Rough Guide to Vietnam - Jan Dodd [7]
You can often cut costs by going through a specialist flight agent – either a consolidator, who buys up blocks of tickets from the airlines and sells them at a discount, or a discount agent, who in addition to dealing with discounted flights may also offer special student and youth fares and a range of other travel-related services such as travel insurance, rail passes, car rentals, tours and the like.
If Vietnam is only one stop on a longer journey, you might want to consider buying a round-the-world (RTW) ticket. Some travel agents can sell you an “off-the-shelf” RTW ticket that will have you touching down in about half a dozen cities; others will have to assemble one for you, which can be tailored to your needs but is apt to be more expensive. Although few off-the-shelf tickets take in Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi, several offer a stop in Bangkok, Singapore or Hong Kong, from where you can make a side-trip to Vietnam. The most comprehensive and flexible deals are offered by Sky Team, Star Alliance and One World, all of which allow you to take in a huge number of destinations around the globe. Prices vary enormously depending upon your itinerary, but tickets including Bangkok or Singapore – excluding taxes and surcharges – can be as low as £600 from the UK; $1300 from the US; CAN$2000 from Canada; AUS$2100 from Australia; and NZ$2700 from New Zealand; a side-trip to Vietnam can then usually be added for around $250.
Combining Vietnam with other Southeast Asian countries is becoming increasingly popular – and a lot cheaper and easier – thanks to some good-value regional air deals. Jetstar, for example, flies from Singapore to Ho Chi Minh City (from $40 one-way), while Tiger Airways flies from Singapore to Hanoi (from $100 one-way) and Ho Chi Minh City (from $55 one-way). Air Asia offers daily services from Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur to both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, with fares starting at $50 one-way. As with all discount airlines, prices depend on availability, so the earlier you book the better, though you may also find last-minute promotional fares, seat giveaways and so forth at less busy times of the year.
Getting there |
From the UK and Ireland
There are as yet no non-stop flights to Vietnam from the UK or Ireland. Instead, most people fly with a Southeast Asian carrier such as Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, Malaysia Airlines or Cathay Pacific from London via the airline’s home city. Alternatively you can fly direct from Paris to Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City with Air France, which has connecting flights to Paris from regional airports such as Dublin, Edinburgh and Manchester. Vietnam Airlines offers code-share flights from Paris with Air France or Frankfurt with Lufthansa. Scheduled low-season fares from London start at around £450, rising to £750 or more at peak periods.
A good place to look for the best deals is the travel sections of the weekend newspapers and in regional listings magazines. Students and under-26s can often get discounts through specialist agents such as STA (see "Visa extensions") or USIT in Ireland (www.usit.ie). Whoever you buy your ticket through, check that the agency belongs to the travel industry bodies ABTA or IATA, so that you’ll be covered if the agent goes bust before you get your ticket.
Getting there |
From the US and Canada
In 2004 United Airlines became the first American carrier to resume direct flights to Vietnam since 1975. The airline operates a daily service from San Francisco to Ho Chi Minh City via Hong Kong; standard return fares start at around $1100. As yet, no other American or Canadian carriers offer direct services, which means you’ll either have to get a flight to San Francisco or catch one of the many flights to a regional hub, such as Bangkok, Singapore or Hong Kong, and continue