What it’s like Flying Business Class Aboard Vietnam Airlines

With the prices of airfare soaring and the benefits of travel depleting, I often wonder if flying first or business class is even worth it for the price tag. While this may be true when flying Emirates of Delta, it’s not always the case for all carriers. Take flying business class on Vietnam Airlines, for example.

While we were only flying domestically on a short haul flight, the price to upgrade was less than double as opposed to nearly quadruple the cost as I have seen with other airlines flying domestically within the USA. Combine that with the starting price of about $75 per ticket, then yes a $60 upgrade seems well worth it. In fact, it doesn’t seem like the price per business class ticket goes above $200 per seat. This seems like a deal to me, but what does that $150 -$200 actually get you? I will break it down for you below.

Check in Process

With business class on Vietnam Airlines, you get your own dedicated priority check in lane for a gate agent. Because we have foreign passports, we did have to check in with the gate agent. There was no line and he tagged our hand baggage without even weighing it. We than had a priority lane for security screening, which again had no line. Security is pretty simple in Vietnam, you do not have to remove liquids, just your shoes and laptops. The entire process took about 20 minutes from arriving to the airport to being seated in the lounge.

Lounge Access

Vietnam Airlines has their own business class lounge called the Lotus Lounge which is just upstairs past security in Hanoi. We actually took two domestic flights within Vietnam. One from Hanoi to Danang and one from Danang to Ho Chi Minh City.

The Lotus Lounge in Hanoi was huge and offered many options for food. There was an entire buffet and a noodle bar for pho made to order. There were also soft drinks, water, coffee, and tea readily available. If you are looking to have a pre-flight drink or to download some shows for your flight, the Lotus Lounge in Hanoi may not be the greatest destination. They only had one beer option and no wine or spirits. The Wi-Fi was also ridiculously slow.

Luckily, with my credit card (shout out to Amex platinum!) I also have access to the priority pass lounge, and there happened to be one next door called the Song Hong lounge. While the lounge was smaller, there was still a good buffet inclusive of a noodle bar. They also had all the usual suspects for soft drinks, tea, coffee, with a selection of beers, wines, and vodka. In my opinion, the Song Hong lounge in the Hanoi domestic terminal was better than the Lotus Lounge despite being smaller.

In Danang, the Lotus Lounge was great. The Danang airport is smaller than Hanoi, and so was the lounge. However, there was a buffet with several options, comfortable seating (albeit a bit dated), fast Wi-Fi, and several drink options including beer and wine.

Vietnam Airlines Business Class in flight

For both of our short flights, we flew an Airbus A321 which offered a smooth and worry free journey (thanks Boeing!). The business class seats were arranged with 2 on each side and offered a good amount of leg room, recline, and comfort. While the seats were dated and did not include a screen, there was access to stream entertainment to your phone, tablet or laptop. I didn’t mind the dated seats because they were comfortable and the flight was short anyway, so no need for too much streaming!

We were welcomed aboard with a hot towel and a choice of either an infused water or orange juice. Despite the flights being slightly over an hour, there was even a meal service. Perhaps this was because both of our flights were around dinner time. There were two options to choose from and while the meal was snack size, it was tasty and even served on real plates. They had several options for soft drinks, but there was only one choice of alcohol, which was the same beer that was in the lounge. So, if you fancy champagne at 30,000 feet, you are SOL.

Checked Luggage

While we purposefully packed light for our trip, after our jaunt in Hoi An, we had some additional bespoke items to account for. So we didn’t check bags from Hanoi to Danang, but we did from Danang to Ho Chi Minh. Upon checking our luggage, it was priority tagged and some how beat us off the aircraft. It was honestly like a magic trick because the walk from the plane to baggage claim was less than 5 minutes.

So – Is it worth the $150 – $200?

HECK YES! When can you find a business class flight ticket for this unbeatable price? Unless you are traveling on a strict budget, I think this upgrade is more than worth it. From time savings with skipping the lines and early luggage, to the comfort and snacks, it just makes for a more pleasant traveling experience.

If you likes this post, check out my Vietnam Itinerary or my review of Emirates Business class!