• Digital Nomad Resources
  • Train Travel
  • Urban Rail Transit
  • Where To Stay

Nomadic Notes

Travel blog and weekly travel newsletter

  • Blog
  • Travel Newsletter

Flight Review: Bamboo Airways – Da Nang to Ho Chi Minh City

June 3, 2020 By James Clark

Flight Review: Bamboo Airways – Da Nang to Ho Chi Minh City

Flight: Bamboo Airways QH 157
From: Da Nang (DAD) To: Ho Chi Minh City (SGN)

I flew with Bamboo Airways from Da Nang to Ho Chi Minh City. DAD-SGN is a busy flight route in Vietnam, and all of the domestic airlines have numerous options. I searched for the best flights via Skyscanner, and picked Bamboo for the combination of time of day and price.

I also picked Bamboo for variety. I’ve flown with Vietnam Airlines, Jetstar Pacific, and Vietjet Air enough times, while I had only flown with Bamboo once from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City. Bamboo had three flights available so I picked the morning flight (QH 153), departing DAD at 09:25 and arriving at SGN at 11:00.

DAD-SGN tickets

Bamboo Airways is a hybrid airline, mixing features of low cost airlines and full service airlines. During the booking process you can add extra features to your ticket. My ticket cost was 27.63 USD, which was a great deal even by Vietnam standards.

DAD-SGN extras

The day before my flight I received an email and text message (and missed call) notifying me that my flight had been moved from 9:25 to 14:15. Then later that evening the flight was moved again to 19:45.

There was no mention of why it was moved. Perhaps they were consolidating half-empty flights into one aircraft. I don’t mind when airlines do that as it is wasteful to have so many flights with seats only half sold. I was flying not long after the pandemic lockdown of April 2020, and as such domestic flights were still getting back to normal. At this stage flight schedules are going to take a while to get back to normal, and it’s better for everyone if airlines don’t waste money on empty flights. It would have been annoying though if I had an appointment in Saigon that required an on-time flight.

I arrived at Da Nang airport with plenty of time to spare seeing I had the whole day in Da Nang. The check in staff do a little welcome bow before starting their checking in duties.

Check-in Danang

I discovered that my super-cheap flight didn’t include a checked bag. It wasn’t really clear in the booking process if it was included. That was another $15USD to the ticket. It was still a flight for under $50, but it was annoying to not have paid in one ticket in the first place. Apart from having to pay the baggage at another counter, checking in at the airport was straight-forward.

Bamboo domestic check in

2019 was a big year for the Vietnam aviation sector, and Bamboo Airways were rapidly expanding their services before the virus slammed global tourism. Da Nang is a popular destination for South Koreans, and Seoul was the first international destination for Bamboo from Da Nang.

Bamboo destinations from Danang

My new flight number QH 157, departing on time at the new scheduled time of 19:45.

QH 157 to SGN

Bamboo Airways at Da Nang International Airport, now reduced to being a domestic-only airport with the international flight ban.

Bamboo Airways at Da Nang

Bamboo Airways operate A320 aircraft for their domestic Vietnam services.

A320

The leg room was about the same as other low cost airlines.

leg room

A wet paper towel was provided.

Wet paper towel

And free drinking water was also provided. Bamboo Airways were offering free meals on previous flights (thus they are described as a hybrid airline), but there was no meals on this service. This also might have been due to the pandemic, as most airlines around the world have stopped inflight meals on short flights due to safety concerns.

Bamboo water

Look Magazine – the inflight magazine of Bamboo Airways.

Look Magazine

The back cover of the magazine still had advertising for the new Hanoi-Prague service. This was meant to be launched this year, but yeah screw you COVID-19.

Flights to Prague

There was an interesting article about a Bamboo Airways pilot, Denise Ramos from Brazil. What a wonderfully globalised world it was pre-pandemic, where a female pilot from Brazil was working for an airline in Vietnam.

Denise Ramos

The magazine also had advertising for new pilot cadetships, portraying a male and female pilot.

Pilot recruiting

The flight arrived at Tan Son Nhat on time, and once again I was on a flight that involved a tarmac disembarkation. Even with the reduced flights, SGN airport doesn’t have enough airbridges. They are planning to build another terminal at SGN, and there will also be a new airport for Ho Chi Minh City in the future. Until then, don’t be surprised if you don’t have an airbridge.

Bamboo from DAD

Despite it running over capacity, I find SGN to be an efficient airport, and collecting bags from domestic flights is usually quick.

Domestic arrivals

Overall this was a good flight option despite the changed times. In these “unprecedented times” (as unsolicited emails keep telling me) I am not expecting flights to be running as normal for a while. I’m happy to be flying at all, and hopefully this new airline can weather the storm.

Filed Under: Flight Review Tagged With: bamboo airways, dad airport, sgn airport

Weekly Travel Newsletter

Sign up for the weekly travel newsletter for the latest posts, and a roundup of best travel reads from around the web.
Subscribe For Free Here [No spam, unsubscribe anytime.]

About Nomadic Notes

James Clark from Nomadic Notes

Hi, I’m James Clark, and I've been travelling the world since 2003 while running a location independent travel business. Nomadic Notes is a travel blog featuring travel guides and notes from my travels.

More about me and Nomadic Notes.

Follow Nomadic Notes

Recent Posts

  • Bangkok to Pattaya by train
  • Notes on Udon Thani
  • Where to stay in Singapore: The best areas and notable hotels (2023)
  • Ornamental street signs of Thailand
  • Where to stay in Georgetown, Penang – The best area to stay and the pick of the hotels (2023)
  • Notes on Nakhon Phanom: Down by the river, and hanging out at Uncle Ho’s House
  • Where to stay in Da Nang – the best areas and most notable hotels (2023)
  • Where to stay in Hanoi: The best areas for first-time visitors
  • Where to stay in Dubai: The best areas and most iconic hotels
  • Cambodia Railways: A guide to train travel in Cambodia

European Rail Travel

Eurail Pass Travel Guide

Europe Rail News – The new newsletter for train travel in Europe

Southeast Asia Rail Travel

Southeast Asia current and proposed railways

A complete guide to train travel in Southeast Asia

Featured Posts

Top 200 Travel Books
How to find cheap flights
Best new banks for travellers, expats, and nomads

About Nomadic Notes

About
Advertise
Contact
Contribute
Press/Media Mentions
Where I've Been

Search Nomadic Notes

Travel Notes

Travel Notes

Travel Resources

Long-term Travel
Travel Blog Directory
Travel Gear
Travel Insurance
Travel Sites

Where To Stay In…

Bangkok
Chiang Mai
Da Nang
Ho Chi Minh City
Hong Kong
Jakarta
Kuala Lumpur
Macau
Penang
Singapore

Travel Newsletter

Sign up for the weekly travel newsletter for the latest posts and a roundup of best travel reads from around the web.

Copyright © 2023 Nomadic Notes · Site Map | Privacy · Log in