In June 2016, Wendy went to Vietnam for the first time to interview and travel. Because she was invited by the Vietnam Tourism Bureau, she did not take Vietnam’s first private low-cost airline—VietJet Air, but took a state-owned airline—Vietnam Aviation, although Vietnam Airlines takes a simple route and there are not many tidbits to record, but the first time you go to Vietnam, you have to apply for a visa on arrival and take a domestic transfer. The whole flight is impressive, and I will share some experiences here for your reference. (► Air ticket online comparison:Skyscanner|trip.com)
Vietnam Airlines Vietnam Airlines profile
Vietnam Airlines is a state-owned airline of Vietnam. Its predecessor was the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam established in 1956. It became a state-owned enterprise in 1989. In 1996, it combined more than 20 companies to form Vietnam Airlines Corporation. In 2010, it was reorganized and renamed Vietnam Airlines Co., Ltd., and managed All levels are appointed by the Prime Minister of Vietnam, headquartered in Hanoi, and hub airports are Noi Bai International Airport (Hanoi City) and Tan Son Nhat International Airport (Ho Chi Minh City).
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Fly to Hanoi on an international flight
This time I took Vietnam Airlines from Taoyuan to Hanoi. The flight time was nearly three hours. The departure time was 7:9 in the morning, which was a pretty good time. If the time difference is added, the Hanoi International Airport can be reached at XNUMX:XNUMX.The aircraft service and meals of Vietnam Airlines are actually of ordinary standard, not too impressive, but not too bad. It can be said to be an unpretentious style. After all, Vietnam is still a socialist country, just like the Vietnamese. Unlike Thais who always smile brightly like flowers, the feeling of actual face-to-face contact is friendly and restrained!
▲ Vietnam National Airlines and VietJet Air in Terminal XNUMX of Taoyuan Airport, the former is a state-owned airline, and the latter is Vietnam's first private low-cost airline company.
▲ The Airbus A321 passenger plane heading to Hanoi was painted in dark green, which would make it a little heavier visually.
▲ Boarding gate A2 of Terminal XNUMX of Taoyuan Airport, ready to board a Vietnam Airlines flight.
▲ Vietnam Airlines provides two publications on the aircraft, namely Heritage and Heritage Fashion.
▲ Heritage publications mainly introduce Vietnam's attractions and aviation and tourism related information.
▲ After a three-hour flight, I finally arrived at Hanoi’s International Airport.
▲ After getting off the plane, prepare to apply for visa on arrival.
Before customs entry inspection: apply for visa on arrival
When going to Vietnam for sightseeing, it is best to ask a travel agency to obtain a visa in advance. Of course, the cost will be slightly higher. If you want to save money, you can apply for a pick up visa on arrival. Currently, Hanoi (Noi Bai Airport), Da Nang, Vietnam (Da Nang Airport), Ho Chi Minh City (Tan Son Nhat Airport) three major international airports, can apply for visas on arrival.
It should be noted that when applying for a visa on arrival in Vietnam, you must apply for a visa on arrival permit (VISA Approval Letter) in advance. The single entry and exit fee within 1 month is 8 US dollars per person. Before the customs entry inspection, the visa on arrival application form must be filled out on site. (VISA Application Form on arrival), cash payment of visa stamp fee (Stamp Fee) is 25 US dollars per person, and the total fee for two payments is approximately NT$1.
Step 1: Before going abroad, apply for the visa on arrival permit letter online
Application website:http://www.cheapvietnamvisa.net/
Service Fee: 8 USD/person
▲ Application website:http://www.cheapvietnamvisa.net/
Step 2: Before leaving the country, prepare a paper permit letter, passport, head photo, and U.S. dollar bills
Before leaving the country, print the visa permit letter in advance and confirm that the information contained in the permit letter is the same as the personal passport
Prepare your personal passport and confirm that the passport is valid for more than six months at the time of entry.
Prepare 4 6*2 cm special size big head photos. The 2-inch principle can be used universally, otherwise you will have to spend money to take pictures on site.
Finally, first exchange the US dollars and pay the application fee for the visa on arrival.
▲ The first page of the visa permit letter, stating the number, type and date of the visa permit.
▲ On the second page of the visa permit letter, the name, gender, birthday, nationality, and passport number of the permitted person are listed in detail.
Step 3: Before entering the country, fill out the application form and pay stamp duty in cash
After presenting the visa on arrival permit letter on site, the counter staff will provide a blank application form.
After completing the application form by yourself, submit it together with your passport, photo, and visa on arrival permit letter.
After waiting for the number to be called, and then pay 25 USD stamp duty per person, you can get back your passport and receipt with visa on arrival.
▲ The application form for visa on arrival can be downloaded and filled out in advance.
URL:download now
▲ You can fill in the application form on the spot. If you are not familiar with it, it is recommended to download and fill it out in advance.
▲I finally got the visa on arrival, the visa has been stuck on the passport, and a receipt will be provided by the way.
After customs inspection: baggage claim, currency exchange and mobile internet
After arriving at Noi Bai Airport Terminal 5 from Taoyuan International Airport this time, I then arranged a transfer to Terminal XNUMX to Da Nang. Because the waiting time for the transfer was more than XNUMX hours, after applying for the visa on arrival and passing the customs inspection, In the second terminal, the three things of claiming baggage, foreign currency exchange and mobile Internet were completed in a short time.
- Baggage claim: When you go to the baggage carousel to claim your baggage, you can’t find the baggage on the carousel because it takes too long to apply for the visa on arrival. This situation seems to be quite common. & Found Desk) just look for it.
- Foreign currency exchange: After the baggage is claimed and left customs, there are many exchange counters on both sides of the arrival hall. For budget-conscious people, you can compare the exchange rates of each counter. Because you don't want to exchange much money, you just choose a counter at that time.
