Open Jaw routing for Vietnam: Saves backtracking and €100+

The €120 domestic flight you don’t need to book

A typical Vietnam Airlines economy fare from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City prices between €80–120 one-way including taxes when booked 2–4 weeks ahead. Vietjet and Bamboo Airways advertise lower base fares — sometimes as low as €40–60 — but those exclude checked baggage, seat selection, and meals. Add a 20-kilogram bag (€15–25) and a seat assignment (€8–15), and the all-in cost climbs back to €70–100.

The flight itself takes 2 hours 5 minutes gate to gate. Factor in a 90-minute early arrival for domestic check-in, 30–45 minutes for baggage claim and exit, and 45–60 minutes for the taxi or bus ride from your hotel to the airport, and you’ve consumed 6–8 hours of a travel day. If your Vietnam itinerary moves north to south — Hanoi, Hue, Hoi An, Nha Trang, Ho Chi Minh City — that domestic return leg to Hanoi for your departure flight is pure backtracking.

Open-jaw routing eliminates it. You fly into Hanoi on Day 1, travel overland or via short domestic hops to your next stops, and depart from Ho Chi Minh City on your final day. The long-haul ticket handles both ends. Though Air Traveler Club’s tracking occasionally flags temporary drops to €650–800 on Europe–Vietnam routes lasting a few days, the open-jaw structure itself doesn’t require waiting for a Superdeal — it’s a baseline routing optimization that works at regular fares.

How carriers price open-jaw Vietnam routing

Vietnam Airlines operates long-haul flights from both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to European hubs including Paris Charles de Gaulle, Frankfurt, and London Heathrow. Qatar Airways serves both gateways from Doha. Singapore Airlines connects both cities via Changi. This dual-hub structure makes open-jaw ticketing straightforward — the carrier already flies to both ends of your itinerary, so the routing doesn’t require a partner airline or alliance coordination.

In practice, open-jaw fares on these carriers price within €0–50 of a standard return to the same gateway. A Frankfurt–Hanoi–Frankfurt return on Qatar Airways might price at €850 in economy for a March 2026 departure. The same search as Frankfurt–Hanoi // Ho Chi Minh City–Frankfurt typically shows €870–900. The €20–50 difference is smaller than the €60–140 you’d spend on a domestic flight, and you eliminate the backtracking day entirely.

For North American travelers, the pattern holds. Los Angeles–Hanoi–Los Angeles on Vietnam Airlines via a Pacific routing prices similarly to Los Angeles–Hanoi // Ho Chi Minh City–Los Angeles. Australian departures from Sydney or Melbourne on Singapore Airlines or Vietnam Airlines show the same narrow spread. The key variable is whether the carrier serves both Vietnamese gateways — if they do, open-jaw pricing is typically neutral or near-neutral compared to returns.

Low-cost carriers complicate this. VietJet from Australia operates Sydney and Melbourne to Ho Chi Minh City at $300–500 AUD roundtrip, undercutting full-service competitors by 50–60%. But VietJet doesn’t fly long-haul to Hanoi from most Western markets, so constructing an open-jaw itinerary requires mixing carriers — often at higher total cost than a simple return plus domestic. The savings advantage shifts to full-service airlines with dual-hub networks.

Booking open-jaw tickets: the multi-city search

Google Flights handles open-jaw searches through its “Multi-city” function. Instead of the default roundtrip search, click “Multi-city” and enter your outbound and return legs separately. For a north-to-south Vietnam trip departing Frankfurt, you’d enter:

• Flight 1: Frankfurt (FRA) to Hanoi (HAN), departure date March 15, 2026
• Flight 2: Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) to Frankfurt (FRA), departure date March 29, 2026

Google Flights returns results showing the total fare for both segments combined. You’ll see options on Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines, Vietnam Airlines, and other carriers serving both gateways. The interface displays the same filtering tools as a standard search — departure times, number of stops, aircraft type, fare class.

Once you identify a preferred routing and fare, book directly with the airline. Multi-city itineraries sometimes price differently on the carrier’s own website versus third-party OTAs, and booking direct simplifies changes or cancellations if your plans shift. Vietnam Airlines, Qatar Airways, and Singapore Airlines all support multi-city booking through their online engines — you don’t need to call.

