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Flight Review: Jetstar Pacific – Ho Chi Minh City to Hue

August 22, 2019 By James Clark

Flight Review: Jetstar Pacific – Ho Chi Minh City to Hue

Flight: Jetstar Pacific BL 506
From: Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) To: Hue (HUI)

I flew with Jetstar Pacific from Ho Chi Minh City to Hue. I compared flights with Skyscanner as there are three airlines flying this route (Jetstar Pacific, Vietnam Airlines, and VietJet Air). In the end I picked Jetstar Pacific for a combination of price and time of day. I’ve flown with all three airlines numerous times, with the last time flying Jetstar was from Ho Chi Minh City to Danang.

It occurred to me when I was doing a flight search that Hue Airport doesn’t have the HUE IATA airport code. HUE belongs to Humera Airport in Ethiopia, so Hue has HUI.

When comparing flights on sites like Skyscanner they only show the ticket price without add-ons like luggage.

Baggage fees

With a checked bag my ticket came to 1,017,000 VND ($44 USD), so a great deal even with a bag.

SGN-HUI fare

Checking in at Tan Son Nhat is an easy process as Jetstar has plenty of check-in kiosks.

Jetstar Pacific check-in kiosks

I opted for checking in at the desk as there was no queue and I wanted to ask for an aisle seat. They don’t always give you the seat you want as they try to encourage you to buy a seat selection. In this case it was ok.

Jetstar Pacific check-in

Jetstar Pacific flight BL 506 departs SGN at 15:35 and arrives in Hue at 17:00, for a scheduled flying time of 1H, 25M.

BL 506 to Hue

Once again I was on a flight that boarded from one of the lower gates (ie there was no air bridge), so we were bussed to the aircraft. Tan Son Nhat has been running over capacity for years. There is a new airport at Long Thanh planned as the second airport of the city, but it is years away from opening.

Boarding BL 506

Being bussed to the plane means you are exposed to the elements. This being the middle of rainy season it was raining on this day, but we lucked out with a break in the showers.

Rainy day at SGN

Jetstar Pacific is a low cost airline, so their business model is to pack as many passengers into the aircraft. I’m over 6 foot and there is about a fingers width of legroom in a standard economy seat.

Leg room

I don’t mind this for short flights though – it’s a flying bus as I like to remind people who complain.

Cabin

The magazines are placed in a rack on the head rest. Bonus hand from the passenger in front of me.

Magazine rack

Jetstar Pacific inflight magazine.

Jetstar Pacific Magazine August 2019

The route map for Jetstar Pacific, along with an inset route map of the Jetstar network.

Route map

Jetstar Pacific fly the major routes in Vietnam, plus a selection of international flights in Southeast Asia.

SGN-HUI route

If you wanted to save money on the flight you can go carry-on only if your bag weighs less than 7kg. I noticed that they were checking big bags on scales before we boarded, so be aware if you are trying to sneak through a big bag.

7kg carry-on

There is a menu in the inflight magazine.

Menu

Hot meals are available from 60,000 VND ($2.60 USD).

Hot meals

A coffee is 30,000 VND ($1.30 USD).

Coffee price

We arrived at Phu Bai International Airport on time. There are no airbridges here so we got bussed to the terminal.

Arrived at HUI

I’ve been to Hue twice before this trip, and I don’t recall it being as sunny as when we arrived. It was a contrast from the rainy gloom of Saigon.

Jetstar Pacific at Hue

After going to the toilet I was surprised to find that my bag was already on the baggage carousel. The joys of flying to small airports.

Phu Bai International Airport

Overall this was a good flight option for travel between Ho Chi Minh City and Hue.

Filed Under: Flight Review Tagged With: hui airport, jetstar pacific, sgn airport

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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.

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