A Guide To Your First Hour in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Here's your Vietnam Travel Guide for the first 60 minutes after you land in Ho Chi Minh City. Lots of tips and tricks to get you out of Tan Son Nhat Airport with everything you need.
I'll break down money exchange options, how to get a Sim card, transportation options, health insurance, and more. I'll give prices and options for everything, including the cheapest way to get into the city.
2 Important Items Prior To Travel:
✅ Vietnam Visa: evisa.xuatnhapcanh.gov.vn/tra...
✅ Travel Medical Insurance SafetyWing: safetywing.com/nomad-insuranc...
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Chapters
0:00 Important Visa Information
1:50 Travel Medical Insurance
3:54 Immigration
4:58 Luggage Collection
6:03 Cash, Money Exchange & ATM's
8:30 SIM Card & Internet
9:46 Essential Vietnam Apps
11:12 Transportation Around The City
#vietnam #vietnamtravel #hochiminh #saigon

[@69smartghost]

TIP: The best exchange in HCMC is near Ben Thanh market (just outside). There's a jewelry store with crowds of people exchanging money. Majority of the grab drivers will know about it. Very good rates. I go there every time i'm in HCMC Also with GRAB don't use your card. Always pay with cash. There's a scam that happened to me where you'd book the grab with your card and the driver will wait somewhere near by claiming to be stuck in traffic. After 5 minutes the driver will cancel the booking due to "passenger not arriving on time". Your card will get charged a cancellation fee and there's really nothing you can do about it. Pay cash, that way if the driver wants the money then s/he will show up. It's not a common scam, but it has happened to be once-twice.

[@xdgs567z]

I can never get my card to be approved and connected with Grab app when i'm there for some reason because my bank always block it for some reason....so i always have been paying with cash.

[@69smartghost]

@@xdgs567z cash is better

[@aarons5689]

Jewelry stores all day long. We go to one near the pink church and the famous Banh Xeo spot. Excellent exchange rate.

[@jeffk4710]

I never have change only 500ks lol

[@jeffk4710]

My rate was trash cuz my bill was not crisp lol

[@user-ep3ck5re4o]

Heat - Noise - Pollution - Congestion - love it all 👌💪💪

[@jejudo3000]

Yes siiiiiiiirrrrrrrrrrr 🫡

[@davidkhai]

😂

[@michealdo3407]

Welcome back 2 Viet Nam ...

[@jejudo3000]

Nam number 1!🇻🇳

[@sahabji2000]

For taxis, just take a Mai Linh or Vinasun. they are typically metered and usually no problems. Just walk left to the end after exiting the airport. Grab can be a mess with getting driver and language barrier. Sometimes some scammers even take your phone and cancel the ride ask you to go with them. Metered taxis aren't much more than grab. Use grab in the city center, just much easier.

[@sdfv4zx]

Welcome back to the motherland dude, when i was there i took the bus out, the bus system in vn is very good, you can go anywhere by bus inside saigon.

[@-AGM83-]

Thanks man, im going for the first time in August by myself. This has all been really helpful.

[@mattkenney1399]

Cheers David really informative, we fly into Saigon in 2 weeks time from Melbourne never been to Vietnam before 🙏🏻

[@Aaendewy8D]

Don't bring jackets or jumper, it's really, really hot!! Bring some face masks as well, it's polluted and smokers are everywhere, so masks will filter out some of the toxic chemicals.

[@davidkhai]

Happy to help! Safe travels and have a blast

[@Sokx41]

I arrived by commercial air to VN only once, near the end of April 1975 to rescue my in-laws before Saigon fell. The other times I cam by military aircraft. In 1975, the terminal was tiny, more like what you might find in a very small city in USA, and despite Saigon falling to the VC 4-5 days in the future, it was very quiet with no sounds of war. One of the most memorable incidents in my long live of nearly 83 years. Thank you for the tips. I speak Vietnamese so that is no problem but I need to learn how to use my Android phone. Ha! ha!

[@Star-008]

Great video as always, thanks‼️💖

[@christhomson2244]

Great video. Once bitten twice shy with using taxis from the airport. My first trip to HCMC I was charged 1M VND. The next time I used the desks near the currency exhange which was alot cheaper. Will try grab on my next trip in Sept. 👌

[@nelsonenrique1141]

I love your content

[@miki8877]

Thank you, this is very good content!

[@Kushal978]

Thanks for sharing 🙏🙏

[@danielduong3212]

Thanks for the info, im flying there from Melbourne in just under 2wks! I always forget where everything there is lol

[@davidkhai]

Safe travels!

[@Max_Thi]

Welcome to Vietnam again David, VN has everything amazing to offer tourists except snow... time to travel from one place to another in short distances, I think you've planned at least a month to stay in VN so you can make the fantastic travel videos :)

[@Kushal978]

Nice 👍

[@SammyChannel-nw8tj]

good 👍 idea guide

[@benquach3127]

Hey, ur back to HCMC, cool. If u wanna grab a coffee or a quick bite, lmk, l live here now. Btw, I m not looking for any sort of collaboration, or investing, or anything related to money, Maybe I can share some local places w u, street foods, restaurants, bars, nightlife, etc... or vice versa...

[@anthonydavidmason]

Thanks mate super helpful, any tips for traveling families?

[@davidkhai]

I think everything definitely still applies for families, the only thing I could think of is staying super close to the city centre of places. Being a solo traveller it’s easy to hop on a bike and get around. But for families you’d have to get a car most likely, so it’s easier to stay in walking distance of places and potentially pay a little bit more for accommodation.

[@Kushal978]

​@@davidkhaiHelpful tips 😊

[@spudapod]

Try and get a hotel with a pool to keep the kids busy :)

[@xdgs567z]

Great tips! I agree with all them...I agree, stay away from Taxi drivers that approach you....go with Grab.....I was approached by a taxi driver after i had exchanged my money at the airport and they told me one price but 5 minutes into the ride they came up with a reason to tell me that the price is a bit higher....Also, how about phones that use esims? What's the best way to get an esim?

[@davidkhai]

I haven’t personally used e-sim, but some goods ones I hear are airalo and holafly. I’d just google best e-sims and then compare a few of the options. They seem easy to use

[@TrumpToldYouSo]

😂🤣😝 Pushy = Hound , same shit.

[@davidkhai]

😂

[@arafisolo9877]

Saya lihat vidio kamu bagus sayang❤🎉😢❤❤

[@vantuyendam9968]

Trân trọng thế hệ trẻ sống ở Mỹ ko chống đối đất nước mà yêu mến Việt Nam như bạn

[@Vincehunting336]

Your video is bias. The new Hcm airport (long thanh province) is not even operates in your pic.

[@chaule9755]

Nó đang được xây dựng để thay thế cho sân bay TSN đã cũ và lâu đời

[@duongthehung]

You're back with new haircut 👍

[@Kushal978]

Thanks for sharing 🙏