Vietnam Airlines

We flew from Singapore to London Heathrow via Ho Chi Minh city on business class. The plane an A321 departed Singapore on time. Only 5 seats in business class were occupied. Fairly short flight and no inflight entertainment. Upon arrival in HCM we disembarked and quickly boarded a bus to the airport. We were given complimentary access to the business lounge. The flight to London Heathrow was re-timed which meant spending an extra hour in HCM. For this route the plane was a Boeing 777. Business class was half full. The interior was clean but only one toilet in business class also used by the pilot and his officers. When occupied we had to use the toilets in economy class. The meal was limited in choice. Inflight entertainment was accessed from ipad with a good selection of movies. Seats were quite narrow and not fully reclined. Service was fine with personable crew. The indirect route was a bit of a hassle but for the price we paid for business class which cost about the same as premium economy for other airlines flying direct meant it was worth the extra journey time. Boeing 777 will be replaced by new Dreamliner from London Heathrow in July 2015. Look forward to experiencing flat bed in business class on return leg.

Flew from KUL to CDG Vietnam airlines use A321 for KUL-HAN route B777 for HAN-CDG route. A321 is a typical short haul flight with good meals provided no private screen IFE only overhead screen broadcast system. B777 is an old aircraft with old fashion interior a small seat back screen with NON on demand IFE means they have time schedule to broadcast the movie. On DME to KUL VN use A330-200 surprisingly this is a modern aircraft with nice interior larger seat back screen with video on demand entertainment system. Flight attendants were polite food provided was good. They even served cocktail and sparkling wines. As for amenities they only provide blanket and pillow tooth brush was placed in bathroom with minimum quantity for grabs. No duty free shopping. VN should refurbish their B777 aircraft's if they want to continue using this plane in order to compete with other 3 star airlines as it is really outdated. If you want to fly with VN and expect a bit more comfortable flying experience try to choose route using A330-200 or their newly aircraft - A350 and B787.

Flight VN 19 from HAN to CDG in Economy seat. We bought our ticket on Air France because it's a codeshare flight. The seats config is 3-3-3 on their 777 old plane very noisy. The service was very bad not friendly at all the food was tasteless. I am very surprised that Air France which i know well for having good service can have codeshares like this. I had a look at the Business class seat and it's an extremely old version! No screen on the back. The IFE is not on demand so if you miss the start of a movie you're going to have to wait - are we back in 2000?

I chose this airline to travel to Europe and back from Australia as it had reasonably priced business-class fares. I had read mixed reviews but decided to give it a go. First leg Sydney to Ho Chi Minh city was in an A330 6 years old. The plane was clean and comfortable and in quite good condition. The service was attentive and friendly without being intrusive. The meals were very good and the wine list excellent mainly French. Not full lie-flat seats but close to it - enough to get a good rest. The Ho Chi Minh lounge is OK not great. Comfortable and with good stocks of beverages but the Western Food selection is minimal. Also no showers which would be a welcome addition. By contrast the Hanoi lounge is excellent with slightly better Western food selection and shower facilities. Decent standard and roomy. The flights to and from Europe are on older 777's. These do not have lie flat seats but rather the older wide seats that recline significantly. Again not bad for a rest and short sleep but not a longer deep sleep that you might get with full lie-flats. The entertainment system does not work so you are provided with ipads instead which is more than satisfactory. The selection is not as great as on Emirates Qantas or Singapore but enough to keep you occupied for the duration of the flight with not too much trouble. The 777's are about to be replaced with new 787's and A350's so this will refresh the hard offering from Vietnam to Europe and offer the latest comforts of air travel. I am inclined to book more travel with this airline to Europe once the new planes are in service. Overall I found the experience satisfying and good value for money. The service of the staff was the highlight for me coupled with good food and wine offerings.

Flew from KL to Frankfurt via Hanoi. It seemed like a strange detour but was the cheapest option. We were served decent meals (even on the shorter flight which was surprising) and wide selection of drinks inc. small cocktail menu sparkling wine red or white wine/beer. Note: I asked for a vegetarian meal but was told I couldn't as I hadn't specified during check in - we checked in online and there was no meal option on there. Shame. Seats in economy were wider than usual and comfortable we were going to pay for an upgrade to deluxe economy (4-5 inches more room) but once we saw the seats we didn't bother. Entertainment on long haul was small in seat screens with a good selection but all the films started at the same time so if you missed the start you had to wait for it to finish and start again. Cabin crew were really attentive and really friendly. Would certainly fly with them again. The online check-in is extremely dated and one of the oldest websites I have ever seen. If you have specific dietary/other requirements I would recommend calling them or checking in at the airport.

Hanoi to Danang to Hanoi. First of all the check-in was terrible - took staff about 15 min to check in each customer! One ground staff member was using her phone privately while checking in guests - not good at all! Boarded both flights with no greetings from the yawning unprofessional crew. A321 aircraft was old and uncomfortable. After the crew threw out bottles of water they disappeared to the back seats in the plane and were playing games on their phone.

Flew LHR to Hanoi on 10 April. 1 hour late commencing boarding and once boarded we were marooned on the aircraft at the stand for a further 2.5 hours. We were given no information at all and in Economy we were not even offered a drink or snack. We were then turfed off the aircraft and given 8 vouchers each for refreshment in the terminal. Finally re-boarded the aircraft and took off nearly 7 hours after the scheduled departure. No apology or explanation from the flight or cabin crew - disgraceful. The Captain made not one announcement during the whole time we were on the aircraft - from the initial aborted boarding through to landing in Hanoi. Ground staff at Heathrow advised us that the collision avoidance system PCB had to be replaced and sourced from another airline at Heathrow in other words an avoidable technical fault. Cabin staff were polite but distant and unfriendly - in flight meals were poor. On our return 2 weeks later (HCMC / LHR) we suffered a 1 hour delay boarding / taking off - again no apology or explanation and not one announcement from the flight crew to the passengers. Prior to landing the estimated arrival time changed by 30 minutes and we circled Heathrow a number of times before landing 1.5 hours late - no explanation or communication from the flight crew. Surly cabin staff with little or no interaction with passengers. This airline should be avoided at all costs.

MEL-SGN VN780 21 Apr. SGN-CDG VN11 21 Apr. I don't normally travel business class but for this Europe trip we paid the extra. We flew MEL-CDG. MEL-SGN was on a A330 which was in good condition comfortable and virtually empty (there was only 4 people in business for this flight). We has access to the Qantas lounge in MEL. On arrival to SGN we were met by a tour guide who had organised a visa for us and taken to a hotel for a few hours sleep. This was organised and paid for by the airline (you have to get your travel agent to do this in advance for you). SGN-CDG was on a 777. This plane was tired but comfortable. I got to sleep quite easily again the food was excellent and the service the same. The IFE was an iPad but this worked well and had a small but good selection on it.

Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi - flight time changed 5 times. Booked a 10 am flight that finally departed at 4pm. Upgraded to Business class using "Optiontown". Very easy but did not include lounge access. The service was excellent the snack was more like a meal. The A321 was a little tired seat comfortable but a little worn and there was no inflight entertainment.

Flew out from Gatwick on VN 55 on 13th March returning into Heathrow on VN 54 on 31st March. Having read comments. critics regarding Vietnam Airline I was not looking forward to our return flight to Hanoi. However our flight was excellent on time and very comfortable. Would certainly travel with this airline again.