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Ho Chi Minh City Airport Passenger Reviews and Airport Traveller Reports
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HO CHI MINH CITY AIRPORT customer review : 11 September 2012 by Felix Chan (Hong Kong) |
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Rating : 4/10 |  |
Queuing |  |
Cleanliness |  |
Facilities |  |
Recommended |  |
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The airport is under construction. I am confused with unclear temporary signage. Dirty toilets also make a
bad first impression in Ho Chi Ming City. I waited for the conveyor for about 40 minute. Queuing time is okay.
I disappointed that the airport has no WI-FI which is standard in international airports. Some desktop
installed in waiting zone also no real Internet connection (blocked access). To conclude, the terminal
facilities are very poor.
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HO CHI MINH CITY AIRPORT customer review : 15 August 2012 by Tapani Utunen (Finland) |
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Rating : 10/10 |  |
Queuing |  |
Cleanliness |  |
Facilities | |
Recommended |  |
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Flew KUL-SGN return: passport control quick and the bags were on the carousel when we got downstairs.
Took a Vinasun taxi to the centre; must have been less than 20 mins from the plane to the back seat of the
taxi. Same story on return: quick check-in, passport control a breeze and had enough time for a nice cup of
coffee facing the runway and watching planes land. Pleasant and well-organized airport not far from the
centre of HCMC.
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HO CHI MINH CITY AIRPORT customer review : 7 March 2012 by W John (USA) |
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Rating : 8/10 |  |
Queuing | |
Cleanliness | |
Facilities | |
Recommended | |
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Modern and efficient. I've been through 10+ times, no major complaints. Arrival: if you have no luggage, it's
possible to get through immigration and customs in under 10 minutes. Officials are not particularly polite, but
there was no hassle. Visa on arrival process is chaotic (3-step process, unclear to first-time visitors, difficult
to find out which line to stand in for each step), but they keep things moving. On departure, the airport is
pleasant enough, although food options are not too appealing, and overpriced (although not outrageously
so).
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HO CHI MINH CITY AIRPORT customer review : 28 February 2012 by A Huynh (Canada) |
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Rating : 2/10 |  |
Queuing | |
Cleanliness | |
Facilities | |
Recommended | |
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Airport was clean and well air conditioned. Visa-on-arrival was efficient and was only a 10 minute wait for a
visa to placed in my passport. Immigration staff were rude and requested a "tip" for stamping my passport.
No WIFI was provided though there were some computer terminals scattered throughout the airport at certain
gates, which did not work when I was there. No international food franchises, but only a place that sells old
Vietnamese food for a premium price.
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HO CHI MINH CITY AIRPORT customer review : 20 February 2012 by J Tydeman (UK) |
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Rating : 8/10 | |
Queuing | |
Cleanliness | |
Facilities | |
Recommended | |
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A surprisingly large airport, very modern with lots of shops and eateries. Very unfriendly and unhelpful staff
which spoils an otherwise very good airport. It could do with reliable free Wi-fi throughout rather than only in
certain locations.
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HO CHI MINH CITY AIRPORT customer review : 12 December 2011 by Ren Yi (Australia) |
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Rating : 3/10 |  |
Queuing | |
Cleanliness | |
Facilities | |
Recommended | |
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Last time I use SGN was more than 10 years ago. The facilities are definitely significantly improved. However
service was still as bad as before if not worse. Landed from Singapore with SQ. Walk straight to immigration.
Staff are extremely rude and unfriendly, could not careless attitude. Luggage arrived relatively quick
considering it was the only flight at the time. Everyone had to go through custom inspection machine, only
one machine available, so it was a long queue. Between customs and waiting areas are money changers and
airport taxi agents, you do not feel safe at these counters. Once you out again a lot of black market taxi
drivers trying to grab your attention. All in all it was fast but unpleasant experience. A lot of room for
improvement.
