Flights to Vietnam

Hi,
We are just back from Vietnam. We flew with Etihad (booked directly on their site) from Dublin to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) via Abu Dhabi. Paid €670 return, although did see if afterwards for €640 thru an agent on Skyscanner. I preferred this route as it was 2 medium length flights, (7 to 8 hours), instead of one short one & then one very long one from Uk / Paris / Amsterdam. Also, the stopovers were short enough, roughly 1.5 hours, so no long wait around the airports!
If I can offer any other help, just shout.
Thanks,
JT.

I'm not sure that you will get them any cheaper... Maybe you will but usually they go up in price. To me €730 that is still a good price, even if it is more than we paid. I expect you are being quoted more because it is during the summer period.

Vietnam is a big country, so we only did southern Vietnam. We spent a week there and a week in Cambodia. Both were great. We did a boat cruise along the Mekong Delta for a few days and then a few days on the beach on Phu Quoc island.

Best area to stay in Ho Chi Minh is district 1. We stayed in the Alagon hotel which was a very good standard for not a lot of money. The buffet breakfast is a feast! It is located close to all the main sights & nightlife. Most are walking distance. It's worth taking a walk down Bui Vien at night... Everyone is sitting out on the street having a beer. It's crazy. Take a look on youtube!

If you get a taxi from the airport to the centre, this is worth reading. Use one of these recommended taxi companies and insist on the meter. It usually starts automatically when the car moves. The money is a bit confusing. About 29,000 Dong to the Euro, about 21,000 to the US Dollar. A normal taxi far to district 1 is about 200,000 (10 USD).

http://xotours.vn/blog/2013/01/23/saigon-taxi-and-cyclo-scams-a-comprehensive-guide-to-avoiding-taxi-and-cyclo-scams-in-saigon/

Haggle a lot in the markets. Some stuff like souvenirs you will get down to about a third of their original asking price. There are some stalls called Fixed Price and the price is set. They have good quality t-shirts for 2 or 3 euro.

One other thing is that you are going in the rainy season. Humidity is high there, so I would recommend that you have air-con wherever you stay.

JT

I flew with ethiad, very good airline. But the chance to fly on the A380 would be a memorable part of any trip! Vietnam is really cool.