UA starting direct Vietnam flights in Dec
 

United are starting direct flights to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) from December! Might be of interest to some.

The flights originate from San Francisco and go through Hong Kong. The flights will also return through Hong Kong.

Yes, they're turning HKG into a micro-hub, or perhaps I should say nano-hub. The ORD and SFO flights arrive in HKG at around the same time, and passengers can connect to SGN and SIN; and the same coming back. The NRT flight arrives at HKG too late and departs too early to make connections.

Hopefully, they'll increase non-stop flights from the US to HKG. UA had LAX-HKG and JFK-HKG (extremely briefly) for one time, in addition to NRT, SFO and ORD. Or perhaps change the SFO frequencies from one 744 to two 772s a day.

Nano-hub?? Well, anyway its nice to know that I can connect from ORD as well.

Great news as I live on the west coast and am on United's frequent flyer program! Thanks a lot for the news! Happy Travels!

for ya airline guys... whats up with the lack of availabilaty for redeeming freequant flyer miles from BKK. from what I see NWA, DELTA, and continental customers all have too use the same NWA flight too narita. too get anywhere.

with my crapy luck. the only program I have barely any points with is on UNITED (star alience) and it's the one that serves BKK the best well atleast for redeeming miles.

do ya guys know if anything is in the works, new flights. partners etc.?

maybe that A380 would be a good idea for some of these asian routs.

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I realy dig all the updates on airlines and routs. thanks.

Glad this info of interest, the UA flight starts Dec 9th. NW are starting a connecting 757 from Narita to Guangzhou from Oct 31. UA have received rights for ORD-Shanghai though at the moment nothing about when flights will start. Nok Air flights in Thailand have started from BKK to Chiang Mai, Udon Thani and Hat Yai, unique is that they are keeping the old 12 Business class seats on the 737s(ex Thai) and you can book those seats for roughly $12-15 extra, so it's still a bargain but you get the extra room.

orgy7 - Since NW/DL/CO combined has only one flight a day into BKK - a popular destination - those awards will be extremely hard to claim.

But if you HAVE to get there, and don't mind burning up more miles, there are other ways to do it. You can burn double miles to claim a "easypass"-type award, or you can fly KLM/AF/Alitalia through Europe. The European route usually will cost around 110K miles, if you can get a standard award.

Considering that airfares to BKK usually aren't that expensive, and you can get a lot of FF miles from the trip, it may be better to buy the ticket instead of claiming a FF award.

That's great news, JamesA, thanks a lot. I've started check on fares already.

rkkwan's advice about going to BKK via Europe is extra good because (I think) it will also save orgy7 a few hours of travelling (?)

sorry for distording the orignal topic. yet vietnam is one of my dream destinations...

thanks for info. but I should explain that I am in bkk. I am trying too use miles too do VISA RUNS.

So it's true. there is only one flight. I just did not want too believe it.. last month I redemed 60k skymiles too get me back too bkk ( hartford- bkk- Harfod) I went too the agent right on the date that redemption ticketing opens for next year and I still had some problems getting the dates I wanted...

It kind of sucks that I might have too go next month too see if I can redeem some mile too get too Palau from BKK. for a july 2005 flight. and this not knowing if fate has me still staying bangkok. :}

Which is the best program for using miles from asia.?

remember my poste.. if anyone sees any changes in the futer.

orgy7 - Since you're in BKK, and travels to the US often, I think your best bet is with UA. It's part of the Star Alliance, and Thai Airways is also a member, so you can easily earn miles flying anywhere from Bangkok on Thai/UA.

Or consider joining AsiaMiles, which have CX as the leading member, along with Qantas, JL, AA and other 'oneworld" alliance members.

Either of those alliances are much stronger in SE Asia than Skyteam and its partners (NW/CO/DL/AF/KL, etc) in that region of the world.

Can't find WAS-SGN fares for Dec-Jan-Feb on UA under $1600, yet. I can to HKG and back on the same dates for $870 on the same dates. Dec 28/Jan 11 or Jan21/Feb 10 (would love to go to SGN and visit VN for 10 or 12 days and then stop in HKG for Chinese New Year on the way back)

rkkwan. im one of those guys that have miles in just about every program there is (not the smartest way of doing things).. but my small budget determans my flights but if I have too shell out $100 or so buck too get miles on a program I will. so I guess I'll try too build on the AA, and UA programs. thanks.

right know im trying too see if I can take a visa run too HK or SIN. by flying finnair. but Im not sure if I get any miles since these flights cost less then $150 RT.... actually the cheepest flight within south east asias majore hubs are on finnair, Scandinavian, and swiss air.. well atleast for now.


james A. it looks like oriant thai is starting it's own flights into Macau TODAY and planning expansion into southern china.
www.orient-thai.com

The UA fares to SGN are on sale now. IAD to SGN is $945. With taxes and fees it is $989. Much more affordable than back on July 30.

At united.com, click on the red Deals link and then click on Introducing Vietnam.