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HO CHI MINH CITY AIRPORT customer review : 11 November 2011 by Michael Mamuric (Philippines) |
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Rating : 7/10 |  |
Queuing | |
Cleanliness | |
Facilities | |
Recommended | |
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Arrived and departed to and from MNL on both red-eye flights. Immigration was fast, no paperwork needed
(arrival Cards, declaration forms, etc). Check-in hall for departures is large and spacious enough. Not many
food choices on the restricted area, after clearing departure immigration and customs. Very clean toilets. Be
careful of the taxis serving the airport - best to take taxis from reputable companies.
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HO CHI MINH CITY AIRPORT customer review : 26 July 2011 by Paul Brady (Australia)
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Customer Rating : 2/5 |
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Security at Ho Chi Minh City International Airport is lax. Travellers need to be on their guard against theft. I had a
carry on bag stolen when in the process of checking in my luggage at the Jet Star check in counter. Security
guards are not checking individuals coming into the airport. This means as happened in my case, a person was able
to come behind me posing as a traveller and while I was speaking to the check in counter staff member, steal the
bag and easily exit the airport with it.
HO CHI MINH CITY AIRPORT customer review : 7 July 2011 by Peter Stewart (USA)
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Customer Rating : 5/5 |
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Flight from LAX was exhausting, and I found the Airport terminal quite new, immigration was fast, toilets were
clean, but the baggage part was actually quite slow.
HO CHI MINH CITY AIRPORT customer review : 5 May 2011 by D Grinder (New Zealand)
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Customer Rating : 4/5 |
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| Queuing |
| Cleanliness |
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Arriving in SGN off a SQ flight no hassles. Breeze through immigration, bags came out quickly
and efficiently and security screening was fine. Only downside, no shops open at midday.
Departing SGN domestic to Da Nang was a pain, delayed half an hour, then an hour and so on
until it got to two hours! Luckily the air con was working and a gentleman gave our group free
meals for being delayed so long.
HO CHI MINH CITY AIRPORT customer review : 1 February 2011 by D Wilson (UK)
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Customer Rating : 2/5 |
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Arriving and departing from this airport can only be described as total chaos. Waiting for 2
hours for a visa on arrival to transfering to domestic departures. If transferring to a domestic
flight give yourself 4 hours, or you could quite easily miss your connection.
HO CHI MINH CITY AIRPORT customer review : 14 August 2010 by Tom Foley (Australia)
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Customer Rating : 4/5 |
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Check in at SGN with EVA Air was okay. Waited at the gate in the new terminal which has come
along way since 2005 when I was last there. Big glass windows let you see all the action out
on the tarmac. I like that they make all the greeters and well wishers wait outside the
airport so only passengers are in the terminal. The space between the x-ray machines on exit
is far too small and creates a bottleneck of people trying to leave the terminal after
collecting luggage.
HO CHI MINH CITY AIRPORT customer review : 5 July 2010 by A Combrugge (Vietnam)
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Customer Rating : 4/5 |
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The airport has two terminals: International and Domestic, which are not connected, so any
connection forces you to leave the building and go to the other one, using a sheltered
walkway, which is sufficient protection from the rain, but not airconditioned. The queues for
Passport control and security check are reasonable, I have never waited longer than 10
minutes. Friendliness is a different issue. Once outside, the taxi-mafia is a real pain,
especially late evenings (after 9PM) when it becomes more difficult to catch a decent taxi.
The taxis from "Saigon Airport Taxi" company are usually available in abundance, but the local
Expat community avoids them like a plague, and for good reason. Queuing for Taxis is a
unheard-of concept in Vietnam, so don't even try to be polite, it is catch as catch can.
Departures are ok, not much to do airside, but at last some decent (but overpriced) food
options and a massage place (also overpriced). Again, no long queues for passport control and
security check.
