Cathay Pacific from Hong Kong to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Our flight from HK to Ho Chi Minh City (or Saigon) was again on Cathay Pacific, although not in first class, mostly because there was no first class on that flight.  We were in Business Class, though, which wasn’t terrible for a 2 hour flight.

The airport in HK was remarkably quiet compared to other places.  There also wasn’t a crush at the gate when the flight was called (about 20 minutes late, but not a big deal.

The guy that had checked us in said we had seats one behind the other – which wasn’t a big deal, since we assumed that the seats were in a 1 – 2 – 1 configuration.  They weren’t, though, and were instead in a 2-2-2 configuration.  No biggie, I’ll just swap with the guy behind.

It looked like it wasn’t going to be an issue at all – nobody showed up to claim the seat next to EB and I was settled in until just before the doors closed the LAST passenger to board had a ticket for my seat.

And he wouldn’t change, insisting that he HAD to have an aisle seat.

Not a huge deal, but still – who won’t change seats for a 2 hour flight?  It’s not like one was Exit row or in a different class or something.

Anyhow, that wasn’t going to dampen the flight.  It was again an example of Cathay Pacific’s remarkable service.  The flight attendants came through, introduced themselves (and called us by name!) and took both drink and dinner orders.

We both opted for a somewhat Asian dinner, prawns (shrimp, which blissfully were not whole) in a red sauce that had a bit of bite but wasn’t a hot curry, broccoli, white rice, bread and little Hagan Daas Ice Cream cups for desert.  It was enough dinner that we didn’t feel the need to go out foraging after we got checked into the hotel.

The flight was a short one, but it was full on dark by the time we arrived at the airport.  Customs was a non-event – although, again, they don’t stamp the passports.  I like getting the stamp there to show where you’ve been, but I guess that is going by the wayside.  Vietnam requires you to have a separate visa to enter the country (and of course there is a commensurate fee that goes with it when you apply).