This trip was made during the 2015 Christmas holidays.
I wanted to try the new A350 and VN has incredible prices from Shanghai to Europe on business class.
The return ticket cost me less than USD1,500 including tax. Since VN is also part of Skyteam, it was a very good opportunity to end 2015 and credit my Flying Blue to secure Platinum level for next year.
I arrived at HAN from Shanghai in late afternoon and went to the VN lounge for the 6 hours layover.
All airlines using the VN lounge
Entrance to the VN Lounge
The VN lounge is very basic. Quite large with plenty of space with a buffet section with cold and hot food. Mainly local specialties such as Pho noodles.
The beverage selection is very limited and alcohol is served on request at the bar. Few spririts are available with local beer and one white and red wine (unfortunately no bubbles…)
Picture Corporate from the lounge
The new Hanoi airport is clean and modern. however, there is no any personal touch and very basic facilities(quite boring actually)
I find the terminal very similar to what we have now in China (only few shops selling fruits, local souvenirs and some restaurants)
Flights display for tonight
I then made my way to the gate (near the lounge)
The brand new A350, less than 6 months old in VN fleet
After boarding the plane, I went straight to my seat 4A on my own.
The FA will only greet you at the door and not escorting any passengers to their seat.
Chopard Amenity Kit
The cabin interior is very nice despite no mood lighting.
No overhead bin in the middle give a sensation of space in the business cabin
The cabin was almost full tonight with lot of Europeans going back for Christmas holidays.
The flight eventually took off on time and flight attendants gave us the menu.
Selection of western or Vietnamese were available and dinner service has started only 20 minutes after being airborne.
The service is without trolley and each passengers is being served directly from the galley making it more intimate and somehow personalized.
I select the western selection. It was correct. But nothing to crave for.
After dinner, I went to the toilet before startingmy long sleep.
I managed to sleep over 6 hours and woke up over Georgia.
I found the seat controls and remote easy to use but unfortunately, the controls are too bright and can disturb you during your sleep.
The IFE is really poor. There were only a selection of less than 5 foreign movies and a large selection of Vietnamese movies ans soap operas.
VN does not have any onbaord camera avaiable. Also no Wifi available. There was the "onAir" connection but the system was not working (the FA had no clue about it)
Two hours prior landing, the cabin lighting was turned on (pity there is no mood lighting) and they started the breakfast service.
I have asked for a glass a champagne and make it a brunch! (it was noon time in Asia after all)
Our flight path from the IFE. I wonder why there is a camera above the screen.
We landed in Paris at dawn and it was still dark
Arrival at CDG 2E was a bit confused with long lines to pass the customs but it was the weekend prior X Mas holidays and a lot of French families arriving from all over making it quite busy on this Sunday morning.
Thanks for sharing this experience with us.
The A350 and the new cabins are a great improvement compared to the old product. The seat seems very confortbale and the cabin looks are nice.
For some reason most of the time Vietnam airlines crew are just average without any warmth toward passengers . They do the job and that's it.
The actering is ok but again nothing special, expect perhaps for your breakfast/brunch taht looks good.
I have quite many friends who are working for VNA as FA. Mostly they are in Y and local routes.
Thanks for the review.
I don't know why didn't they do the mood lighting. (even on 787). I'm wondering are those aircraft using the new L.E.D system?
The food seems better in 2016 now since your flight was in 2015. But yeah it is just okay. Probably they can't make it better because of the rate??? VNA is always known for the reasonable price. Even in C, J it doesn't cost that much. If you want to jump from D to C, it is just extra 200 bucks. some FA are really lovely as they are younger generation, especially the male FA. Most of the FA on J class are just paid for their position because their's parents work for the government (not sure if you understand what I mean). Some were really rude seriously, even though I was on J.
The wifi is launched now but I dont think you can use internet. You can only use it for texting such as Viber now as they don't want to invest on it now. They just want to have 'wifi' as Skytrax criteria for 4 star.
The IFE is basically a drag from the old 772 and 332. Unless they remove those fleets (hopefully in 2020), the IFE will be changed.
I'm surprised when you said it is 4 star now. As I still think it needs huge improvement. Before their FFP was amazing but it is just shit now.