HO CHI MINH CITY AIRPORT customer review : 8 December 2009 : by B Ford
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Customer Rating : 3/5 |  |
Very shiny and big and new - really much too big considering the number of passengers, and the
new terminal seems a bit of a white elephant given that they're planning a brand new airport
for HCMC in the medium term. I can't say anything about arrivals, but processing was pretty
speedy for departures - I even got a smile and some friendly conversation from the guy at the
immigration desk, which are rare in the typically glum and/or stern world of Vietnamese
officialdom. As other travellers have commented, the duty-free and food in the airside section
are pretty expensive - 3 USD for tiny little cakes at one of the cafes, for instance, and I
paid 4 USD for a pretty but not incredibly remarkable fridge magnet. What it is really lacking
is a newsagency - there's precious little to do if you have to wait there for a couple of
hours (if you don't fancy paying through the nose to dine at one of the restaurants upstairs),
and grabbing a decent magazine or book would be a good way to cope. At the moment all that
seems to be available are the propagandist Vietnamese English-language papers - not exactly a
substitute for The Economist. Overall, it's hardly going to compete with KLIA, Changi or
Bangkok as a SE Asian hub, but it's clean and efficient enough not to be the complete
nightmare you might expect in a communist country.
HO CHI MINH CITY AIRPORT customer review : 14 July 2009 : by Rob Boyce
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Customer Rating : 3/5 | |
Departing for London via Bangkok was quick and easy check in and passports also quick. Very
pricey food (seven US dollars for a basic poor quality sandwich) and drink.
HO CHI MINH CITY AIRPORT review : 30 April 2009 : by Trish Walker
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Customer Rating : 4/5 | |
We recently returned from Saigon. Unfortunately we missed our connecting flight to Da Nang and
had to stay in the airport 10 hours overnight. We found the staff very friendly and re-
arranged our flight for us. Domestic airport closed at 1 am and our flight was 6 am so we
could do nothing but lounge on the seats. We found the airport very clean and staff very
friendly.
HO CHI MINH CITY AIRPORT customer review : 26 January 2009 : by S Pathirana
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Customer Rating : 4/5 | |
I found this airport (International terminal) excellent. Very impressive, big, clean. Don't
expect much friendly service though; particular as you exit on arrival. I was ill leaving the
airport, but had a very comfortable experience. Shops are expensive.
HO CHI MINH CITY AIRPORT customer review : 14 January 2009 : by P Bedson
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Customer Rating : 4/5 | |
Nice clean, very modern, airport with efficient check in & security for international
flights. Catering airside is very pricey even by airport standards. Immigration was not
exactly speedy but acceptable (but then I had a proper visa - the queue for "visa on arrival"
looked horrendous) and the luggage beat us to the hall despite being one of teh first off the
plane. Bit of a scrum outside arrivals - lots of taxi touts etc - but felt safe and secure
(like the rest of Vietnam really). Note that if you need to change money you need to do it
before you leave arrivals though USD seem to be equally accepted as local currency - the
rates offered by some of the moneychangers varied fairly significantly - you could get 5%
more by walking 20 yards down the hall!.
HO CHI MINH CITY AIRPORT customer review : 10 December 2008 : by S Devasahayam
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Customer Rating : 4/5 | |
The airport at first appearance looked spacious though the duty-free shopping areas were congested
and very few seats were available in the check-in lounges. However, it was clean and modern in all
aspects.
HO CHI MINH CITY AIRPORT customer review : 3 October 2008 : by Frank Winter
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Customer Rating : 3/5 | |
Modern airport, much better than last time I visited in May 2007, style reminds me of Hong Kong
(bright/lots of steel/clean). Departure smooth, though 2 security checks right before and after
immigration. Arrival is the same chaos at the 'visa-on-arrival', but as in Hanoi no clear signage
and communication skills of staff non-existent. This is not a usual visa-on-arrival, you can only
get it when you have the electronic approval letter (normally done by travel agency in vietnam).
Best to bring your 2 passport pictures. Best if you can secure a proper visa before arrival. If
not, budget at least 60 minutes for the 'visa-on-arrival'.
