So planning this whole trip out got me real excited because you get the feeling of certainty that you will be on a a plane or at the destination on which you are researching. Oh its gonna be sweet!!!!
Well the logistics right, get to the logistics...
Ok so the flight costs are usually the most expensive portions of my travel and hence take up a large portion of my travel budget. Luckily I have been saving up my mileage points and was able to book both mine and my girlfriends tickets round trip for free. Sweet!!! However after looking at the cost of flying within the countries of destination the sweet got a little less sweeter but still sweet.
First step was choosing which Country to fly into:
Getting to Bangkok Thailand round trip in June.
From New York the cost was ranging anywhere from $900-1300 and up. From Los Angeles my friends got their tickets for $780 round trip.
Getting to Saigon Vietnam round trip in June.
From New York the cost was ranging anywhere from $1200-1600 and up. From Los Angeles the cost was $1100-1400.
Choice - Fly into Bangkok. I had enough United Mileage points to cover a round trip for me and my girlfriend into Bangkok for 130,000 miles total. The flights were not available to Vietnam with standard miles on the days I wanted. The only thing we had to pay for was the Ticketing fee of $25 per ticket each way and taxes. The entire round trip for both of us cost about $300 total. We have a layover in Frankfurt then land in Thailand in 2 calendar days.
Second step getting from Bangkok to Saigon(Ho Chi Minh City) and back:
The cheapest I found when I was in Thailand last and went to Vietnam was Air Asia(http://www.airasia.com/). Currently their flight schedule is 2 flights daily departing Bangkok at 7:45am arriving at 9:15am and 3:55pm arriving at 5:25pm. The return flights are 2 flights daily departing Saigon at 9:45am arriving at 11:10am and 5:55pm arriving at 7:25pm. Each way is $30-$42.
The other option is Vietnam Airlines which has 2 flights leaving daily departing bangkok at 11:20am arriving at 12:50 and at 7:30pm arriving at 9:00pm. The return flights are 2 flights daily leaving Saigon at 8:50am arriving at 10:20am and 5:00pm arriving at 6:30pm. Each way is $67-$222.
Choice - Vietnam Airlines. This one you are going to want to slap me in the face. Because we wanted to get to vietnam as early as possible that day we wanted to take the earliest flight out but we could not get the AM AirAsia flight because of circumstances. Thus we need to take the 11:20am Vietnam Airlines flight. Our base fare is $340 which isnt that bad but then check out the outrages taxes and fees:
1. Base Fare = $340
2. Passenger Service fee-International (JC)/01 Adult = $36
3. Other Tax & Fee/01 Adult = $175!!!!!!!
WHAT THE HELL RIGHT!!!!! 175 for tax and fee.
Total flight cost for Vietnam Airlines for two people round trip from Bangkok to Saigon $551.00.
For AirAsia(http://www.airasia.com/) each way with taxes and fees came out to $75 for the same dates. If we could have waited for the later flight then I would have totally taken AirAsia and saved $250 bucks. Oh well, it is what it is.
Third step getting from Saigon to Nha Trang and back:
Well there is only one choice to fly to Nha Trang and thats Vietnam Airlines, They offer 5 flights a day at 6:00am, 7:45am, 3:40pm, 7:00pm, and 7:50pm all taking about 55min air time. The return to saigon at leaving Nha Trang at 7:45am, 9:30am, 4:45pm, 6:05pm, and 9:35. These flights all cost from $32-$67.
My flight breakdown for 2 people, taking the morning flight there and the late evening flight back.
1.Base fare = $203
2.Passenger Service fee-Domestic (AX)/01 Adult =$9
3.VAT - Value Added Tax (UE)/01 Adult =$20
Total =$232
Flying in Vietnam is expensive compared to the other countries in the region. Freaking crazy even just looking at a domestic flight from Saigon to Nha Trang. Comparitively you can go from Bangkok to Singapore or Jakarta to Kuala Lumpor for the same price.
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