It was simple enough... my wife and I wanted to fly from Da Nang (DAD), to Ho Chi Minh City (SGN, as in Saigon). So, I checked availability on ITN for the following day. Not a problem, as Vietnam Airlines sells all tickets with no advance purchase restrictions, no capacity controls, no blackout dates, and no roundtrip/minimum stay requirement. However, they still charge two fares -- one for foreigners, and a lower fare for Vietnamese nationals. The policy is being phased out, with foreigner ticket prices gradually declining as Vietnamese ticket prices increase.

On ITN, I saw a full A320 in the afternoon, an open 767 at 7 PM, and an open mystery plane at 8 PM. So, we went to the ticket office, and requested two seats on the 7 PM flight. Well... the ticket office told us that there was no 7 PM flight, but there was an 8 PM A320 flight. So, we got tickets for the 8 PM flight.

As we arrived at the terminal the following evening, we noticed a tour bus pulling up. With DAD's small size, the results could be disastrous... so we rushed into the terminal and made it to the check-in counter before the horde of tourists and their amazing quantities of luggage descended upon the check-in agents. (The area is known for its marble carvings, and I have a feeling that VN derives substantial revenue from the overweight baggage fines collected when tourists try to haul too much marble stuff out of DAD.)

I presented the agent with my VN Golden Lotus Plus FF Silver card, with said tier being "earned" by signing up and flying at least one segment on VN per year, though the accompanying benefits are a bit nebulous, aside from distinguishing oneself from the crowds of tourists and earning points that may add up to something useful someday. The agent returned the traditional hand-written boarding passes, but unfortunately assigned us seats that appeared to be two adjacent aisle seats, given that we thought we were flying on an A320 that evening. Upon requesting new seats, we got a pair that seemed to belong somewhere on the right wing on an A320... fearing we had somehow insulted the check-in agent, we investigated further and discovered that we were not on an 8 PM A320 flight, but rather a 7 PM 767 flight with a one-hour delay that had been planned several days ago, unbeknownst to VN's reservation systems or the rest of the world. Just as well; this would be my first VN domestic flight on a 767 (the rest being on the more common A320s and ATR-72s), as the 767 mostly flies international routes, usually in a two-class configuration.

Knowing there wasn't much in store for us beyond security at DAD, we went across the parking lot to one of the "sidewalk cafes" there (featuring small plastic tables and chairs typical to Vietnam's sidewalks... the coffee's strong and the prices are cheap.) 20 minutes before flight time, we headed through security to board the bus to our plane... DAD doesn't have jetways, though there have been rumors of an upcoming new terminal that will hopefully include them. Souvenirs for sale in the boarding area included replicas of VN 747s... an odd choice considering VN has no 747s. However, they will soon be getting a few 777s, much needed as their capacity hasn't been able to keep up with demand. (A problem US carriers would like to have!)

On board, we were greeted with a wide selection of complimentary English and Vietnamese newspapers, as well as American country music playing over the intercom... why, I'm not really sure, but it was a novel surprise. Our 767-300ER took off with just about all seats filled, and a large proportion on board were tourists, many from France. There has been a considerable rise in tourists travelling to Vietnam, since terrorism has threatened other destinations and Vietnam is considered safe from such threats. On takeoff, the cabin video screens provided the typical flight path information, and I noticed that VN flies their domestic flights through Cambodian airspace, as Vietnam is rather S-shaped.

The FAs were 50/50 male/female, with the women in traditional Vietnamese ao dai used as the Vietnam Airlines uniform. In-flight service started with a cold towel, and ended with the "picnic box" that unfortunately seems to have supplanted the proper beverage service provided on many VN domestic flights in former years. Upon opening the box, I found the usual packet of water, and discovered that the Vietnam Airlines Mystery Meat Bun (TM) had made its return... I hadn't seen it my past few flights on VN Y! To help cut costs, I left the sandwich encased in its platic wrapper for use on a future flight.

We made an on-time landing in SGN... only for the country music to return. Willie Nelson provided "On the Road Again" over the intercom, as the video screens switched from flight path information to a heartfelt "thank you for flying Sabena." Though I've never flown Sabena, and with their bankruptcy I suppose I've missed out entirely, I was touched by the thanks.

But, the most exciting part of the trip was yet to come. As we pulled up to the terminal, I noticed an LH 747 parked a few gates over. EVA Cargo was present as well. However, the great joy of the moment was that we got to use a jetway! I was thankful for that, as I've never much enjoyed deplaning, boarding a bus to wait for the 50-yard ride to the terminal, and disembarking from the bus at a door directly adjacent to an unused jetway.

Through the terminal in no time thanks to our lack of checked baggage, we entered the steamy Saigon night to the usual calls of "taxi! taxi!", chose a ride, and sped off into the night...

Overall rating: As in the past, I'll definitely fly VN again, as the alternative to the 1-hour DAD-SGN flight is a 16-20 hour ride by bus or train. But seriously, VN is a fine airline that, despite a few quirks, runs a reasonable service, and is looking forward to much-needed expansion. More than 90% of the time, I get to my destination on-time, and the planes are all fairly new. I'd like to call for a phase-out of the mystery meat sandwiches though.

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