Awesome prices to Vietnam. Please note the fares for Melbourne are actually cheaper than those on the link. Prices include all CC fees, and seems to be for travel around March to May, but check your departure city to be sure. Enjoy!
Ho Chi Minh Return: Perth $285, Melb $368, Gold Coast $383, Sydney $383 @ Air Asia via IWTF
![](https://files.ozbargain.com.au/u/51/27551-38.jpg?h=001cb361)
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These fares are via IWTF, not Air Asia, so not really sure.
Jetstar will only price beat non-stop flights.
These flights transit via KUL but Jetstar transit via SIN so you can't even price beat the individual segments.
You'll find they transit through Singapore.
AirAsia via KL, Jetstar via Singapore
duh
OMG I'm crying, I paid 5 times that recently….
Now you are saying WTF.
You seem to have a lot of $$$$$ in your piggyfund, otherwise why would you pay so much anyway? BTW, time to handover your OZB badge ;)
Vietnam is incredible! I just got back a couple of weeks back.
Best places: Ho Chi Minh (go on the Mekong Delta daily tour)
& Hoi AnHa Long Bay would be the best :)
Was wondering if Mekong was worth it, may consider it now
Dont go by boring bus to Mekong Delta, jump on a Jetboat (Les Rives is the best company). Your hotel can organise - much better way to travel, leaves on wharf in Saigon and they pick up at hotels in minibus. Great day. Can do CuChi tunnels this way as well
Agreed about the Jetboat but if saving $$$ is a priority (and this is OzBargain, after all!) take the bus. About 2.5 hours, double decker, kinda fun, so long as you are less than 6 feet tall. TIP: Book the fares at the bus station, if you go through a travel agent in HCM or Can Tho, as much as 70 percent can be commission! And take your own thongs/flipflops/jandals; if you have feet bigger than abut 39s they ones they give you for the rest stops are too small!
Also recommend seeing the floating markets. You have to get up way early, but well worth it. And try to find a place that serves the local Fried Elephant Fish, which is only found in the Mekong. Unbelievable.Thanks for all the info. Something to think about. I still have to book my ticket back from Hanoi down to Saigon.
I just got back from a trip to Vietnam and Cambodia, only 4 days ago. Did a cycling tour though the Mekong Delta. Best way to see the Delta! Many villages can only be reached by bicycle or motorcycle, via concrete or gravel paths that are 1 - 2 meters wide.
Crazy how many motorcycles are in that country. Even crazier how the traffic works! Has to be seen to be believed.
Agree Vietnam is amazing - Try Batu Long Bay instead of Halong (right 'next door') just as picturesque but a lot less crowded. Dragon Pearl Cruises are fantastic but there are many good ones. Tip: unless travelling at Peak times, wait to get a deal when you are in Hanoi - much cheaper than from Oz.
Check the layovers…some of them have "Layover at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for 15h 10m" :/
sigh… why did AsiaAir stop flying from adelaide!!
Because everyone who wanted to leave Adelaide has already done so?
Not sure why it costs $600 return To Malaysia or Singapore yet $368 to Ho Chi Minh and you stop off at those places??
I've always wondered why Ho Chi Minh is always seemingly on special. It is one of the closest international destinations near KL so a cheaper price is expected but I suppose it doesn't get crazy peak periods like Phuket (which is even closer) so the price maintains its cost-effectiveness.
I suspect the landing fees are somewhat related to how many visitors the flights bring in… No idea whether Vietnam does this but I know other countries that rely on tourist industry have done this previously to bring in foreign currency.
is this two way? going to and return?
sorry I hardly travel and don't know much
Return means 2-way in this case
Oh ok, initially I thought Ho Chi Minh had returned from the dead
Anyone have any experience with Skypicker? Booking with them via IWTF seems to be considerably cheaper than with AA directly for the same flight which is a bit of a worry.
I used skypicker at xmas via IWTF and the flight was booked and went ok… HOWEVER
they dont give you your ticket until the last minute and even then the airasia ticket was just the barcode showing and the rest all blanked out white, so you dont know your web check in code or name its booked under so cant do web check in yourself or add extra baggage and stuff later on
very dodgy IMO…I wasnt even sure they were gonna let me on board or not
Did a price-beat with Jetstar on a PER-DPS, Thanks TA
The sails on the boat look like pineapple slices:)
You will need a Vietnam Visa
Yep, ripped off big time with the Visa :(
$95 for a month….. Not the end of the world!
not sure where you get 95 dollars from? 12 bucks online for pre-approval and 45 USD when you arrive…. not too hard to understand surely?
