• Blog
  • The Nomadic Notes Newsletter

Nomadic Notes

Travel blog featuring transport and accommodation guides in Southeast Asia

  • Southeast Asia Train Travel
  • Thailand Travel
  • Vietnam Travel
  • Where To Stay

Flight Review: China Southern Airlines – Guangzhou to Ho Chi Minh City

May 24, 2019 By James Clark

Flight Review: China Southern Airlines - Guangzhou to Ho Chi Minh City

Flight: China Southern CZ 373
From: Guangzhou (CAN) To: Ho Chi Minh City (SGN)

I flew with China Southern Airlines from Guangzhou to Ho Chi Minh City. This was the second leg of my trip, with the first leg being London to Guangzhou. China Southern were offering cheap flight deals from London to Ho Chi Minh City, and I added a stop-over to this trip by booking with the multi-city option.

Guangzhou Airport is connected to the Guangzhou Metro, so that made the stop-over more enjoyable. There are two airport metro stations though, and I forgot to check which one is for China Southern. Of course I picked the wrong one.

Airport south station

China Southern operate out of Terminal 2, and as you would expect it’s a huge terminal.

T2 departures

There are plenty of self service kiosks here, though I was already checked in when I applied for the transit visa.

Self service

Flight CZ 373 departs Guangzhou at 12:45 and arrives in Ho Chi Minh City at 14:30 for a scheduled flying time of 2H, 45M.

Gate A67

The gate for this flight was a lower gate without an airbridge. We were then bused to another gate that had an airbridge and we boarded from there. I’m not sure why we weren’t just boarded from that gate.

China Southern to SGN

This flight operates on an A321.

A321 seats

Good leg room with China Southern economy seats.

Legroom

Gateway inflight magazine, which appears to be different from the Nihao inflight magazine on my previous flight.

Gateway magazine

It has the same glorious fold-out route map at least.

World map

China Southern have an extensive coverage of destinations in Southeast Asia.

Southeast Asia

China Southern Airlines is a full service airline, and up until 1 January 2019 it was a member of the SkyTeam alliance. I rarely use SkyTeam airlines so this bit of news escaped me. I booked my flight using my Delta account (a SkyTeam member) and points were credited. At the time of booking it showed Delta as an option, so check your options when making a booking.

The new frequent flyer program for China Southern Airlines is Sky Pearl Club. I was asked if I wanted to joined when I dropped my bags in London. If I was flying China Southern on a regular basis then it would make sense to join. This is similar to Emirates, who run their own awards program rather than being part of an alliance. Code share flights are then arranged with multiple airlines.

Drink service

A lunch service is provided, and I got the chicken rice option.

Lunch

Overall this was a good flight option to Ho Chi Minh City. China Southern often turn up in my search results for long haul flights via Guangzhou, and I would be happy to consider them again.

Filed Under: Flight Review Tagged With: china southern airlines, guangzhou airport, sgn airport

About James Clark

James Clark is the founder of Nomadic Notes. He has been a digital nomad since 2003, and Nomadic Notes features trip reports, train travel articles, and where to stay guides. He writes about transport and urban development at Future Southeast Asia. Subscribe to the weekly travel newsletter.

Nomadic Notes Newsletter

Sign up for the newsletter for a summary of the latest posts, site updates, and other unblogged ramblings.

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.

Get more travel reads

Subscribe for more travel reads at my weekly travel newsletter.

Browse the list of best travel books.

Follow Nomadic Notes

About Nomadic Notes

About
Contact
Press/Media Mentions
Where I've Been

Search Nomadic Notes

Follow Nomadic Notes

Where To Stay In…

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

Newsletter

Sign up for the newsletter for a summary of the latest posts, site updates, and other unblogged ramblings.
Subscribe to the newsletter

Find more travel newsletters.

Copyright © 2025 Nomadic Notes · Site Map | Privacy · Log in