After taking a few trips where we packed in multiple destinations, we thought we would try out a single one city itinerary over Thanksgiving week. We also know from recent experience that the girls like a pool/beach-based vacation much more than a city-based one, so we looked for a beach destination. To keep it simple, we wanted a non-stop flight from Tokyo and preferred it to be to somewhere we hadn't been.
Joe was also looking to use up some of the difficult-to-use Delta miles we have accumulated, so Vietnam moved to the top of the list since Delta partners with Vietnam Airlines and we had never been to Vietnam. We then checked what hotels Starwood and Hyatt had in Vietnam, since those are our preferred chains. Nothing great at Starwood but Hyatt had a nice resort in Da Nang, and Vietnam Airlines happened to have 3x weekly non-stop service.
We first checked for availability at the Hyatt Regency Da Nang for seven nights, and there was Points and Cash availability. 6,000 points plus $75 per night was a decent redemption. We were then excited to find out there was suite upgrade availability so we used a confirmed Diamond Suite upgrade certificate to reserve a suite. We had heard the property had a nice Regency Club so we were looking forward to the breakfast and snacks there.
Once we had the hotel portion locked down (it was cancellable up until 24 hours before arrival) we tried to find airline tickets on Vietnam Airlines using Delta miles. We lucked out and there were three coach seats and one business class ticket on the Saturday flights Tokyo-Nartia (NRT) to Da Nang (DAD) on 11/22 returning 11/29, so we grabbed those. The coach seats were 45,000 miles each plus $40 in taxes and fees and the business class might have been 60,000 miles with the same fees. Not good redemption values but we were trying to economize on the cash outlay for the trip and were happy to use the Delta miles since they are very hard to use when you need 4 tickets.
Joe was also looking to use up some of the difficult-to-use Delta miles we have accumulated, so Vietnam moved to the top of the list since Delta partners with Vietnam Airlines and we had never been to Vietnam. We then checked what hotels Starwood and Hyatt had in Vietnam, since those are our preferred chains. Nothing great at Starwood but Hyatt had a nice resort in Da Nang, and Vietnam Airlines happened to have 3x weekly non-stop service.
We first checked for availability at the Hyatt Regency Da Nang for seven nights, and there was Points and Cash availability. 6,000 points plus $75 per night was a decent redemption. We were then excited to find out there was suite upgrade availability so we used a confirmed Diamond Suite upgrade certificate to reserve a suite. We had heard the property had a nice Regency Club so we were looking forward to the breakfast and snacks there.
Once we had the hotel portion locked down (it was cancellable up until 24 hours before arrival) we tried to find airline tickets on Vietnam Airlines using Delta miles. We lucked out and there were three coach seats and one business class ticket on the Saturday flights Tokyo-Nartia (NRT) to Da Nang (DAD) on 11/22 returning 11/29, so we grabbed those. The coach seats were 45,000 miles each plus $40 in taxes and fees and the business class might have been 60,000 miles with the same fees. Not good redemption values but we were trying to economize on the cash outlay for the trip and were happy to use the Delta miles since they are very hard to use when you need 4 tickets.
With all the planning out of the way, we were ready to go!
We left our apartment at 12:30pm on Saturday, November 22 and made the drive to Narita in less than an hour. We were met by DAD parking at our gate to drop off the car. After checking in for our flight we made our way through security and headed to the Delta Sky Lounge to enjoy some snacks and drinks while waiting for our flight.
Joe also ran and got the girls some chicken nuggets from McDonalds to have for the flight just in case, since he and the girls would be sitting in coach and we weren’t sure if a meal would be served.
I got to enjoy a kid free six-hour flight in Business Class and while Joe warned me it wouldn’t be anything nice, I thought it was great! Nice big seats that reclined about halfway back and had a little footrest. The food wasn’t anything great but I had a decent meal of a salad, some fresh fruit and a beef fillet with a spicy sauce and steamed rice. The entertainment selection was pretty awful with only a handful of English movies so I ended up just reading the book I had brought with me, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me by Mindy Kaling which had me LOLing most of the way through.
Back in coach things weren’t going so smoothly as the brand new pair of children’s headphones we bought were useless since they had a volume limiter on them. Joe was kicking himself for not picking up an extra pair of Bose noise canceling headphones that we had been looking at the night before at the mall in Tokyo. Lots of crying and whining went on as the girls had to take turns watching the iPad with the one pair of Bose headphones Joe brought. Poor spoiled darlings. We also forgot to bring water onto the plane (amateur mistake) and because of turbulence couldn’t get any for the first few hours. Since we were delayed on the ground for over an hour it was well past the girls’ bedtimes by the time we arrived in Vietnam - Lizzy ended up falling asleep for the last 90 minutes of the flight and Annie was a tired mess getting off the flight.
It wasn't one of our best flights but the time of the flight made it tough for the girls and the lack of water and headphones made it a lot more difficult than it needed to be. We have many discussions on whether the premium for sitting in a nicer cabin is worth it. This one reminded Joe that even with the little legs on the girls, the extra space in a nicer cabin is definitely worth something when having to be on a plane for seven hours with these two little girls.
