The Lotusmiles program from Vietnam Airlines is commonly overlooked. While there are many awards that simply don’t appeal, some do.
For this post, I’m not going to get into the details of the elite status aspect of the program and instead focus on the redemption side of the program.
Rove is your only transfer option
There’s only one option to earn Lotusmiles in Vietnam Airline’s loyalty program if you’re looking to transfer in from a bank program. That solitary option is from Rove, the program we consider to be on a relative roll with unique mileage transfers. Transfers are 1:1 and should be available shortly after transferring.
Hey, we generally like the oddball programs that have few transfer partners because sometimes they can be gems–or at least less likely to immediately devalue. Fewer points rolling into the program can make more a more sustainable loyalty program.
You can only book for yourself and your children unless you’re in a family account
One thing that you need to be aware of with the Vietnam Airlines Lotusmiles program is that you can’t book for anyone you want. This restriction is typically found with loyalty programs of Asian airlines. They’re trying to stop fraud by limiting who you can book for.
Well, according to the rules, you can only book for yourself and your biological/adopted children or those under 18 for whom you’re a legal guardian. That’s a bit limiting, especially if you want to have everyone booked under a single PNR (helps with IROPS).
That means you’ll want to join a family account, which also helps pool miles together. A maximum of 10 members can be in the same family pool. Those who are eligible to join your family account include: biological parents, parents-in-law, adoptive parents/legally recognized guardians, spouse, biological children, adopted children, daughter-in-law/son-in-law, stepfather/stepmother recognized by law. In other words, one level up or down from you, plus your spouse.
You can book awards 331(?) days in advance with Lotusmiles
As a planner, I love being able to book awards well far in advance. I feel like I can lock down my preferred dates of travel before the majority of other award seekers. And so the earlier the schedule is released, the better it is.
But perhaps what matters more is being able to book awards before those with a large balance of miles with US programs are able to book. Those programs generally open schedules and award bookings 11 months in advance. So if you can find a program that allows awards weeks before the comparable US airline, you can generally book what you want.
You’ll notice the question mark above on how many days in advance you can book with Lotusmiles. That’s because the program is actually a little inconsistent on when awards are available. Sometimes they’ll be available at 331 days out. Sometimes they’ll be missing. That makes it a little tough to plan and a little annoying to monitor. Above all else, we appreciate consistency and this program doesn’t always follow it.
Important: include your full name on your ticket
If you’re flying into and out of Vietnam, the name on your ticket must exactly match your passport. If it doesn’t, you can be denied boarding and/or entry into Vietnam. While some Asian countries can be occasionally picky with names matching exactly, Vietnam is fairly strict. Any middle name must be displayed on your ticket to avoid complications if that middle name also appears on your passport.
This rule is strictly for entering Vietnam on any airline and not necessarily just limited to Vietnam Airlines. But if you’re flying Vietnam Airlines, you’re more likely to feel the effects of this requirement.
Award flights booked with Lotusmiles are based on region and carrier
Vietnam Airlines award flights
There are two charts to be aware of for flights strictly on Vietnam Airlines: a peak and non-peak chart.
