Vietnam Airlines Celebrates Three Years of Nonstop Service Between San Francisco and Saigon
Vietnam Airlines | VN 99 | VN 98 |
---|---|---|
Route | SFO-SGN | SGN-SFO |
Departs | 9:10pm PST | 6:30pm ICT |
Arrives | 4:40am ICT +2 | 7:00pm PST |
Duration | 16h30 | 13h30 |
Equipment | A350-900 | A350-900 |
Frequency | Wed, Thurs, Sat, Sun | Wed, Thurs, Sat, Sun |
Season | Year-Round | Year-Round |
Inaugural Flight | Nov 28, 2021 | Nov 28, 2021 |
November 28, 2024 marks the three-year anniversary of the only nonstop commercial passenger flight between the United States and Vietnam. SkyTeam member Vietnam Airlines launched its Ho Chi Minh City-San Francisco route on Nov 28, 2021, when airlines were still suffering from pandemic restrictions.
This 7,838-mile route is also the only current nonstop route between North America and Indochina (Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos).
The timing of the flight is convenient in both directions — the nighttime departure from San Francisco allows passengers to enjoy a late dinner on board and then sleep and adjust to the new timezone before touching down 16-and-a-half hours later in Ho Chi Minh City. The eastbound flight from Ho Chi Minh City to San Francisco departs in the early evening and crosses through the night, arriving San Francisco 13-and-a-half hours later in the early evening Pacific time.
Vietnam Airlines Flies the Airbus A350-900 on SFO-SGN
Vietnam Airlines employs its three-cabin Airbus A350-900 on SGN-SFO-SGN, with 29 seats in Business Class, 45 seats in Premium Economy and 231 seats in Economy.
Upon VN 99’s arrival in Saigon at 4:40am, the A350 aircraft continues on to Hanoi (VN 206), departing at 6:00am. Vietnam Airlines frequently uses the A350-900 on flights between SGN-HAN as well as on flights to Paris, Sydney, Melbourne, Osaka and Tokyo.
Connecting Flights from the West Coast to Vietnam
While Asian gateway cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle have one-stop options to Ho Chi Minh City via Tokyo or Seoul, the comfort of settling into a long-haul flight to Vietnam that departs in the late evening from the West Coast is a definite plus. Vietnam Airlines offers through fare tickets from West Coast cities using Alaska Airlines (oneworld) or United Airlines (Star Alliance) for the segment to/from San Francisco.
Examples of through fare connections to VN 99 offered on vietnamairlines.com include:
Origin | Route | Flight | Departs | Arrives |
---|---|---|---|---|
Los Angeles | LAX-SFO | AS 3477 | 5:00pm | 6:27pm |
Portland | PDX-SFO | AS 3389 | 5:00pm | 6:49pm |
San Diego | SAN-SFO | AS 3357 | 3:20pm | 5:01pm |
Seattle | SEA-SFO | UA 1914 | 4:35pm | 6:52pm |
Onward Connections from VN 99 to Other Cities in Vietnam
While Vietnam Airlines operates flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Phnom Penh and Bangkok, the current schedule makes connection times from VN 99 far from ideal. However, plenty of onward flights within Vietnam connect well to the arrival from San Francisco:
Dest. | Route | Flight | Departs | Arrives |
---|---|---|---|---|
Da Lat | SGN-DLI | VN 1380 | 6:50am | 7:40am |
Da Nang | SGN-DAD | VN 110 | 7:00am | 8:20am |
Hanoi | SGN-HAN | VN 242 | 6:30am | 8:35am |
Nha Trang | SGN-CXR | VN 1340 | 6:50am | 8:00am |
Phu Quoc Island | SGN-PQC | VN 6103 | 8:30am | 9:30am |
How Many Delta SkyMiles Does It Take to Fly Nonstop from San Francisco-Ho Chi Minh City?
Vietnam Airlines is a SkyTeam member so it’s possible to use Delta SkyMiles to redeem flight awards on this nonstop route from SFO-SGN. However, demand on this route is strong, and SkyMiles award availability was quite limited at the time of posting.
The lowest roundtrip Economy award redemption was found for 104,000 miles +$46.
Premium Economy availability was more limited, with the lowest roundtrip redemption found for 192,000 miles +$46.
Business class was the most limited and could only be found on isolated dates 6 months out for 695,000 miles +$46 roundtrip.
—Tim Haig