Review: 'I spent my 31st birthday on a luxurious 14-hour non-stop business class flight with Vietnam Airlines'

Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com 
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
Visit Shots! now
Why spend your birthday in a pub when you can spend it in the clouds?

I had two choices for my birthday in October 2024 - gather some mates and knock off some bars in Sheffield followed by a takeout, or spend it on a 14-hour flight home from Ho Chi Minh on a Vietnam Airlines’ Boeing B787-9 Dreamliner, with presumably every need tended to and a button for complimentary cocktails.

Here's how I spent my 31st birthday on a 14-hour flight from Ho Chi Minh to London in Vietnam Airlines' business class - all the perks, surprises and complimentary cocktails that entailed.Here's how I spent my 31st birthday on a 14-hour flight from Ho Chi Minh to London in Vietnam Airlines' business class - all the perks, surprises and complimentary cocktails that entailed.
Here's how I spent my 31st birthday on a 14-hour flight from Ho Chi Minh to London in Vietnam Airlines' business class - all the perks, surprises and complimentary cocktails that entailed. | National World

Anyway, I brought some oversized joggers in my hand luggage to change into in the bathroom after takeoff. I thought that was a savvy move.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

I have no place talking about or critiquing luxury. I’ve never been on a business class flight and I suspect I will never get the chance again. If I wasn’t invited on the press trip that put me on Vietnam Airlines flight VN051, I believe the round trip would have otherwise cost me more than £3,000. Meanwhile in England, I take coaches over trains to save cash.

So before I go on about the decadence of my 31st birthday at 30,000ft, the flat-reclining seat/bed, the hot towels, the dinners served on china plates, the free beer and the way the hours melted away, what I really remember is the warm, doting and sensitive care of the cabin crew. It was a level of attentiveness and courtesy I’m not used to by a team I hope are treated in kind every day by their customers.

I was invited to spend my 31st birthday on a 14-hour non-stop business class flight on Vietnam Airlines Boeing-787 Dreamliner. Here's my review of my 31st at 30,000ft.I was invited to spend my 31st birthday on a 14-hour non-stop business class flight on Vietnam Airlines Boeing-787 Dreamliner. Here's my review of my 31st at 30,000ft.
I was invited to spend my 31st birthday on a 14-hour non-stop business class flight on Vietnam Airlines Boeing-787 Dreamliner. Here's my review of my 31st at 30,000ft. | Vietnam Airlines

The Lounge

Before your flight, arrive early and make the most of Tan Son Nhat International Airport’s Lotus Lounge, where a buffet of breakfast foods, strikingly strong coffee and even free-to-pour wine, beer and spirits are all yours. Our group arrived at the lounge at 6am and breezed through check-in. Admittedly I hadn’t slept in over 24 hours at that point. I had cause to celebrate after all, so it was only natural for the press group and I to stay up until midnight on the hotel’s rooftop bar… then go out clubbing… then opt to stay awake all the way until the 4am coach pick up… Well, the lounge’s steaming bowls of Pho with all the trimmings - ranging from crispy onions to all manner of veg to boiled eggs and sauces - did me a world of good.

If flying from Tan Son Nhat International Airport’s, arrive early and make the most of the Lotus Lounge, where you can make the most of the comforting, delicious spread of food and drink in plush chairs.If flying from Tan Son Nhat International Airport’s, arrive early and make the most of the Lotus Lounge, where you can make the most of the comforting, delicious spread of food and drink in plush chairs.
If flying from Tan Son Nhat International Airport’s, arrive early and make the most of the Lotus Lounge, where you can make the most of the comforting, delicious spread of food and drink in plush chairs. | National World

There was also a 45 minute delay, but that was just more time for two inappropriately large cups of Vietnamese coffee. Indeed, my plan wasn’t to sleep on the plane at all, even in the state I was in. October the 12th would last 30 hours for me and I planned to cram it with in-flight films, drinks and gorgeous views. Canapes in the clouds was the order for the day, darling.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Your Seat

Business class on the Boeing B787-9 Dreamliner is made of 24 seats each angled away from the aisle herringbone style so that you aren’t looking at anyone else unless you try. A parcel on your seat includes a seat protector, a silky blanket, a soft, plushy pillow and some slippers, and an amenities bag with comforters like an eye mask, toothbrush & paste, and what I found to be some much needed hand cream and lip balm. Another comfort, on arrival and on occasions throughout the flight, is the hot towel staff will offer you to rub the early morning sleep from your eyes.