For frequent flyer redemptions, the process is similar but requires checking award availability on each leg separately. Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, for example, lets you search Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City as separate destinations and combine them into a single award ticket. Qatar Privilege Club and Vietnam Airlines Lotusmiles work the same way. Award pricing for open-jaw typically matches a standard return — no mileage penalty for the different departure and arrival cities.

When open-jaw doesn’t make sense

If your Vietnam itinerary circles back to your starting city, the domestic flight is unavoidable and open-jaw offers no advantage. A trip structured as Hanoi → Hoi An → Hanoi → Halong Bay → Hanoi requires you to return to Hanoi for the final leg regardless of where you fly out. In that case, book a simple return to Hanoi and accept the domestic positioning as part of your route.

Ultra-cheap domestic promo fares occasionally flip the math. Vietjet runs flash sales where Hanoi–Ho Chi Minh City one-way drops to €25–35 all-in including a small bag. If you catch one of those and your long-haul return fare is €100+ cheaper than the open-jaw alternative, the return + domestic combination wins. But those promos are rare, limited to a few thousand seats, and require booking within 24–48 hours of the sale launch. You can’t plan around them.

Award ticket restrictions sometimes block open-jaw routing. Certain airline programs — particularly those with region-based award charts — price open-jaw itineraries as two one-way awards instead of a single roundtrip, doubling the mileage cost. Check your program’s rules before assuming open-jaw works at the same rate. Singapore KrisFlyer and Qatar Privilege Club both allow open-jaw at roundtrip pricing, but not all programs do.

Starting or ending your trip in a secondary Vietnamese city like Da Nang or Nha Trang adds a domestic leg regardless of your long-haul structure. If you’re flying into Hanoi but your first destination is Da Nang, you’ll need a Hanoi–Da Nang flight whether you depart from Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City. Open-jaw still saves you the return domestic leg if your itinerary ends in the south, but it doesn’t eliminate domestic flying entirely.

Why Vietnam’s geography makes this work

Vietnam’s 1,650-kilometer north-south length creates a natural linear travel corridor. Most itineraries follow the coast: Hanoi in the north, then Hue, Hoi An, Nha Trang, and Ho Chi Minh City in the south. Overland travel between these cities — by train, bus, or short domestic hops — takes 3–5 days depending on your pace and stops. Backtracking to your starting gateway at the end of the trip adds a full day and a €60–140 domestic fare with no sightseeing value.

Compare this to a country like Thailand, where Bangkok serves as the dominant hub and most travelers return to the capital for their departure flight regardless of where they’ve been. Vietnam’s dual-gateway structure — with Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City both operating as international hubs — makes open-jaw routing practical. You’re not forcing an awkward connection through a secondary airport; you’re using two major gateways that already handle long-haul traffic.

The UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office’s travel advice for Vietnam notes that domestic flights are common for long-distance internal travel due to the country’s length. That’s accurate for travelers who need to cover the full distance quickly. But if you’re already moving north to south over 10–14 days, open-jaw routing aligns with your itinerary instead of fighting it.

What to do before booking your Vietnam flights

Open-jaw fares on Europe–Vietnam routes currently price within €30–50 of returns for March–May 2026 departures, but that spread narrows as availability tightens.

• Run the multi-city search first. Use Google Flights to compare your preferred dates as FRA–HAN // SGN–FRA (or reverse) against a simple FRA–HAN–FRA return. If the open-jaw fare is within €50 of the return, it’s almost always the better choice once you factor in the domestic fare you’re avoiding.
• Check both directions. Sometimes north-to-south (HAN in, SGN out) prices differently than south-to-north (SGN in, HAN out) due to demand patterns or seasonal route loading. Search both and take the cheaper option — your itinerary works either way.
• Book direct with the carrier. Multi-city itineraries occasionally price lower on airline websites than through OTAs, and changes or cancellations are simpler when booked direct. Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines, and Vietnam Airlines all support multi-city booking online.
• Verify baggage allowances. Open-jaw tickets on full-service carriers typically include the same checked baggage as a return — usually 23 kilograms in economy, 30–40 kilograms in business. Confirm this at booking, especially if you’re mixing fare classes or booking through a third party.

Questions? Answers.