Review: Vietnam Airlines Business Class 787 London To Ho Chi Minh City

How do you know the dog was sniffing for money, as opposed to drugs or explosives?

It may be a "proper Champagne flute", but am I the only only one on earth who highly prefers a Champagne coupe?

This report makes me question if you still like flying around just for fun. Seems like a tedious 12h trip that would make me happy to have arrived where I wanted to be, but not make me excited to actually fly.

@ Colin -- Nope 😉

You’re conclusion was “solid” but I agree that most of your comments bordered on mediocre or average at best. You generally have such colorful reviews that a bland one impacts the readers’ perception of the product quality.

What does money smell like?

It probably would have been better if Vietnam Airlines introduced cuisine/wine from Vietnam! I love to see airlines introduce some of the comfort dishes from their culture (ie. Asiana - bibimbap, EVA - beef noodle soup, ANA - Ramen).

@ Lucky Maybe an article idea for you: your favorite comfort food on planes? 🙂

@ James - at least for USD it smells like the unique combination of its ink and paper. The plastic made currency ones from Canada and other countries probably don't smell like much.

I almost wish you had reviewed the Kiev to London flight...if only to let us know just how bad BA inter-European flights have become...

@CS

I dunno, Lucky's view seems to confirm what most other TRs say about this airline. A decent airline overall that could be much better with a few minor improvements here and there.

What method did you use to redeem for this or did you pay cash?

Thanks for the review: I guess it’s not an airline I’ll go out of my way for.

“On the plus side, they have a good hard product, air nozzles at every seat”

I thought there were only air nozzles at window seats?

According to my study most noted less than a 100 have been in someone's g-string.

What do you think money smells like.

I'm so confused why the flag carrier of Vietnam didn't cater a single Vietnamese dish. Not even Vietnamese coffee. And the Vietnamese cocktail is made up -- Campari, seriously? While the food looked fine this was absolutely as boring and generic as it comes, much like the interior finishes.

Interesting review, I was expecting better from the Airline for some reason.

One point, you say at the end a positive is every seat having an air nozzle but earlier mention no overhead bins in the centre and so no air nozzles?

Your report is inconsistent. Throughout the description of the F&B, you used negative adjectives such as "disappointing" and you kept complaining about powdered coffee yet in your conclusion you described the food as "solid."

"Is currency smuggling a big issue on flights to/from Vietnam, or do they just select flights at random?"
Certainly not exclusive to Vietnam flights...customs target some destinations more than others..

It is all to do with money laundering & the UK POCA (proceeds of crime act).
In the Uk, if you have cash on you exceeding £1000, you can't prove it is legitimate, where it came from and it is not from the proceeds of or intended to be used in the commission of crime, it can be confiscated.
You are also required to declare £10,000 (or equivalent) and up to HMRC when leaving the UK. If not, it can be seized. Surprisingly common.

@Aaron, what I want to know is why he wasted double avios by booking into European business class with BA from Kiev to London, seems to me to be a waste of 8,500 points when he could likely book into an exit row in economy with Oneworld status; it's basically over $100 worth of points for a mediocre meal, everything else you get with business you'd get in economy with status

@Lucky -- I've noticed you often have the cheese course, and I've wondered if you usually eat all of it. I'm quite a large eater, but I've always been impressed with the size of your meals. Is that just for our benefit, or do you actually finish them?

Currency smuggling is certainly not exclusive to Vietnam but it’s definitely a big problem there. On one of the episodes of “Heathrow: Britain’s Busiest Airport” they featured a money sniffing dog targeting passengers boarding a flight to Vietnam as well, and mention that it’s a well-known problem with passengers headed there.

Overall this experience sounds pretty mediocre...

Extra vowel. We see what you did there. 😀

"Rather than first doing a round of drinks with nuts or snack mix, I was immediately brought the first course (which seems a bit strange on such a long flight)."

That's the same as Asiana on a 14+ hour trip JFK-ICN and ICN-JFK, both of which are mid-day departures. Never understood why they don't do a separate beverage service first.

I love it when Asian carriers have non seafood items. (Many are very seafood heavy)

I have no idea why they didn’t put Vietnamese food on the menu. It’s one of the best cuisines on Earth. Pho or Bun Bo Hue. Cha Ca. Grilled beef salad. Lemon Grass. Banh Mi. Bahn xeo.
Sad

As for alcohol and cocktails: people drink beer in Vietnam, almost nothing else. It is difficult to find wine or alcohol outside of the tourist or Western areas. Everybody drinks beer. Hence the Campari drink

I would love you to compare Vietnam Airlines 787 and A350 since they have both. I tend to like the A350 more, but would love to see your perspective with Vietnam Airlines.

I'm a frequent flyer in Vietnam Airlines (Platinum). Very few European airlines serve Vietnam, so the biggest advantage of VN is that it's the often the most direct option to Europe. Service is a bit hit or miss (that's the case across Vietnam), but in general it's quite solid and gets you to your final destination faster than any other alternative. Premium Eco on the Dreamliner is also super comfortable and reasonably affordable. I'd say one of the best Premium Eco product out there. Unfortunately Premium Eco on the A350 is not quite as good. While they have many foreign pilots, they tend to fly the domestic and regional routes, while international flagship routes are usually reserved for senior Vietnamese crews. I'm always amazed by the quantity of alcohol the crew buys at the duty free before the flight to carry back home.

"I would love you to compare Vietnam Airlines 787 and A350 since they have both. I tend to like the A350 more, but would love to see your perspective with Vietnam Airlines."

Given that the A350 has staggered seats and not reverse herringbone seats like the 787, and given that Lucky prefers the latter to the former, I'm guessing the 787 would be preferred by Lucky.

May I suggest they're not so much sniffing for money, but for traces of drugs on the cash.

There is a huge problem with Vietnamese organised crime groups creating "cannabis factories" - the money has to then go somewhere!

@Julia

VN has reverse herringbone seats on their long haul A350s so mainly to CDG and FRA.
It is true that they have staggered seats on their regional A350s though, so to ICN, HND, PEK, PVG etc...

I wish you would have tried the wines or at least checked to make sure what was on the menu was what they were serving. I'd be curious to know if the champagne they served pre-departure, which you never commented on in terms of quality, is the same they serve post-departure as many airlines serve an inferior pre-departure champagne or sparkling wine.

As for instant coffee, it seems like many airlines do this. Especially non-First World airlines. I wonder if it's because they think passengers don't trust the cleanliness of on-board coffee machines. Maybe you should travel with the best instant coffee you can find to make your own.

That was an informative review even though there were way too many photos. (Is it really necessary to photograph the bottled water, for example?). I was astounded by the fact that the wood was almost wholly Western. Vietnamese cuisine is so good that I would choose Vietnam Airlines for a long haul over, say, British Air if I knew they were serving "local" food.

@James
Believe it or not the 'money dogs' are trained to smell the oil that human hands leave on banknotes. If there is a large number of notes the scent will be sufficiently strong to alert the dog. I have only ever seen them at Heathrow.

Nice review... While I understand the negatives you mentioned, VNA has made huge changes since I moved to the country 6 years ago. For Vietnam, it’s absolutely high class. A lot of the issues stem from culture and other issues, but I think another year will see more improvements... Of course, I’m biased because I love Vietnam Airlines.