Peak/non-peak dates vary by location, which is rather frustrating. You’ll want to refer to the following sites to see the dates:
Non-peak chart
| Route | Economy | Premium Economy | Business Class |
|---|---|---|---|
| Within Vietnam (<= 400 miles) | 7,000 | 11,000 | 15,000 |
| Within Vietnam (> 400 miles) | 11,000 | 18,000 | 28,000 |
| HAN – VTE/LPQ SGN – PNH/SAI DAD – SAI | 12,000 | – | 23,000 |
| HAN – SAI/PNH VTE – PNH LPQ – SAI SGN – VTE | 18,000 | – | 35,000 |
| Vietnam – Indonesia / Malaysia / Myanmar / Phillippines / Singapore / Thailand | 11,000 | – | 35,000 |
| Vietnam – China / Hong Kong / Macao / Taipei | 18,000 | – | 45,000 |
| Vietnam – South Korea | 20,000 | – | 60,000 |
| Vietnam – Japan | 35,000 | 65,000 | 90,000 |
| Vietnam – India | 25,000 | 40,000 | 60,000 |
| Vietnam – Australia | 40,000 | 70,000 | 110,000 |
| Vietnam – Russia | 40,000 | 70,000 | 110,000 |
| Vietnam – UK / France / Germany / Italy / Denmark | 45,000 | 85,000 | 160,000 |
| Vietnam – USA | 55,000 | 110,000 | 200,000 |
| Taipei – USA/Canada | 55,000 | – | – |
Peak chart
| Route | Economy | Premium Economy | Business Class |
|---|---|---|---|
| Within Vietnam (<= 400 miles) | 10,000 | 15,000 | 18,000 |
| Within Vietnam (> 400 miles) | 15,000 | 23,000 | 33,000 |
| HAN – VTE/LPQ SGN – PNH/SAI DAD – SAI | 16,000 | – | 28,000 |
| HAN – SAI/PNH VTE – PNH LPQ – SAI SGN – VTE | 24,000 | – | 42,000 |
| Vietnam – Indonesia / Malaysia / Myanmar / Phillippines / Singapore / Thailand | 20,000 | – | 42,000 |
| Vietnam – China / Hong Kong / Macao / Taipei | 24,000 | – | 54,000 |
| Vietnam – South Korea | 30,000 | – | 72,000 |
| Vietnam – Japan | 50,000 | 85,000 | 105,000 |
| Vietnam – India | 35,000 | 50,000 | 75,000 |
| Vietnam – Australia | 55,000 | 90,000 | 140,000 |
| Vietnam – Russia | 50,000 | 100,000 | 160,000 |
| Vietnam – UK / France / Germany / Italy / Denmark | 60,000 | 110,000 | 200,000 |
| Vietnam – USA | 70,000 | 150,000 | 240,000 |
| Taipei – USA/Canada | 65,000 | – | – |
Partner award flights
The “gotcha” of partner flight awards is that pricing is based per segment. You don’t want to be working with this program in general if your itinerary includes multiple connections as the price will go up quickly. Also, if you want to book these flights, you’ll need to get in contact with Vietnam Airlines customer service.
What this all means is that some of these prices simply are not possible. Take for example the 120,000 mile business class pricing between Australia and Africa. We would consider that to be a good value, but no airline flies it nonstop and so it’s a bit of a red herring.
On top of SkyTeam partners, Vietnam Airlines also allows award booking on ANA and Etihad Airways.
Economy
| To/From | Southeast Asia | Northeast Asia 1 | Northeast Asia 2 | Southwest Asia | Southwest Pacific | North America | Central America | South America | Europe | Middle East | Africa |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southeast Asia | 20,000 | 30,000 | 50,000 | 50,000 | 60,000 | 80,000 | 85,000 | 90,000 | 70,000 | 55,000 | 60,000 |
| Northeast Asia 1 | 30,000 | 25,000 | 30,000 | 50,000 | 80,000 | 80,000 | 85,000 | 90,000 | 85,000 | 80,000 | 80,000 |
| Northeast Asia 2 | 50,000 | 30,000 | 25,000 | 30,000 | 45,000 | 45,000 | 45,000 | 55,000 | 45,000 | 45,000 | 55,000 |
| Southwest Asia | 50,000 | 50,000 | 30,000 | 40,000 | 50,000 | 50,000 | 50,000 | 60,000 | 35,000 | 35,000 | 40,000 |
| Southwest Pacific | 60,000 | 80,000 | 45,000 | 50,000 | 35,000 | 55,000 | 55,000 | 60,000 | 55,000 | 55,000 | 60,000 |
| North America | 80,000 | 80,000 | 45,000 | 50,000 | 55,000 | 30,000 | 40,000 | 50,000 | 50,000 | 60,000 | 70,000 |
| Central America | 85,000 | 85,000 | 45,000 | 50,000 | 55,000 | 40,000 | 30,000 | 40,000 | 50,000 | 60,000 | 70,000 |
| South America | 90,000 | 90,000 | 55,000 | 60,000 | 60,000 | 50,000 | 40,000 | 30,000 | 50,000 | 60,000 | 70,000 |
| Europe | 70,000 | 85,000 | 45,000 | 35,000 | 55,000 | 50,000 | 50,000 | 50,000 | 25,000 | 30,000 | 40,000 |