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| Carrot apple soup, gyoza and veggies in the lounge |
Joe also ran and got the girls some chicken nuggets from McDonalds to have for the flight just in case, since he and the girls would be sitting in coach and we weren’t sure if a meal would be served.
I got to enjoy a kid free six-hour flight in Business Class and while Joe warned me it wouldn’t be anything nice, I thought it was great! Nice big seats that reclined about halfway back and had a little footrest. The food wasn’t anything great but I had a decent meal of a salad, some fresh fruit and a beef fillet with a spicy sauce and steamed rice. The entertainment selection was pretty awful with only a handful of English movies so I ended up just reading the book I had brought with me, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me by Mindy Kaling which had me LOLing most of the way through.
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| Had a few minutes before takeoff to give Joe a hard time about the awful conditions in coach |
Back in coach things weren’t going so smoothly as the brand new pair of children’s headphones we bought were useless since they had a volume limiter on them. Joe was kicking himself for not picking up an extra pair of Bose noise canceling headphones that we had been looking at the night before at the mall in Tokyo. Lots of crying and whining went on as the girls had to take turns watching the iPad with the one pair of Bose headphones Joe brought. Poor spoiled darlings. We also forgot to bring water onto the plane (amateur mistake) and because of turbulence couldn’t get any for the first few hours. Since we were delayed on the ground for over an hour it was well past the girls’ bedtimes by the time we arrived in Vietnam - Lizzy ended up falling asleep for the last 90 minutes of the flight and Annie was a tired mess getting off the flight.
It wasn't one of our best flights but the time of the flight made it tough for the girls and the lack of water and headphones made it a lot more difficult than it needed to be. We have many discussions on whether the premium for sitting in a nicer cabin is worth it. This one reminded Joe that even with the little legs on the girls, the extra space in a nicer cabin is definitely worth something when having to be on a plane for seven hours with these two little girls.
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| Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was a main pick of the trip |
After a bit of confusion and standing in line for immigration with everyone else we noticed a small window labeled “Visa on Arrival” so went there to pick up our Visas that we had arranged through a third party online agency two weeks prior. We were required to bring two passport photos for each traveller and decided to try using our leftover photos we had from when we renewed our passports in the US over 18 months ago. Shockingly, they accepted the photos even though Lizzy looked VERY different from her dated photograph. Visas in passports we went through immigration and collected our luggage.
We had checked our MacLaren stroller and even though this ended up being the ONLY time we used it during the entire trip, I’m glad we had it! Annie was SO tired and immediately climbed in and almost fell asleep. We headed through customs and out of the airport to find a nice Mercedes R300 from the Hyatt waiting for us. The round-trip Hyatt-provided airport transfer was about $90, probably 4x the price of taking a cab. It definitely felt worth in on the way to the hotel since everyone was tired and it decreased the stress in figuring out what to do. On the return trip, we felt a cab would have been fine, so we may only book a one-way next time and see how it goes.
It was dark when we arrived to hard to get any real first impressions of Vietnam but because of the abundance of motorcycles it had a bit of a similar feel to Bali, though much more developed. Da Nang was a much bigger city than I expected (not surprising since I knew nothing about it) with some modern architecture, a few large suspension bridges and some pretty big skyscrapers. Even though motorcycles greatly outnumbered cars everyone drove slowly and carefully and it didn’t have the chaotic feel of being on the roads in Indonesia. The Hyatt was a 20 minute easy ride from the airport and Annie quickly fell asleep on me in the car.
We had checked our MacLaren stroller and even though this ended up being the ONLY time we used it during the entire trip, I’m glad we had it! Annie was SO tired and immediately climbed in and almost fell asleep. We headed through customs and out of the airport to find a nice Mercedes R300 from the Hyatt waiting for us. The round-trip Hyatt-provided airport transfer was about $90, probably 4x the price of taking a cab. It definitely felt worth in on the way to the hotel since everyone was tired and it decreased the stress in figuring out what to do. On the return trip, we felt a cab would have been fine, so we may only book a one-way next time and see how it goes.
It was dark when we arrived to hard to get any real first impressions of Vietnam but because of the abundance of motorcycles it had a bit of a similar feel to Bali, though much more developed. Da Nang was a much bigger city than I expected (not surprising since I knew nothing about it) with some modern architecture, a few large suspension bridges and some pretty big skyscrapers. Even though motorcycles greatly outnumbered cars everyone drove slowly and carefully and it didn’t have the chaotic feel of being on the roads in Indonesia. The Hyatt was a 20 minute easy ride from the airport and Annie quickly fell asleep on me in the car.
Upon arrival at the Hyatt we were taken to the Regency Club Lounge to check in and then escorted to our room which had an anniversary cake, bottle of wine, sweets and fruit platter set up on the table. It was a great suite and I’ll write more about it in my next post all about the resort. The girls were, as always, super excited to be in a hotel but eventually fell asleep around 10:30pm Vietnam time, well past midnight in Tokyo! It was probably the latest they had ever stayed up. Despite the busy day of travel and the late bedtime, they were up and ready to go at 6am the next morning.
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| Woke up to this gorgeous view |
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