Business class aboard the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner is a nest for you to settle into for your flight with every need taken care of.Business class aboard the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner is a nest for you to settle into for your flight with every need taken care of.
Business class aboard the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner is a nest for you to settle into for your flight with every need taken care of. | Vietnam Arilines

There’s all sorts of buttons to try that pop open compartments or swing your 15.4-inch telly out in front of you, as well as a remote control and an easy-to-navigate panel for your seat. It has all sorts of customisations but also three presets - upright for takeoff/landings, lounging back, and flat as a bed. I’lll say now I can’t really review sleeping on this trip. I am 6ft4ins with size 12 feet - I just did not fit well when using it as a bed, nor did I do well in the footwell. Plus, I just didn’t sleep. I tried for a bit, and you already know how long I had been awake at this point, but I just didn’t. If you can’t sleep on a business class flight, then you just can’t sleep on planes, I decided.

Didn’t bother me, though - my plan was to lower my chair to flat mode the entire flight so I could sit crossed legged like I do at home and enjoy every hour. I will say, though, that the cabin has a very neat trick. The windows don’t have blinds, but are variably polarizing - that means they tint darker or completely opaque at the press of a button. Since take off was at 7am and the crew assumed all passengers must have been awake since 4am at that point, they lowered all windows after breakfast to simulate the dark of the early morning, dimmed the lights, and let everyone get a few hours in. It’s a very considerate level of planning, and walking back from the loo later I thought the cabin very peaceful -  but I just used the time to watch Mad Max Furiosa and Gladiator over a peppermint tea (more on the TV options later).

I also took the opportunity to change into my joggers in the toilets. The facilities are fresh and pleasant, with a calm purple light and charming bag of scented rock salt (I think) hanging off the door, and even complimentary shaving kits if you need. I must be clumsy though because I kept setting off the flush with my elbow while sitting down, but you don’t need to know that.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Food & Drink

Three menus were brought around even before takeoff for breakfast, coffee and something boozy if you fancied (which I did). If I was to be fussy, here is my only criticism of my experience. A polite, welcoming member of the crew brought the menus and let me know what was on offer - and then waited, there and then, for me to choose. I believe they don’t have enough menus to simply hand out and then come back later when you’ve decided, nor the time in their schedule to take orders later on in the flight, meaning they must ask you to decide right away. Later I would find there is also no individual drinks menu for each seat, they must bring you one after you press the bell. It’s just a bit of an odd choice and I would have liked time to peruse. If I can ask the airliner for any improvements, it’s to print some more menus.

First course for breakfast - grilled chicken and prawn salad, a wonderfully strong cup of coffee, and a bowl of Chè Bắp pudding. There was also a bellywarming, lifegiving bowl of chicken Pho Ga.First course for breakfast - grilled chicken and prawn salad, a wonderfully strong cup of coffee, and a bowl of Chè Bắp pudding. There was also a bellywarming, lifegiving bowl of chicken Pho Ga.
First course for breakfast - grilled chicken and prawn salad, a wonderfully strong cup of coffee, and a bowl of Chè Bắp pudding. There was also a bellywarming, lifegiving bowl of chicken Pho Ga. | National World

Oh well. Yes please, for breakfast I’ll have the pho ga chicken noodle soup, the grilled prawn and chicken with mango salad (both beautifully salty and satisfying) also another coffee and a glass of champagne please. Dessert was a lip-smacking Vietnamese sweet corn pudding with coconut milk named Chè Bắp, silky and gorgeous. I recommend the Beloved Hue cocktail, made with whiskey, apple juice and slices of ginger, a recipe I’ve stolen since I’ve gotten home.