| Middle East | 55,000 | 80,000 | 45,000 | 35,000 | 55,000 | 60,000 | 60,000 | 60,000 | 30,000 | 25,000 | 30,000 |
| Africa | 60,000 | 80,000 | 55,000 | 40,000 | 60,000 | 70,000 | 70,000 | 70,000 | 40,000 | 30,000 | 30,000 |
Premium economy
| To/From | Northeast Asia 1 | Southeast Asia | Northeast Asia 2 | Southwest Asia | Southwest Pacific | North America | Central America | South America | Europe | Middle East | Africa |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southeast Asia | 30,000 | 45,000 | 70,000 | 65,000 | 100,000 | 160,000 | 165,000 | 170,000 | 140,000 | 70,000 | 100,000 |
| Northeast Asia 1 | 45,000 | 35,000 | 45,000 | 65,000 | 115,000 | 160,000 | 165,000 | 170,000 | 165,000 | 105,000 | 115,000 |
| Northeast Asia 2 | 70,000 | 45,000 | 35,000 | 65,000 | 85,000 | 85,000 | 85,000 | 100,000 | 95,000 | 95,000 | 100,000 |
| Southwest Asia | 65,000 | 65,000 | 65,000 | 60,000 | 75,000 | 75,000 | 75,000 | 90,000 | 50,000 | 50,000 | 60,000 |
| Southwest Pacific | 100,000 | 115,000 | 85,000 | 75,000 | 50,000 | 80,000 | 80,000 | 90,000 | 80,000 | 80,000 | 90,000 |
| North America | 160,000 | 160,000 | 85,000 | 75,000 | 80,000 | 45,000 | 60,000 | 75,000 | 75,000 | 90,000 | 105,000 |
| Central America | 165,000 | 165,000 | 85,000 | 75,000 | 80,000 | 60,000 | 45,000 | 60,000 | 75,000 | 90,000 | 105,000 |
| South America | 170,000 | 170,000 | 100,000 | 90,000 | 90,000 | 75,000 | 60,000 | 45,000 | 75,000 | 90,000 | 105,000 |
| Europe | 140,000 | 165,000 | 95,000 | 50,000 | 80,000 | 75,000 | 75,000 | 75,000 | 35,000 | 45,000 | 60,000 |
| Middle East | 70,000 | 105,000 | 95,000 | 50,000 | 80,000 | 90,000 | 90,000 | 90,000 | 45,000 | 35,000 | 45,000 |
| Africa | 100,000 | 115,000 | 100,000 | 60,000 | 90,000 | 105,000 | 105,000 | 105,000 | 60,000 | 45,000 | 45,000 |
Business class
| To/From | Northeast Asia 1 | Southeast Asia | Northeast Asia 2 | Southwest Asia | Southwest Pacific | North America | Central America | South America | Europe | Middle East | Africa |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southeast Asia | 45,000 | 60,000 | 110,000 | 80,000 | 150,000 | 245,000 | 250,000 | 260,000 | 210,000 | 120,000 | 150,000 |
| Northeast Asia 1 | 60,000 | 45,000 | 60,000 | 80,000 | 150,000 | 245,000 | 250,000 | 255,000 | 250,000 | 150,000 | 150,000 |
| Northeast Asia 2 | 110,000 | 60,000 | 50,000 | 100,000 | 130,000 | 130,000 | 130,000 | 150,000 | 130,000 | 130,000 | 150,000 |
| Southwest Asia | 80,000 | 80,000 | 100,000 | 80,000 | 100,000 | 100,000 | 100,000 | 120,000 | 70,000 | 70,000 | 80,000 |
| Southwest Pacific | 150,000 | 150,000 | 130,000 | 100,000 | 70,000 | 110,000 | 110,000 | 120,000 | 110,000 | 195,000 | 120,000 |
| North America | 245,000 | 245,000 | 130,000 | 100,000 | 110,000 | 60,000 | 80,000 | 100,000 | 100,000 | 195,000 | 140,000 |
| Central America | 250,000 | 250,000 | 130,000 | 100,000 | 110,000 | 80,000 | 60,000 | 80,000 | 100,000 | 120,000 | 140,000 |
| South America | 260,000 | 255,000 | 150,000 | 120,000 | 120,000 | 100,000 | 80,000 | 60,000 | 100,000 | 120,000 | 140,000 |
| Europe | 210,000 | 250,000 | 130,000 | 70,000 | 110,000 | 100,000 | 100,000 | 100,000 | 50,000 | 100,000 | 80,000 |
| Middle East | 120,000 | 150,000 | 130,000 | 70,000 | 195,000 | 195,000 | 120,000 | 120,000 | 100,000 | 50,000 | 100,000 |
| Africa | 150,000 | 150,000 | 150,000 | 80,000 | 120,000 | 140,000 | 140,000 | 140,000 | 80,000 | 100,000 | 60,000 |
First class
| To/From | Northeast Asia 1 | Southeast Asia | Northeast Asia 2 | Southwest Asia | Southwest Pacific | North America | Central America | South America | Europe | Middle East | Africa |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southeast Asia | 65,000 | 90,000 | 160,000 | 130,000 | 200,000 | 300,000 | 310,000 | 320,000 | 280,000 | 180,000 | 200,000 |
| Northeast Asia 1 | 90,000 | 70,000 | 90,000 | 130,000 | 230,000 | 300,000 | 305,000 | 310,000 | 305,000 | 230,000 | 230,000 |
