Vietnam is on the rise as a favorite and popular country in South East Asia for English speaking countries, especially the USA with a wide range of activities: from the exploration of stunning natural sightseeing with all kinds of terrain, mountain/jungle trekking in between the rice terrace, beach relaxation, diversified culture & heroic history discovery. Sounds interesting to you already? Let’s find out in Vietnam tour packages from the USA.
Flights to Vietnam from the USA
According to the transport ministry’s new draft plan, the national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines will only launch direct air service to the United States in 2022, and the Bamboo Airways had kickstarted its flights in Sept 2021; which means it is obviously easier to take flights to Vietnam.
At the moment, flying to Vietnam takes pretty long time; which is at least 19 hours with a stopover in Hongkong, Manila, Taipei, Incheon, or Narita and arrival in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. It is for starting from big cities such as Los Angeles, Seattle, New York or California. The major airlines you may want to look are American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Eva Air, Hongkong Air, etc.
Vietnam has more than 10 international airports. There are 3 major places that you can see a lot of flights landing on from various countries in the world such as Noi Bai international airport (Hanoi), Tan Son Nhat international airport (Ho Chi Minh City) and Da Nang international airport (Da Nang). If you are going to have a Vietnam visa on arrival, those 3 must be your arrival airport.
How to get a Vietnam visa
The very first step is to have the Vietnam Visa Approval Letter; which can be obtained from many Vietnam tour companies. Normally, if you book a Vietnam tour package with Indochina Voyages, we are glad to offer you this letter as a complimentary. Just to make sure that all information such as your full name, date of birth, nationality, & gender is exactly the same as indicated in your passport. Otherwise, you are not able to go through the customs.
From February 2017, Vietnam has legally operated E-visa (single entry over 30 days of Vietnam traveling). It allows you to arrive at 3 mentioned airports and also airports in Can Tho, Hue (Phu Bai), Phu Quoc, Nha Trang (Cam Ranh) and Hai Phong (Cat Bi). Let’s take a look at the applying process in the E-Visa official website. You will have the Vietnam visa online in your hand so no need to fill in the form or pay anything more; this also saves your time at the airport. Just keep in mind that E-Visa is only used when you enter and exit Vietnam by airplane since it is not accepted in the land or waterway borders.
Currency
Vietnamese currency is Vietnam Dong (VND) and this is the most convenient way to buy things in Vietnam. It is pretty much easy to convert USD to VND in Vietnam airports with a fair rate; or some bank branches such as Vietcombank, BIDV, Techcombank, Exim Bank, etc. One of the biggest inconveniences is how to distinguish each bill’s value because there are so many numbers in our notes – the tip is to remember its color. USD can be traded while traveling in Vietnam too; however, make sure you are aware of the exchange rate or else, many scammers will take the price much higher than the products’ true value.
Where should you stay in each specific destination?
For any place, staying in the heart of the city center is one of the best things you should do to get the ultimate experience of local life. It means, for getting around you can save the transferring time and cost; instead, it is more interesting to just wander all the vibrant streets with very Asian ambiance, taste Vietnam street food and witness how we conduct the daily life.
Besides, for cities that have beaches, it is better to stay near the coast so that you can relax as much as you can. Do not worry too much of not getting into the local markets or residence area; almost all resorts by the beach offer free shuttle van to the city/town center every day.
In general, if you are planning Vietnam tours, there are 4 types of accommodation in each place with its room price as below:
- Homestay/hostel/basic 2-star hotels: below 40 USD/room/night
- 3-star superior standard hotels: 50-80 USD/room/night
- 4-star deluxe/boutique hotels: 90-130 USD/room/night
- 5-star top notch services hotels: 140 to above 400 USD/room/night
Best tours in Vietnam
Though we focus mainly on customizing private trips for USA travelers, we build up some sample of classic and unique tour packages that cover all the main highlight sites throughout the country:
- Vietnam Cultural Highlights 14 days: 2-week is just a perfect time frame to capture the highlights of Vietnam culture, history and culinary. Hanoi, Hoi An and Ho Chi Minh City are the best places to discover the street food. Our tour guide can bring you to taste the yummiest food in some local hidden food stalls. Please be worry-free on the food hygiene since all are carefully chosen by us over the years and are operating with the full legal license. See more…
- Tonkin Elegance 8 days: If you do not have much time traveling around because of the busy work, Tonkin Elegance is a truly nice choice. This trip covers with 1,000-year-old Hanoi capital; then onto the night train to the well-known stunning Sapa with cultural diversity and beautiful rice terraces on the mountains. The trip ends with a relaxing time on board an amazing Halong Bay overnight cruise. See more…
- Grand Sensational Vietnam 20 days: Expand your travel maps to the wonderful beach town of Nha Trang. See more…
Let’s share more with us your interests and wishes for this amazing, once in a lifetime trip to Vietnam, we can surely together make it memorable! Hopefully, you can catch up with the new direct airlines next year where you dream of Vietnam tour packages from the USA is never easier.
Daniel Nguyen – Travel Specialist.
