That said, I thought my SEA-LHR flight was passable. Thanks to all the FAs who try and do a good job for everyone
Chào! (Sorry, I just started trying to learn Vietnamese today lol).
Is 3 days in Hanoi an okay place to spend Tet for a first time visitor to Vietnam? Or is it better to be in Hoi An or somewhere else?
I'll be in Southeast Asia next year with Jan 31 - Feb 12 2027 free, so I've decided to visit Vietnam as a first-timer! So that means I'll have 12 nights total, and I was hoping to see a Hanoi, HCMC, Ba Na Hills, Hoi An/Da Nang, and maybe Hue for this trip. (There are a lot of other places I want to see but I'll save them for a future trip). I worked with AI to come up with a rough itinerary, but now I think I got bad advice because I realize it's Tet, and things may be closed. Could anyone provide insight into my itinerary?
Here's what I have so far:
-Jan 31-Feb 1 - Short flight into DAD, stay in Hue 1 night (or skip Hue and just stay in Danang if Hue is too much trouble to get to)
-Feb 1-2 - 1 night stay in Ba Na Hills Sun World (this place has always been a dream of mine to visit 😊)
-Feb 2-5 - 3 Night stay in Hoi An (Namia River Retreat), using Hoi An as a base to also visit Da Nang
-Feb 5-8 - 3 Nights in Hanoi. I just learned Feb 5 is Tet Eve, and now I'm worried everything will be closed from the 6th through 8th.
-Feb 8-12 - 4 Nights in HCMC, I wanted to do a lot of shopping and possibly get some clothes made before leaving. Fly out on a short flight in Feb 12th
I'm worried Hanoi might be a bit dead after Tet Eve. Would it be better to start in Hanoi for 3 nights, fly down and do Hue and Ba Na Hills afterwards, then stay in Hoi An (Namia River Retreat) for Feb 5-8? If anyone has done the Namia River Retreat during the first few days of Tet, will it be full service? Will everything in Saigon still be closed from the 8th-12th? Any other critiques to this itinerary?
Thanks in advance for any help, much appreciated!
The new headrests will come out soon! It will be installed on all A350s by the end of the year, with other aircraft types starting 2027.
The article is behind a paywall, but below is a summary.
According to Alaska's MD of Partnerships and International, speaking at the IATA conference this week:
- Going Global: Now that Alaska Airlines is officially a global carrier (they just launched flights to Rome on April 28), they want to jump into international joint ventures as their next growth phase.
- Deepening Ties with American Airlines: Alaska is looking to get much closer with its fellow Oneworld alliance buddy, American Airlines.
- Eyeing Existing Networks: American already has massive, established joint businesses covering Europe, Australia, and Japan. Joining any of these would give Alaska a massive global boost, though it still needs the green light from antitrust regulators.
- Scouting for a Latin American Partner. Alaska ended its long-term partnership with LATAM Airlines back in October 2025. While their current partners fly to Latin America, none actually fly within the region.
- Executives say to "stay tuned" as they actively look to fill this gap. While Oneworld doesn't have a specific Latin American member airline right now, American Airlines already has stakes in Chile's JetSmart and Brazil's Gol, which could help fill the gap.
So this got buried in the IATA announcements that included PR joining oneworld, but oneworld also brought in Taj hotels as a new partner.
What this means for AA (and other oneworld) elites:
"oneworld Emerald members will be matched to Taj InnerCircle Gold, with Ruby and Sapphire members aligning with Taj InnerCircle Silver. Plans are underway to introduce miles earning opportunities on hotel stays across select oneworld partner airline programmes later this year"
TLDR: oneworld chief acknowledges they have to fix the "seamless" technology promise that they aim for; smaller airlines need to be heard better; India, as well as South America and Africa are big holes for the alliance; and buried all the way at the end of the article is some quick mention of a new partnership with Taj hotels.
TLDR: Alaska CFO says they would "love" for BoFA points to become transferrable to Alaska.