| Northeast Asia 2 | 160,000 | 90,000 | 80,000 | 115,000 | 160,000 | 160,000 | 160,000 | 190,000 | 160,000 | 160,000 | 190,000 |
| Southwest Asia | 130,000 | 130,000 | 115,000 | 120,000 | 150,000 | 150,000 | 150,000 | 180,000 | 105,000 | 105,000 | 120,000 |
| Southwest Pacific | 200,000 | 230,000 | 160,000 | 150,000 | 105,000 | 165,000 | 165,000 | 180,000 | 165,000 | 240,000 | 180,000 |
| North America | 300,000 | 300,000 | 160,000 | 150,000 | 165,000 | 120,000 | 140,000 | 160,000 | 160,000 | 240,000 | 200,000 |
| Central America | 310,000 | 305,000 | 160,000 | 150,000 | 165,000 | 140,000 | 120,000 | 140,000 | 160,000 | 180,000 | 200,000 |
| South America | 320,000 | 310,000 | 190,000 | 180,000 | 180,000 | 160,000 | 140,000 | 120,000 | 160,000 | 180,000 | 200,000 |
| Europe | 280,000 | 305,000 | 160,000 | 105,000 | 165,000 | 160,000 | 160,000 | 160,000 | 80,000 | 120,000 | 100,000 |
| Middle East | 180,000 | 230,000 | 160,000 | 105,000 | 240,000 | 240,000 | 180,000 | 180,000 | 120,000 | 80,000 | 160,000 |
| Africa | 200,000 | 230,000 | 190,000 | 120,000 | 180,000 | 200,000 | 200,000 | 200,000 | 100,000 | 160,000 | 120,000 |
Region definitions:
| Region | Destinations |
|---|---|
| Southeast Asia | Brunei Darussalam; Cambodia; Indonesia; Lao People’s Democratic Republic; Malaysia; Myanmar; Philippines; Singapore; Thailand; Timor-Leste; Vietnam |
| Northeast Asia 1 | China, Macao (China), Hong Kong (China), Mongolia, East of Russian Federation (Vladivostok), other countries in Northeast Asia |
| Northeast Asia 2 | Korea, Japan |
| Southwest Asia | Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Central Russia |
| Southwest Pacific | Australia including Christmas and Cocos (Keeling) Islands, New Zealand, East Timor, Papua New Guinea, and other islands in the Pacific Ocean including: American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, New Caledonia, Niue, Norfolk Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, United States Minor Outlying Islands, Vanuatu, Wallis & Futuna Islands |
| North America | Bermuda, Canada, St. Pierre et Miguelon, United States including Alaska and Hawaii, but excluding Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands |
| Central America | Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Barbados, Belize, Cuba, Dominica, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Mexico, Montserrat, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, St. Christopher (St. Kitts) – Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago, United States Virgin Islands, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Turks and Caicos Islands |
| South America | Colombia (including San Andres Islands), Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname, Venezuela, Argentina (including the Falkland Islands), Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay |
| Europe | Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canary Islands, Croatia, Azores, Belarus, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Eire, Estonia, Faeroe Islands, Finland, France, Georgia, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Hungary, Macedonia (formerly Yugoslavia), Madeira, Malta, Moldova (Republic), Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Russian Federation (west of the Urals) |
| Middle East | Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syrian Arab Republic, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Palestine |
| Africa | Algeria, Egypt, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon (Republic), Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire), Djibouti, Eritrea, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Reunion, Rwanda, St. Helena, Sao Tome & Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania (Republic), Togo, Uganda, Western Sahara, Zambia, Zimbabwe |
Additionally, if you’re flying on Korean Air booked with Lotusmiles, you’ll want to know the periods where awards are not allowed.
