requests, they would not be able to understand you. However, we have simple needs. Ordering off the menu was easy because we pointed at what we wanted. They understood common terms like red wine, white wine etc. How was the IFE? Well, the programming is a bit electic, but as I don't go to the movies often, I found some movies to watch. The seat was good. Most importantly, the price was good! Grateful for the ability to bring my family on this trip. Thank God for His bountiful blessings.
Enjoy!
Once boarding started, we quickly got on board the plane and went to our seats. A very exciting time for the family, especially the kids. We have brought them on many long-haul flights but this is the first time we are flying long-haul business. Thank God for the opportunity and I certainly hope that the kids do not take such privileges for granted!
I chose to take 4 aisle window seats, so that we sat as a column, each kid on his/her own. I was confident that the kids were well behaved enough to do that and I was right. So it looked something like this. Kid, kid, followed by adult and adult.
Here is a screenshot of the Vietnam Airlines Dreamliner Seat map. The Business cabin has 7 rows of 4 seats in a 1-2-1 configuration, for a total of 28 seats. We took rows 3,4,5,6 (all window). I noticed the cabin was full (almost all Caucasian) and I took pains to remind my kids that they were the only children in the Business cabin, and if they misbehaved, the cabin supervisor would kick them back to Economy because the other passengers would complain, and if that happened, Daddy couldn't do anything about it. (Scare tactic)
Thankfully kids were very well behaved. Sitting in this manner made them feel important and facilitated them walking up and down the aisle to come look for their parents. Most important for them (after playing with their amenity kits, which came in a very nice bag) was to decide on what to eat.
I had told them that the cabin crew would come around to take orders for their drinks, dinner and breakfast. Daddy would not order for them. They must communicate to the cabin crew on their own, and get what they want. My son asked cheekily whether he could get beer or wine. I told him the cabin crew would scold him, so he got scared.
Here was the menu. Supper.
And breakfast.
My first course - I chose the Marinated scallop, sauteed mussel, prawn in lemon grass. The crew came around with warm breads, and I chose the garlic bread. It looked like this. Sorry, the picture is a bit dark. Watch the video for a closer look. The food tasted good. Notice that the food was served on a tray, and the dessert was already served. The supper service was a bit quicker since this was a red-eye and the crew knew that passengers would want to sleep. Still, it was enjoyable.
After I was done with the first course, my main came. I chose the grilled pork loin with crab cake. The pork loin looked a bit dry, but it wasn't too bad. Gave me more excuse to try their signature drinks!
I broke up my video flight review on the Vietnam Airlines Dreamliner SIN-LHR into 2 parts. This first part shows you boarding, the seat, the amenity kit, supper.
This was a red-eye and we had nice flat beds. I faced an issue with the lie-flat bed, which turned out to be my own fault. At first, I couldn't deploy the bed to a completely flat position, even though I kept pressing the button. I went to check on my kids and both of them were fast asleep, their beds completely flat. After examining my seat again, I realised that my shoes and backpack were blocking the way! Yes, I had to rearrange them, and the seat could now be fully deployed. Wonderful.
All of us had pretty good sleeps. I had a good 5-6 hours of sleep and woke up naturally. Cabin crew walked around with some snacks and I got something light to eat, plus some tea. It was soon time for breakfast and cabin crew came around taking orders again. All of us chose the Vietnamese Pho for breakfast, and it suited our tastebuds perfectly.
Looking again at this picture, I noticed my kid got a Coke Light with her Pho for breakfast. LOL. Oh, doesn't matter. I told them they could ask for any drink they wanted since we were on holiday, other than alcohol of course.
The Pho was so good I ate up everything and drank up all the soup. This picture to prove it! In case you were wondering, I am not Vietnamese. We are from Singapore and my ancestors were from China. That said, the Chinese have a tradition of noodles soups, so the Vietnamese Pho dish suited our tastebuds. Thank God for good noodle soup on the plane!
As part of the breakfast tray, there was a bowl of yogurt. The Syrup art was fantastic!
I had to make a video of this Syrup Art.
As we approached London, we had to circle a bit so our landing was slightly delayed. No matter, we were not in that big a rush. Landing was smooth and it was 6 Deg C on the ground. Before landing, I asked the crew if there were fast track passes. I remembered I didn't get any even though they had handed out UK landing cards. I was told that we would be given those at the gate. True enough, when the aircraft gate opened, there was a ground staff waiting with a stack of Fast Track cards. I took four.
I can't usually claim any firsts, but I believe that this and the next video is the first detailed review of the Vietnam Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner long-haul flight. Making YouTube history perhaps?
Vietnam Airlines Ho Chi Minh to London Heathrow Dreamliner Part 1
Vietnam Airlines Ho Chi Minh to London Heathrow Dreamliner Part 2
Some final words. Was the experience on Vietnam Airlines a 5-star one? Well, no. If I wanted to be picky, I am sure I could find many areas to complain about. Definitely the crew is hampered by a relative lack of English proficiency. I assume if you had complicated requests, they would not be able to understand you. However, we have simple needs. Ordering off the menu was easy because we pointed at what we wanted. They understood common terms like red wine, white wine etc. How was the IFE? Well, the programming is a bit electic, but as I don't go to the movies often, I found some movies to watch. The seat was good. Most importantly, the price was good! Grateful for the ability to bring my family on this trip. Thank God for His bountiful blessings.
Enjoy!
Jan 11, 2017, 7:13 am
#11
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: yyz
Posts: 1,611
Great TR on an under-reviewed product. Thanks.
How old are the kids? How did you find the "all four in window seats" configuration? We're flying YYZ-HKG on CX in March (i.e. wife, kid #1 is 8, Kid #2 is 5, and myself). I booked two windows and two aisles, in a "quadrant". Figured it would be easier to manage them, if necessary.
How old are the kids? How did you find the "all four in window seats" configuration? We're flying YYZ-HKG on CX in March (i.e. wife, kid #1 is 8, Kid #2 is 5, and myself). I booked two windows and two aisles, in a "quadrant". Figured it would be easier to manage them, if necessary.
Jan 11, 2017, 7:15 am
#12
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Singapore
Posts: 977
Great TR on an under-reviewed product. Thanks.
How old are the kids? How did you find the "all four in window seats" configuration? We're flying YYZ-HKG on CX in March (i.e. wife, kid #1 is 8, Kid #2 is 5, and myself). I booked two windows and two aisles, in a "quadrant". Figured it would be easier to manage them, if necessary.
How old are the kids? How did you find the "all four in window seats" configuration? We're flying YYZ-HKG on CX in March (i.e. wife, kid #1 is 8, Kid #2 is 5, and myself). I booked two windows and two aisles, in a "quadrant". Figured it would be easier to manage them, if necessary.
Jan 11, 2017, 9:31 am
#13
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: FRA/SGN
Programs: VN (PLA/Elite+)
Posts: 51
The B787 and the A350 are already prepared to offer WIFI but VN hasn’t launched complete WIFI-Service yet. The last time I was flying they just offered WIFI for Messaging like WhatsApp or Viber. Maybe they will introduce it during this year.
Jan 12, 2017, 1:46 am
#15
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Germany
Programs: Some
Posts: 11,520
BTW: Am I right that the is no Fast Track for European travelers at T4?