Lauren82 Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 Hellooooo, Hope everyone is well!? We have family coming over to visit in July. There flight is with Vietnam Airlines and they have a lengthy lay over in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon.) Has anybody flown with the airline before? How were they? And does anybody know if they will be allowed to go outside of the airport for the day as they have a 13hr layover!!! I know in Singapore you can but don't know about the visa requirements here hoping somebody on here may be able to enlighten us. Thanks, Lauren Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2tigers Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 If they are allowed out its great! I have been there more times than I can count! But my experiences are from 10yrs ago now. Tell them the main hotel in the centre is called The Rex, there is a great roof top bar there and massage is cheap and very good. http://www.rexhotelvietnam.com/en/Restaurants-Bar.aspx?pg=Restaurants-Bar To get around the shops most people get on the back of a moped and it costs about $1 each trip. Or on a Cyclo (Bike with 3 wheels, you sit in the basket at the front. Or taxi, if you can get one! Traffic is madness, but it goes slow, so on the back of a moped was fine for me. A good restaurant I used to go to was called the 'Lemon Grass' here is a link to all the different good ones in the area: http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Asia/Vietnam/Thanh_Pho_Ho_Chi_Minh/Ho_Chi_Minh_City-1470720/Restaurants-Ho_Chi_Minh_City-TG-C-1.html If they have time, a fantastic trip is to visit the Cu Chi Tunnels, you can actually go into the tunnels where the vietnamese hid in the war, brilliant day trip. Beware of beggars, pickpockets and bag snatchers - use common sense. Although the vietnamese are very friendly and kind, there are those who are disadvantaged financially and may take advantage of a tourist. Markets are great for shopping, I love the shopping there, bought many bargains! Hope this helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2tigers Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 And I must add - I am jealous as I would love to go back there! Great photo opportunities too, my profile pic is from outside the rex hotel, a typical family bike ride! Fabulous! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lauren82 Posted April 4, 2012 Author Share Posted April 4, 2012 Yes, we thought it would be fab to go to. They land 7am and leave 8pm so could make a good day of it.... Just hoping they are allowed out. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surflen22 Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 I flew with Vietnam Airlines in 2010 and had a 6 hour layover in Ho Chi Minh. As we were changing from a domestic flight to an international, there were no issues with leaving the airport - in fact I'd highly recommend it as there is very little in the airport itself to keep you amused! From my recollections, there is a city tour bus that stops at the airport terminal now so mightn't be a bad way of getting a whistlestop tour of the city. If they do have to get a visa to do so, make sure they get the pre approval (do a Google search) and also take some passport size photos otherwise they'll be paying through the nose for these at immigration! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lauren82 Posted April 4, 2012 Author Share Posted April 4, 2012 Had a quick scoot about the interweb. A lot of the websites related to the topic look a bit suspect so I will have to look a bit harder to make sure we're not lining a scam artists pockets. I read that you can get a visa on arrival but queues can be quite long and chaotic. I also found this website http://www.myvietnamvisa.com/ which suggests it will probably be about £55 for them both to have entry... but in my opinion that would be money well spent. I think I will probably ring the airline and/or travel agent to check what they say too. I wish it was me traveling through there - hoping they get as much enjoyment out of the experience, I am concious that they are wary travellers so it may be a bit much for them... but hopefully they will venture out rather than sit for 13hours in an airport!!! otherwise we will be picking up very grumpy/tired parents from the airport. Lol! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fmck Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 Hellooooo,Hope everyone is well!? We have family coming over to visit in July. There flight is with Vietnam Airlines and they have a lengthy lay over in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon.) Has anybody flown with the airline before? How were they? And does anybody know if they will be allowed to go outside of the airport for the day as they have a 13hr layover!!! I know in Singapore you can but don't know about the visa requirements here hoping somebody on here may be able to enlighten us. Thanks, Lauren I am in Vung Tau at the moment so I had to go through the visa process. Your family will need to apply for a visitors visa before travelling. When they arrive in Vietnam they will have to take their paperwork to visa collections along with a 25 USD fee per person (single entry) or 50 USD multiple entry. They will also need one passport photo each. If you do not have the forms to fill in when you arrive, there is a desk with blank forms. I was waiting for five minutes until they processed it. The whole thing took half an hour. Bring USD with you. I used Euros and they allowed a similar rate as USD (which is a bit of a rip off). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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