One unfortunate byproduct of the Vietnam Airlines award chart is that Delta (and Virgin Atlantic based on reports) business class is charged the first class price. Ouch.
What are the sweet spots with Lotusmiles?
From our read of the award chart, here are what we would use with our SAS miles.
Air France / KLM business class between US and Europe
For 100,000 miles, this isn’t a terrible value if you’re looking at it from the west coast of the US. You’ll have plenty of other better alternatives from the east coast, but with how much award travel has devalued lately, this one doesn’t look terrible.
Europe to Africa in business class
Ringing in at 80,000 miles for business class, this also isn’t that bad of an option if you’re connecting the two regions together. This is especially true if you’re headed down to South Africa. Paying that amount for an ~11 hour flight would qualify as a decent deal in our books. And while the upcharge to first class isn’t much higher (100,000 miles), we don’t think you’re going to find any airline that makes that award available. This is SkyTeam after all.
Europe to India
Here’s another one that pairs together lengthy flights across the globe. Traveling from Europe to India in business class would only cost you 70,000 miles. Just looking for economy? That runs at just 35,000 miles. Premium economy would only cost you 50,000 miles. This flight clocks in at around 8-10 hours depending on your destination. And this can be viewed as one of the better options to consider.
Lap infant awards are 10% of the cash fare
Back when we flew internationally with an infant, we ended up sometimes paying a pretty penny to allow our child to sit in our lap. Without getting into the debate on the safety of the lap child, I can say it sometimes got expensive.
With most airlines, you would be forced to pay 10% of the cash price of the ticket. Say you found a flight for 75,000 miles in business class one-way. But if you want to bring your lap infant, you’d have to pay 10% of the cash fare, which could be thousands of dollars. A one-way flight is painfully priced high, and you might pay less if doing a roundtrip, but it’s still quite a dent. I’d say the rough average of what we paid for an infant was around $600 for the ticket.
On Vietnam Airlines, expect to pay 10% of the cash fare when booking the parents on points.
How to best search for availability?
If you’re searching for flights on Vietnam Airlines, you can always go directly to their site to do it. They maintain a guide on how to perform an award search. However, keep in mind that Vietnam Airlines does not show partner award availability on their website. You will need to call to book partner flights. To find partner award space, you’re fine generally searching with any award tool you prefer, such as:
After you find partner award space, either email or call customer service to book. This might cost you some international fees to call, but given how quickly award flights can book up, you might as well bite the bullet and do it.
Do Lotusmiles expire?
Yes, Lotusmiles expire after 3 years (or after 5 years if you are a Million Miler member). Miles can be reinstated once for an additional 6 months, which costs $5 US per 500 miles.
What is your preferred way to use Vietnam Airlines Lotusmiles?
Suggested reading:
- The Best Strategy Booking Award Flights with No Cancel Fee
- How to Book Award Travel Like a Pro
- Overcome Your Travel Fears and Enjoy Adventure
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