$25 USD as of two days ago. They dropped their prices.
@downhillmtbr: Have you PERSONALLY ever used these $25 USD places?? Lots of scammy vietnam visa websites around
who through? Have you PERSONALLY ever used them? Lots of scammy vietnam visa website around.
I've been over twice, used the vietnam embassy in ACT both times to issue a visa before leaving.
@Level380: I have personally paid 12 dollars for pre-approval certificate and when I arrived I paid 45 USD , waited 4 minutes and got my photo done and walked through
@Makoto: Cool! As I said, you have to be selective on these online ones. I didn't think it was worth the risk. Long way to go to get bounced back for no visa!
A few weeks BEFORE the price drop, it was $95 AUD to have a visa issued by vietnam embassy in ACT. So its not a mega extra compared to the your way, which I worked out would cost only a few dollars less.
$12 USD + $45 USD = $57 USD = ~$79-81 AUD at todays crap rates. Plus you have to have USD on you, so there is a extra fee to get USD in Australia before you go if you don't have any, and suffer a 'average' exchange rate while doing it, not sure what travelex etc charge these days, but it use to be something like $10 processing fee, which puts it at $90 AUD.
Yes, typing this now from Saigon and just arrived yesterday. Paid$9 USD online for the documents and $25 USD at the airport. A 20 minute wait and we were through customs.
Great prices! I remember paying $1700 return for Dec last year for Vietnam & Cambodia. Cant wait to go back again
We did MEL, KL, Siemrep, Phuket, KL, MEL for ~$1000 late last year :)
I could have got better prices if I had booked earlier! Impulse travel decisions do come at a cost I guess :D
why May?
No love for Adelaide?
Considering Air Asia X no longer fly to ADL you will defiantly get no love.
That defiant lack of love is the worst!
but I don't want to go to adelaide!
What's it like there that time of year? Any weather/bug issues?
I've been there in May, quite hot and humid and random heavy rain fall but not too bad generally speaking. I think height of summer would be worse.
Over here at the moment, lows of 25's, highs of low to mid 30's. 80% humidity. Bugs are fine, non existing. shower wise, the old shower still this time of the year, BUT rain means nothing here. Its still 30c, people carry on and as quick as it come, it goes. If you got wet, in 10 mins you dry out.
The picture is of Halong bay, right? Which is, what, >1000km away?
For that reason I didn't bother with return flights to HCM. You may as well spend the extra $70 returning from the other side (Hanoi or HCM) if you plan on doing the whole country. Or even Phnom Penh if you have a lot of time.
Don't forget your visas, I was told it would take a week but it took two! wasn't in a hurry luckily
it takes a few hours to get pre-approval and you get visa on arrival…. do you guys do any research at all before going on holidays?
If you're going through a tour operator, they can supply a visa on arrival form, and arrange pre-approval for you.
You then have to wait 40-50 minutes at HCM airport, depending on how busy they are, while they process your visa and stamp your passport. Take $45 US with you to pay for the visa. I went through all that just a few weeks ago.
Unfortunately, I think that's a scam. Plenty of scam sites that offer a Vietnam visa. You have to be careful.
Oh good to know, I just didn't want to deal with it.
I have done it many times. You dont need to go through no damn tour operator.
Maybe not, but you apparently do have to go through a vietnamese visa agent who will charge you an extra fee. The tour operators don't charge you.
http://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Travel-g293921-c148049/Vietnam…
@deek: i dont need to read no tripadvisor crap, i have been many times
you can sign up for pre-approval online, anywhere from 8 - 12 dollars then when you get tehre spend a few minutes get photo done and visa is done on the spot.
now because most countries dont need a visa to enter vietnam there is no line, aussies are one of the only people left that do need visa
@Makoto:
The trip advisor link was supplied as a reference to backup my point. If you're doing an organised tour in Vietnam, it's cheaper to go through the tour operator rather than a visa agent.When I went through the visa on arrival queue, I waited nearly an hour for the visa to be stamped. Could be that I was unlucky, but one should be prepared to wait.
By "most countries", you mean the 23 countries listed here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_policy_of_Vietnam#Visa_ex…Aussies are far from the only people left out. I saw many nationalities when I went through the process.
is this sale still going? or has it expired, I cant seem to find available seats for about 1 week - 10 days? departing Sydney. flexible period.
Does Jetstar price beat Airasia's price?