What is Vietnam Airlines domestic economy class like?
Vietnam Airlines is Vietnam’s national flag carrier and a member of Sky Team.
SkyTeam is a member of the same group as Korean Air and others.
During my trip to Vietnam, I had the opportunity to fly in Vietnamese economy class and business class, so I would like to compare the interior of the plane.
First, economy class.
The flight I flew on was from Hanoi to Dong Hoi, a flight of about 80 minutes.
Hanoi’s airport is also large, so I didn’t have any trouble securing a seat before boarding.
Among them you can find Highlands Coffee, which is famous in Vietnam.
The waiting area is also spacious.
There is also a Starbucks and a small souvenir shop area.
Even though it is the national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines, I wonder if all short-distance domestic flights have to be left behind?
Passengers board the plane by bus from the boarding gate.
The interior of the plane is simple, and economy class passengers board via stairs at the rear of the plane.
The body of the aircraft is designed in Vietnam’s corporate color, turquoise blue, and the seats on board are also the same blue.
The seats are arranged in rows of three by three.
Bottles of water were handed out as in-flight service.
The seats on the plane were neither narrow nor spacious, just like a normal economy class seat.
Compared to Japanese airlines, both the cabin and the seats were quite well-used.
I hate to say it, but it felt like a shared bus.
Due to the short flight time, no meals were provided.
I booked through the Vietnam Airlines website and the price was 1,059,000 VND (about 6,000 yen) one way.
Here are my impressions of the hotel during my stay in Dong Hoi.
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Vietnam Airlines Business Class
I used Vietnam Airlines business class on the route from Dong Hoi to Hanoi.
It was about 1,437,000 VND (about 8,300 yen) one way, so I decided to try flying business class for only about 2,000 yen more, and booked through the Vietnam Airlines website.
When booking tickets with overseas airlines, if the price is not much different from that on discount ticket sites, I try to book through the airline’s website.
When I went to Spain previously, I thought I had booked with the national flagship airline on a discount ticket site, but it turned out to be an affiliated LCC, so I try to check prices on the airline’s website because I think it would be less hassle to buy a ticket directly from the airline in case of any trouble.
Dong Hoi airport is in a regional city, so it was smaller than Hanoi’s.
The airport lounge has Highland Coffee and a small souvenir area, but it feels a bit cramped and cluttered with passengers waiting to depart.
Since I had booked business class, I was able to use the premium class lounge.
This is the entrance to the private lounge.
It seems to be a business lounge shared by all airlines.
There was a small selection of drinks, food, desserts, fruit, etc., and I was able to relax in the lounge until departure, so I think it was worth paying the additional 2,000 yen (About 10 USD).
There was also a raw vegetable salad.
Hot dishes include corn, shumai, and Fried Noodle.
I had just had breakfast, so I only had a little.
The salad and shumai were both delicious.
Inside the room, there is a table where you can work and about four sofa table seats at the back where you can relax.
It seems that the sofa seats are somewhat more popular.
Finally, it was time to board.
We again had to take a bus from the gate to the plane, but this is probably unavoidable since it is a small airport and the facilities are simple.
You board from the front of the aircraft.
This is the business class seat.
The plane has an old-fashioned design, like those used by Japanese airlines decades ago, but there is plenty of seating.
In business class, there was a pre-takeoff drink service, which wasn’t available in economy class.
There was orange water and one other option, but I forget what it was.
As was the case when I flew in economy class, the Vietnam Airlines crew members wore blue ao dai uniforms in the same turquoise color as the aircraft, which looked cool.
In business class, there was a woman who seemed to be the chief of the flight crew, and she was the only one wearing a gold uniform, so I guess she was a little important.
I had no complaints about the facilities on board, but unfortunately, it was cold during the flight, so I looked for a crew member to get a blanket.
Just then, the chief of the flight crew member brought a blanket to another passenger from the front, so I raised my hand to signal for one as well, but I was completely ignored.
It seemed that conversation with regular customers was given priority.
There was no response such as “I’ll be there later,” and they pretended that I was completely out of their sight, but the cabin was small.
There was no way they wouldn’t see me!
When the flight finished talking to a regular customer and came towards me as if to make eye contact with me for the first time, I was astonished to see that this was business class service on a national flag carrier.
I wasn’t particularly well-dressed, so I guess they were comparing me to them.
In that sense, I was really impressed by the excellent in-flight service provided by Japanese airlines.
It reminded me that it’s the little things that can affect the overall image of a country.
