CX/VN Hanoi: The new & the old with Ho Chi Minh side trip

[MLflyer]

Welcome Aboard Melbourne Airways - Endless Discovery


Just a little teaser of my trip to Vietnam just a few weeks ago, unfortunately Melbourne Airways does not fly to Vietnam so I flew with Melbourne Airways' fellow airline partners;
Cathay Pacific, Dragon Air and Vietnam Airlines! Hope to welcome you onboard soon!

Itinerary:

ML 9857: Melbourne to Hong Kong in Y (operated by Cathay Pacific)
ML 9867: Hong Kong to Hanoi in Y (operated by Dragon Air)
ML 7778: Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh in Y (operated by Vietnam Airlines)
ML 7779: Ho Chi Minh to Hanoi in C (operated by Vietnam Airlines)
ML 9858: Hanoi to Hong Kong in Y (operated by Dragon Air)
ML 9868: Hong Kong to Melbourne via Adelaide (operated by Cathay Pacific)

Can't Wait? Read a Previous Trip Report!
http://www.sqtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12540

*Melbourne Airways is a fictional airline and logo rights belong to MLflyer

[CarbonMan]

Looking forward to the TR, MLFlyer. Did you visit Sapa?

[MLflyer]

It's a pleasure to welcome you aboard Melbourne Airways Int'll, we believe that it's all about the journeys and endless discoveries, we hope that you will enjoy this discovery with us!

Journey 1:



First up after arriving at MEL was to check in! Today the whole aircraft is 100% booked solid in all classes as I was advised by the check-in agent, there were also about 50 or so Japanese tourists heading home, after their holiday in Melbourne! Maybe this is a sign calling for direct MEL-NRT services? Hint! Hint! JL & NH ! or even perhaps Melbourne Airways should take on these flights?

Immigration was a 15 minute wait, as many flights were taking off during this time, TG, QR, EY, EK, MH, FJ, PR and not to mention SQ's own A380 flight!

CX will provide 2 meal services today, a supper service and a breakfast service.
The Supper service that I choose consisted of;
- Stew beef with mash and steam vegetables,
- Chicken breast garden salad
- Weiss frozen yogurt bar as desert
- Bread Roll
- Beverages of your choice, I went with the coke for today

The Breakfast service consisted of;
- Scrambled eggs with sausage, bacon and mushrooms and spinach
- Mixed Fruits
- Blueberry Muffin
- Tub of Ski Yogurt
- Small cup of Dairy Farmer's Milk
- Beverage of your choice, I choose to go with spring water



The flight was uneventful after the meals, as the flight was a red-eye flight, I slept through the duration of the flight. We landed at HKG 15 minutes ahead of schedule and parked beside a NZ 772ER that came from AKL, now I only have 55 MINUTES! to connect to my Dragon Air service to HAN!



Overall the service on CX was great as always, the crew was friendly and attentive to requests and always served with a smile, it truly is the people who makes an airline!

Journey 2:



As I only had 45 minutes to rush to my next leg to HAN, CX decided to conveniently park its MEL flight at the far end of the terminal, I had to rush through security then from one end of the terminal to the main concourse then head down the escalators then finally catch a bus to the satellite terminal! Phew I just made the flight with 15 minutes to spare ! I think Melbourne Airways should talk to CX about having more convenient and less rushed connection times!



The flight was a quick hop from HKG to HAN, flight time was about 2 hours, the load on today's was about 50% full, i was lucky to have 3 seats all to myself, had plenty of room to stretch out and enjoy the flight! Dragon Air also provided a breakfast service on today's flight, my 2nd breakfast meal already!

The Breakfast service consisted of;
- Yum Cha with stir fried noodles
- Mixed Fruits
- Bread Roll & Butter
- Orange Juice Cup

The flight was uneventful, I managed to get about half an hours worth of sleep on this short sector, service on KA was great as the FA's were attentive and friendly. We soon landed at HAN on time. We parked at a remote stand and were to be bussed in today, funnily enough a Thai AirAsia A320 that came in after got to use the aero bridge! No doubt HAN is home to VN and SkyTeam. After picking up my luggage, I headed over to my hotel after a 45 minute taxi ride!



side note: Pictures of Hanoi & surrounds will be uploaded once the whole trip report is written up, the trip report is mainly focused on flights taken in the journey.

@CarbonMan unfortunately I didn't have the time to visit Sapa, however I did get the chance to ride the train that came from Sapa to Hanoi Station.

[CarbonMan]

@CarbonMan unfortunately I didn't have the time to visit Sapa, however I did get the chance to ride the train that came from Sapa to Hanoi Station.

Looking forward to the rest of the TR. Am trying to see if it's worth a (long) trip to Sapa for photography.

[CarbonMan]

Any updates? Am heading to HAN next week and would love to get some tips.

[jbflyer]

Any updates? Am heading to HAN next week and would love to get some tips.

I am going to Hanoi this Saturday and had been there quite often.
What kind of tips you need? Food? I will try to find out for you, from my own experience or from my Vietnamese colleagues

[CarbonMan]

I am going to Hanoi this Saturday and had been there quite often.
What kind of tips you need? Food? I will try to find out for you, from my own experience or from my Vietnamese colleagues

Many thanks, I've just PM'ed you.