Ho Chi Minh City Airport customer review by M Gephart
26 November 2007 Customer Rating : 
Used both the international and domestic terminals while traveling around Vietnam. The
international airport is very modern and will certainly mature in its offerings as it becomes a
major business center. The domestic terminal is showing its age and could use a deep cleaning and a
little bit of a face lift. But, it is still efficient and semi-organized.
Ho Chi Minh City Airport customer review by Quek Keng Guan
23 November 2007 Customer Rating :
Used Tan Son Nhat International Airport domestic airport for a VN flight from Saigon to Dalat.
Domestic airport is old, yet clean and pleasant to use. Understood used to be an old military
airport and upgraded to an international airport in Aug 2007. There are about 8 gates where one can
view arriving and departing planes. There are 2-3 cafes selling Vietnamese and western food (cheaper
than international airport but they don accept credit cards). Plenty of seats available in the
departures hall. Toilets were clean, however they do not have handicap/baby changing facilities.
Ho Chi Minh City Airport customer review by Quek Keng Guan
12 November 2007 Customer Rating :
Used Tan Son Nhat International Airport recently. It was bright, clean and pleasant to use. Arrivals
has 6 belts, trolleys were FOC. Several immigration counters were opened, so passed through
immigration was a breeze; took less than 15 mins! Dep hall has 8 counters from A - H. Dep hall has a
post office, 2 cafes. Set up reminds me of HKLA of a smaller scale. Once passed the immigration, there
is some DFS. Dinning is ex, and in US dollars. A sandwich cost US$7, pastry cost US$3! However dining
was a pleasant experience where 1 can watch plans fly. Toilets were clean and pleasant to use. However
there is no baby changing facilities found. Ample seats could be found in the dep hall. Overall a
pleasant airport to use.
Ho Chi Minh City Airport customer review by Richard Vine
12 November 2007 Customer Rating :
The new terminal at Saigon Airport has transformed things. There are virtually no queues at
immigration any more and baggage handling seems to have improved.
Ho Chi Minh City Airport customer review by Ron Merritt
26 February 2007 Customer Rating : n/a
I flew biz class ANA from SGN via NRT to HNL. SGN check-in was very
quick, departure immigration relatively fast and I spent one hour in the
F/J all-airline lounge before boarding. I stop at SGN twice a year and
have found SGN Airport to be very efficient and the F/J departure lounge
is really quite good with an excellent selection of food, internet
terminals, etc.
Ho Chi Minh City Airport customer review by Lin Hsu
26 January 2007
I arrived in SGN yesterday at 8 pm, and was off the plane, collected my
landing visa, went through customs, exchanged money and was out the door
by 8:30. This was surprisingly quick compared to last year's visit when
it took hours. I think this was mostly due to arriving at a non-peak
time, so the lines through immigration were short. The Landing Visa desk
took a while to notice me, but otherwise processed my paperwork very
quickly.
Ho Chi Minh City Airport customer review by Dave Taylor
29 May 2006
I have used SGN 10 times over the past 2 years, most recently in April.
While there is not much to do if one has an extended layover, this
airport always seems to operate with a great deal of efficiency and
courtesy. I have always had good experiences with check-in, security,
baggage and immigration. Just be sure to bring a good book to read
because it's definitely not a very interesting or exciting airport.
Ho Chi Minh City Airport customer review by Ned Hopkins
10 February 2006
Arriving from CKS just before 1pm, there was virtually no wait getting
through immigration (perhaps because I was one of the first off the
plane) or in collecting my luggage. The pre-paid taxi stand was a deal:
US$7 to central Saigon, with the clerk walking me to the cab. Check-in
at EVA Air business class counter a breeze. I waited for long lines to
disappear before heading to emigration and whisked through the two
control points both times (SGN-PNH and SGN-CKS). The 1st/business lounge
is comfortable, with a decent selection of snacks and drinks and an
enclosed smoking section. SGN certainly beats the dickens out of SFO
and most other US airports.
