The entertainment is easy to use, but the selection is limited.Credit: Sue Williams
The touch-screen entertainment system is the easiest to use I’ve ever encountered but sadly, there’s only a narrow range of English-language movies – the much-trumpeted “New This Month” selection includes the 1990 golden oldie Home Alone. I abandon hope of bingeing a favourite TV series, with usually only one to three episodes offered (with the exception of a whole five episodes of Friends). The system promises books, but that option turns out to not be available. There isn’t any onboard Wi-Fi either.
Loading
Service
Happily, this is where Vietnam Airlines excels, with stewards bowing at the start of the flight and at the end, and being friendly and incredibly attentive in between. Some may not be fluent in English, but they make up for it in their eagerness to please. When I lost one of my slippers in the night, a smiling attendant dived under my bed to look and finally presented me with an immediate substitute – courtesy of a sleeping passenger not using theirs. Cinderella, eat your heart out.
Food
Two meals are served during each flight, with the five-course dinner including a choice of entrees, then of mains with mushroom-stuffed guinea fowl, roasted halibut, lemon chicken or stir-fried noodles with shrimp and scallops, as well as bread, a cheese course, a dessert and then the kicker – chocolate and a digestif. The breakfast comprises yoghurt, cereal, a pastrami and cheese omelette, fried rice with shrimp or a cold plate of meat and cheese, followed by fresh fruit and a selection of bread, croissants and buns. It’s all top-notch, as you’d expect of Vietnamese-French food.
Sustainability
The airline is part of the CO2 Connect project, committing to the goal of net zero emissions by 2050, and has operated a flight using Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF).
One more thing
Vietnam Airlines has almost 100 aircraft and is on a dramatic expansion path with daily flights also from Melbourne, and with Munich just added to its European destinations of Paris, London and Frankfurt. Milan will come on board in July 2025.
The price
To Paris from Sydney, business class, from about $7380 return.*
The verdict
For the money, this business class is an absolute bargain. It might lack the refinement of a Qatar or Emirates flight but the saving is considerable. The one downside is a 16-hour stopover in Ho Chi Minh City on the return flight but embrace it by extending to a one-night stay with an early check-in and late check-out as an Asian mini-break on the way home.
Our rating out of five
Source link : http://www.bing.com/news/apiclick.aspx?ref=FexRss&aid=&tid=67b6b689d4c14c46a1b8c85c46da66f4&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.smh.com.au%2Ftraveller%2Freviews-and-advice%2Fthis-business-class-to-europe-is-an-absolute-bargain-20250131-p5l8k0.html&c=18406490939570608836&mkt=de-de
Author :
Publish date : 2025-02-10 09:29:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
