• 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: VietJet Air – Ho Chi Minh City to Taipei

June 21, 2019 By James Clark

Flight Review: VietJet Air – Ho Chi Minh City to Taipei

Flight: VietJet Air VJ 842
From: Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) To: Taipei (TPE)

I flew with VietJet Air from Ho Chi Minh City to Taipei. There are a few airline options between the two cities so I compared fares with Skyscanner to find the right flight. In the end I went with VietJet Air for the price and time of day.

I have flown this route before with EVA Air by using frequent flyer points. They have more connecting traffic, so their tickets are better value when booked as part of a long haul flight.

I booked a return ticket for this trip , and there were two and three flights per day showing for different days. I went with the day time flights. Many of the cheapest flights from Vietnam to East Asia are overnight (such as my flight to Seoul), so I was happy to see a daytime flight.

Booking summary

A checked bag costs 330,000 VND ($14.17 USD).

Extra bag

The total for this segment was 2,040,000 VND ($87.57 USD), which is great value.

Reservation

I checked in at the airport, and with so many flights from Tan Son Nhat (SGN) there is an open check-in for all flights. Lining up to check in in my least favourite aspect of flying, so I like that this is possible when flying from SGN. There was only one person in the queue in front of me when I arrived.

VJ 842 to TPE

Tan Son Nhat is well run considering how over capacity it is. I’ve long since given up expecting to get an air bridge when flying with VietJet Air, so it was no surprise when the flight boarded from a lower gate to get a bus to the plane.

Gate 10

There is a new airport planned for Ho Chi Minh City, but that won’t be ready until at least 2025. The current airport is planning to expand in between that time, but until then expect more tarmac boardings.

Boarding SGN-TPE

VietJet Air flight VJ 842 departs at 13:30 and arrives at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 18:00 for a scheduled flying time of 3H, 30M.

SGN to TPE

VietJet Air is a low cost airline, so seat space isn’t a selling point. There was about 1 or 2 fingers width between my knees and the seat.

Legroom

one2fly – the inflight magazine of VietJet Air. The magazine is in Vietnamese with some articles translated into English. They don’t have a route map, which is the main reason I read these magazines.

one2fly June 2019

There is a separate menu with food and snacks available to purchase.

Menu

A hot meal is 100,000 VND ($4.29 USD) on international flights, which is one the cheapest airline meals I know of. I have been to Taipei before so I already had in mind what was going to be my first meal back. I had no intention of ruining my appetite with an airline meal.

Meals

Drinks are cheap as well.

Drinks

I went with a coffee for 40,000 VND ($1.72 USD).

Coffee 40000VND

Overall this was a good flight option to Taipei from Ho Chi Minh City. Obviously I would have preferred the leg room that you get on EVA, but after arriving I was happy to have saved the money.

I’ve flown with VietJet from Taipei previously, so here is my review of the flight from Taipei to Ho Chi Minh City.

Filed Under: Flight Review Tagged With: sgn airport, taiwan taoyuan international airport, vietjet air

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

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