Later the crew gently raised the dimmed windows back to full day to gently wake the cabin up, with cool towels to freshen up with. Lunch soon after was hearty and better than I could have believed for in-flight food, tender seasoned lamb chops off the bone, with thick and rich red wine gravy, carrots and greens, a side of velvet celery soup (powerful stuff), red-berry yoghurt, all again all served on china plates by a doting grew laying cloth serviettes and asking if you’d like more water, more cocktails, more tea. For afters, they also brought around trays of creamy, punchingly-strong cheeses and a selection of fruit including pomelo, dragon fruit, melon and grapes, none of which are as good in England as they are in Vietnam of course, so enjoy while you can.

While we’re on food, the press trip not only had the flight from London into Hanoi but a short hop to Ho Chi Minh, so I’ll briefly recall the other foods I remember. I have happy, bougie memories of watching The Grand Budapest Hotel with a light lunch of creamy salmon canapes and a delicious bowl of tapioca on the short hop flight, I seriously enjoyed a replacement braised beef they offered on the first flight when they couldn’t do the lamb chops, and I’m sure there was a lot of time put into picking a bold red wine to overcome the slight loss of taste caused by high altitudes, because it was lovely. Eating in business class is a four-star restaurant in the clouds with all the correct cutlery and crystal glasses. I was spoiled.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Also, I saw a man one seat over from me order instant noodles when he wanted a snack. I should have done that too for fun.

In-flight entertainment 

While everyone else snoozed, I crammed in films. I popped my slippers on, set my seat all the way back and sat with my legs crossed, which I thought was a great novelty on a flight. I don’t need to tell you about the bevy of over 150 films in both English, Vietnamese and Korean, or how I was able to catch new releases like Dune II. All that matters to me is the bolt of joy when I realised the bespoke headphones in the wall for this 14-hour flight were noise canceling.

The tech on your personal telly works just fine, and there’s everything from some selected albums to podcasts to a shallow-but-broad number TV shows (the first two episodes of The Sopranos, the first episode of His Dark Materials, six of Friends, etc.)

Here’s a tip. I was having issues where my film kept wanting to rewind or stop, and at one point my TV crashed altogether. Rather than summon cabin crew and complain about my TV, I had a closer look and realised there was a faint dried drop of something on the touch screen which it was interpreting as a finger resting on the display, causing it to freak out. I held the power button for 15 seconds to reset the TV (just an instinct), wet a napkin, and buffed the dirty bit off myself. It was stubborn to get off, too, so I won’t hold the cleaning staff responsible and accuse them of not wiping the cabin down correctly, it was miniscule. All was well again, check me out solving my own problems in business class instead of impetuously asking staff to do it for me. A Saigon beer and another Beloved Hue, please.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad
What's a birthday if you don't enjoy some company. Towards the end of the flight, the cabin crew brought over six glasses of champagne for me and my friends from the press trip to clink. It was such a wonderful touch.What's a birthday if you don't enjoy some company. Towards the end of the flight, the cabin crew brought over six glasses of champagne for me and my friends from the press trip to clink. It was such a wonderful touch.
What's a birthday if you don't enjoy some company. Towards the end of the flight, the cabin crew brought over six glasses of champagne for me and my friends from the press trip to clink. It was such a wonderful touch. | National World

The surprise

I don’t know if this next bit was part of the service or some meddling by my friend Dara running the press trip, but I should have been suspicious when I saw my ticket said seat 1A.

In the last two hours of the flight, the windows were dimmed again and I saw the friends I had made on the press trip had gathered around. Yep. A handful of the crew appeared with a tray of six glasses of champagne, another with more fruit and chocolate, and a handwritten card, all lined with LED tea candles. One of the crew played the song on her phone, but mercifully my mates didn’t sing.

I’m sure the crew would do the same for anyone if they saw they were flying on their birthday, and certainly with a nudge or request from a conspirator. It was a sweet, personal gesture I’ll never forget.

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.

Telling news your way
Follow us
©National World Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.Cookie SettingsTerms and ConditionsPrivacy notice