- Mobile Internet: Vietnam currently provides 3G mobile Internet, and there are many service counters in the arrival hall. At that time, I chose one to handle it at will. I chose the 20 VND plan, which provides 9GB of high-speed Internet traffic, which is quite enough.
▲ It took too long to apply for the visa on arrival. After entering the country, I could not see my luggage on the luggage carousel. Fortunately, I found it at the service counter in the edge area.
▲ There are many counters for currency exchange and mobile internet on both sides of the arrival hall.
▲ At that time, the exchange rate was 150 US dollars, the exchange rate was 1 to 22,000, and the total exchange rate was 330 million VND.
▲ If you only have internet access and don't need to make international calls, you can choose the cheap 20 VND plan.
▲ The service staff will help change the card and activate it, and you can confirm on the spot whether you can successfully surf the Internet.
▲ After completing the cash exchange and mobile internet, prepare to take the free shuttle bus to transfer to the first terminal.
Hanoi transfer to Da Nang
Nội Bài International Airport (Nội Bài International Airport) is located about 45 kilometers north of Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam.A free shuttle bus is provided between the two terminals, which runs every 2014-15 minutes. Because the second terminal has better equipment, restaurants and shopping shops are more complete, if the connecting time is longer, it is recommended to stay in the first The second terminal.
However, although it is recommended to stay in the second terminal, it is more convenient for dining, shopping, mobile Internet and currency exchange, but don’t pay too much attention to the time. It is best to take the shuttle bus at least one and a half hours in advance. Transit at Terminal 1.In addition to the reserved connection time, the other is to go through the domestic check-in and boarding procedures. It is necessary to reserve some time for contingency. The main reasons are as follows:
- When registering, the counters are handled uniformly: Vietnam Airlines check-in counters are lined up. Each counter can handle the check-in of any flight. The flight sequence will not be planned. You can often see that the boarding time is about to expire but has not yet been registered. After people are still in the long queue, they often see service personnel calling and arranging to jump in for registration. For the sake of insurance, it is better to report early.
- When waiting for the flight, the boarding information changes frequently: The flight schedule and boarding entrance of Vietnam airports change quite frequently. The boarding information contained in the boarding pass obtained at the time of check-in may be for reference only, and boarding may be changed at any time. Entrance and boarding time, it is recommended that after completing the check-in, you should go through the security check first. Pay attention to the flight number and boarding entrance and time on the signboard. Don't trust the information on the boarding pass too much.
▲ Go out of the arrival hall on the first floor of Terminal XNUMX and turn right, and you will see the waiting area for the shuttle bus to Terminal XNUMX.There are shops and restaurants on the second floor of Terminal XNUMX, and the departure hall on the third floor.
▲ The indirect shuttle bus from the terminal runs every 15-20 minutes.
▲ The shuttle bus has a black appearance, and the font on the car body is large, which is very easy to recognize.
▲ The first terminal is relatively old. In the departure check-in hall, there is only a simple snack counter.
▲ I ran to the first terminal early, so I had to go downstairs to the arrival hall to buy American fast food to eat and rest.
▲ Hamburg plus Coke, the asking price is 10 VND, which is equivalent to about 150 New Taiwan dollars. If you look at the amount of consumption in Vietnam, you can directly deduct 3 zeros.
▲ The check-in counters of Vietnam Airlines are uniformly set up in Area E of the Lobby check-in hall, which is very eye-catching.
▲ The check-in counters for domestic flights do not have special designated flights. Each flight can be processed at each counter and queued in order.
▲ The check-in counter for domestic flights closes 40 minutes before departure and enters the boarding gate 15 minutes before departure.
▲ Remember the boarding gate and boarding time information on the boarding pass is for reference only.
▲ After completing the check-in procedures, it is recommended to go through the security check and enter directly.
▲ After entering the security check, remember to carefully check whether the boarding flight and the boarding gate match. Don't trust the information contained in the boarding pass.
▲ There are several restaurants in the boarding hall. If you enter early, you are not afraid of running out of food.
▲ Take the shuttle bus and get ready to board the flight to Da Nang!
Fly to Da Nang on a domestic flight
When transiting to Da Nang in Hanoi, I realized that Vietnam Airlines’ domestic flights were one size bigger than the Taoyuan-Hanoi international flight. I thought it was because of the higher passenger capacity. There were many Vietnamese passengers on board. There are people, and there are passengers of multiple nationalities. In fact, it is quite like taking an international flight, but the flight time is only 80 minutes.
▲ Traveling to Da Nang was the Airbus A330, a high-capacity mid-to-long-haul wide-body aircraft.
▲ Heritage Fashion, an in-flight publication of Vietnam Airlines, mainly introduces fashion and shopping information.
▲ The flight from Hanoi to Da Nang is only 80 minutes. The flight attendant will provide a bottle of water and no other food delivery services.
▲ Finally arrived at Da Nang International Airport in Vietnam smoothly!
Postscript: Vietnam Airlines pre-registers for self-check-in
Vietnam Airlines launched a self-service check-in service in November 2017. You can register online on the official website and print out your boarding pass after receiving the email. This can avoid crowded and hurried hands and feet in Hanoi, Da Nang, and Ho Chi Minh City. There are also self-service check-in machines in the three major airports. You can print your boarding pass on the spot, and then go to the checked baggage counter to check your baggage. If you have no baggage, you can go directly to the security check and wait for boarding!
Vietnam Airlines．Vietnam Airlines
- Address: 146th Floor, No. 7, Songjiang Road, Zhongshan District, Taipei City
- Phone: +886 2 2567 8286
- Official website: https://www.vietnamairlines.com/tw/zh/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VietnamAirlinesTaiwan/
