Yes, late 2009 - we're hoping to use our Aeroplan miles, so will need to book our flights as early as possible. I think flights open up about a year in advance. So I'm already doing some research to be prepared to book those flights! Would like to take advantage of the 4 extra days I'll get off from work around Christmas, so will likely want to fly to Vietnam around December 19 and we'd have 3 weeks in total.

We'd prefer not to backtrack, so ideally I'd like to fly into one city and fly out another. I've checked, and it looks as though we could fly into Hanoi and out of HCMC or vice versa. My thought is that we might be wise to start in the north and finish up in the south. Does that make sense, given that I understand it'll be cold(er) in the north? We might want some time at a beach towards the end of the trip before coming home and facing winter in Toronto.

I'm sort of interested in visiting Cambodia as well, but just for a short trip to see Anghor Wat (maybe 3 days in total). I think that means a multi-entry visa for Vietnam? Alternative is that we plan to fly home from somewhere other than Vietnam, but I'm not crazy about flying from Siem Reap or wherever to somewhere like Bangkok to spend just a day before flying home to Canada. (If I am going to visit Thailand, I'd like to be able to spend more time there.)

Lots of decisions and I can't believe I'm making plans this far in advance. I like to plan, but this is crazy! On the other hand, using ff miles is rarely a last minute thing.

Thanks for any advice.

Planning in advance is a good thing these days especially if you are using miles. Flights open up 330 days in advance so you'll be prepared when the time comes. Air Canada (Aeroplan) is part of Star Alliance so most likely you will need to fly to Bangkok if you want to do it all for free. Alternatively you could fly to Japan and fly directly to Vietnam from there but pay for your flights.

It is quite common to arrive in Hanoi/HCMC and depart from HCMC/Hanoi. You could probably do a lot of Vietnam plus Siem Reap in 3 weeks but you will inevitably be flying through Bangkok. If it were me, I'd do all 3 weeks in Vietnam. On our next trip we are only covering Hanoi, Halong Bay and Sapa with short stops in Bangkok over 2-1/2 weeks.

Thanks Craig. When I checked Aeroplan, it looks as though the flights to Hanoi were Toronto > Vancouver > Seoul > Hanoi. To HCMC, it was Toronto > Tokyo > HCMC, so one less stop. I thought I had also seen flights via Bangkok, but not the dates that I entered. (Those obviously aren't the dates that I want, just wanted to get an idea of the routing.) I like the idea of flying into Hanoi and out of HCMC. Apparently we'd need to contact Aeroplan directly if we wanted that kind of open jaw routing - the flights can't be booked over the web since it involves multiple partners.

I think you could be right about concentrating on Vietnam only for this trip. We've done a fair amount of travelling in other parts of the world, but not Asia (other than a 2 night stopover in Hong Kong once), and we tend to like to spend a few days in a place rather than moving every night or 2. Lots of time to plan this trip, but I'll definitely be checking Aeroplan when the flights open up.

Thanks very much.

Yes those do look like other good options. Before you call Aeroplan, check out Kayak.com - you can enter your dates of travel and then search by number of stops, Star Alliance carriers only and several other criteria (layovers, departure and arrival times, etc.) It's a great tool. For instance, a quick search on on YYZ-HAN in November of this year shows a routing through London Heathrow and Singapore to Hanoi using Air Canada and Singapore Air.

Great idea - thanks.

hey susanintoronto...
my husband and i are travelling for 3 weeks this coming november. we booked air canada a month ago and were fortunate to book on our points. we have an amazing travel agent who just returned from living in south east asia for 7 years..a young torontonian. he works for a company whose toronto offices are located downtown, and are world-wide on the internet but you deal with the company on the phone and via email. he was recommended to us and has been fantastic. don't know if i am allowed to say the name of the company, but if you are interested let me know and i will just try to post it.

Hi there. With 3 weeks in Vietnam. I will go to Hanoi first due to the weather is cold in the Northern part. Visit to Hanoi, Ha Long Bay, Sa Pa, Tam Coc. Move to Center part visit: Hue/ Da Nang/ Hoian and then flight to Saigon for visit: Saigon/ Cu Chi/ Mekong Delta and relax 5 days - 1 week in Mui Ne or Phu Quoc island. The other choice with country combination trip: After Vietnam/ visit Siem Reap for 3 days or 4 days and then to Bang kok. From Bang kok - there are many option way to return home.

Lalex19, yes, please post if you can.

Also will be interested in hearing about your trip when you get back.

It seems really odd to book so far in advance. I always have a list of places I want to visit, but usually don't book the flights quite so early! We're going to Panama in February, so I've got lots to think about.

Lalex19, wow, you were lucky getting the flight. I've booked Aeroplan flights many times, but always domestic flights or flights to Mexico, and even then, it usually takes some juggling. Last year at Christmas, we ended up having to fly to Vancouver on Christmas Day because I waited a little too long. This year I checked in late May for a flight at Christmas, and they were already booked - we couldn't even get a flight on Christmas Day!

The good news of course is that we didn't use up a pile of points to go to BC at Christmas, so we're saving the points to put towards the trip to Vietnam. (And we're going to visit my family in BC in October instead - flying on a charter.)

hey susan...yes we were lucky to get on points. we will lay over in tokyo for a nite and fly into bangkok the next morning. our trip itinerary would probably give fellow fodorites a heart attack. we are doing bangkok, chiang rai, luang prabang in laos, hanoi, halong bay, hoi an, phnom penh, and angkor wat all in just over three weeks. we have travelled extensively over the years, (in our 50's) and for us jumping around is the way we love to do it. our agent really "got us" and even though i had researched he even came up with a couple of ideas which i hadn't thought of. anyways, the tour company is kensingtontours.com and his name is brad and you can call him. i have emailed him and told him that "another fodorite" might be contacting him. i would be glad to share any info about our trip with you. i have spent many, many hours on hotels, things to do, see, etc. and have picked up lots of ideas on this forum also.
hot one this weekend in t.o. enjoy

Wow, that's quite the itinerary. We're maybe a little older than you (husband is 61 this year, I'm mid-50's), but we like it to take it a little slower! We usually try to stay in a place a few days before moving on, but each to his/her own.

I'll be interested in hearing how it goes, and I'll definitely take note of your travel agent. Thanks!

Susan, let do the North first as it is your adventure in this growing country. I prefer to be overwhelmed with differences in the very begginning of any trip.