Ho Chi Minh City Airport customer review by Colin Tan
28 July 2005
I travel frequently to HCMC and the airport has definitely improved from
the days when you had to wait hours to get through immigration. The
trick for us frequent flyers is to pick a flight that lands at about
noon and you will be out of the airport in 15 minutes as there a few
flight landing at that time.
Ho Chi Minh City Airport customer review by Vuong Tuan Hao
21 October 2004
Tan Son Nhat airport has been upgraded but the immigration officers do
not work very well. It took me over twenty minutes to go through
immigration with just 4 people in front of me!! Waiting room is
confined.
Ho Chi Minh City Airport customer review by Kevin Dang
30 June 2004
Even though SaiGon airport is not as great and modern as Ha Noi airport, it's still at the
international standard. The waiting room is spacious, bright, and cool. The services there are
very good and people are extremely friendly. It took me only about 20 minutes to get thru
immigrations. (Yes it could be worse, sometimes it could take up to 50 minutes, but it all depends
on the time of the day and how many flights arrive at a specific time.- You can not really blame on
the immigration officers.). I can assure that the immigration process at Saigon Airport is at least
better than the immigration process at Singapore Airport- It took us at least 1 hour just to get
thru immigration there).
Ho Chi Minh City Airport customer review by Elin Stuart
31 May 2004
I take on board all of the other comments regarding Saigon Airport but this is a developing country.
The airport is in need of a major sorting-out but I found the facilities and service to be adequate
and had no problems passing through on three different occasions recently. A definite plus is the
very good air-con, which is lacking in other developing countries' airports.
Ho Chi Minh City Airport customer review by Xuess Wee
1 January 2004
Technically, it's no longer Saigon, but Ho Chi Minh City. Live with it, folks.
A weird fusion of old and new - old hangars, possibly relics from the South Vietnamese days and what
I can see, efforts made to modernise the waiting areas. The aircon was all right and the waiting
area was comfortable and bright. There were enough seats and there are 4 big screen TVs in the
waiting area to amuse passengers. My main bone to pick was clearing customs entering HCMC. It took
me close to 50 minutes to get through! Furthermore it was a counter managed by 2 officers!
Frustrating. The service was cold and a tinge of suspicion thrown in - the officers never even broke
into a smile or a greeting.
Ho Chi Minh City Airport customer review by Vuong Tuan Hao
27 November 2003
Tan Son Nhat is too small to handle so many flights at a time. My flights back from Bangkok
(10:20am) and Hong Kong (10:40am) - (2 times) were later than some earlier flights and thus we were
at the back of the lengthy queues - a very amusing notice is that there were 2 immigration officers
sitting at every counter but the two checked the same passport of the same only passenger... I
wonder why they did not do their job separately as one officer checks one passenger's
passport. It
took nearly 90 minutes for my queue of 30 passenger to go through the immigration and I was 30th,
being the last passenger of the queue!
Ho Chi Minh City Airport customer review by Nicole Marie
27 October 2003
Changing planes at Saigon on transit from Melbourne to Hanoi was a nightmare. The airport was hot
and humid, with pedestal fans failing in their attempt to keep the heat at bay. The immigration
officials did not speak and separated a mother and her 12 year old daughter and made them go through
individually. The girl was terrified. There were no instructions as to how to get to our connecting
flight. We had to collect our luggage which had been left in a pile in the middle of the entry way,
re-check it, and then find our way through security and customs again, to get to our domestic
flight. Fly to Hanoi instead.
Ho Chi Minh City Airport customer review by Jason Z Lee
25 September 2003
Saigon Airport is an outdated and undersized facility. The Immigration Hall is so small that it can
barely handle one planeload of about 250 passengers. Officers in their smart Vietnamese Army
uniforms are cold and indifferent. The airport only has about three jetways, and there are few seats
available. There is only one large cafe selling overpriced food. The Check-In area is OK, at least
compared to the horrendous Immigration hall.
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