A GHA Pho-netic Discovery -Trip Planning
Sunset View from PARKROYAL Saigon
A trip to earn 50 D$, while being “paid” to explore a new city! Read on……
A GHA Pho-netic Discovery -Trip Planning
GHA Discovery is turning out to be one of the top-tier hotel membership programs available today. A while back, GHA Discovery provided an enticing offer of an additional D$50 (Discovery Dollars) bonus for stays at new GHA Discovery brands.
I have already stayed at various GHA brand hotels before, but there was a small caveat: my digital membership card displayed only the GHA Discovery logo, which means I have the flexibility to select from any of the hotel brands for this offer (this meant that in the system, it was interpreted that me not having previously stayed at any brands). Super!
After a brief calculation, I decided to make my first trip to Vietnam, to Ho Chi Minh City. Several factors influenced this decision:
There was a Spontaneous Escapes offer to redeem a Singapore Airlines Business Class seat at a 30% discount. Hence my outbound flight came at almost no cost!
Ho Chi Minh City offers the cheapest hotel offer at that time. Furthermore, I am using Discovery Dollars to offset, meaning that my 2 nights stay is again free! And using a fraction of my Discovery Dollars balance (I needed to burn them anyway).
For the outbound trip, I opted for an economy class ticket for my outbound journey, and SGN provides the cheapest one-way flight.
A GHA Pho-netic Discovery - Route Map (I know that it looks quite plain 😆)
Flights
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For the outbound flight, I utilized 16,800 Krisflyer Miles from my Krisflyer account. Since Singapore Airlines operates its flights to Ho Chi Minh City from Terminal 2, this will provide me with an opportunity to explore the Terminal 2 Silverkris Lounge (initial impression: limited offerings). Additionally, I plan to take a brief visit to the revamped Business Class Lounge at Terminal 3, which has a very different layout from the one that I experienced during an earlier trip.
Entrance to the revamped Terminal 3 Silverkris Business Class Lounge
For the inbound trip, I could have redeemed 15,000 Lifemiles for the trip back to Singapore, but the timing was very late (reaching Singapore at 7.30pm). Hence I decided on the earliest and cheapest flight back, with Scoot being the winner. I will reach Singapore around lunch time (12.15pm), just in time to spend the rest of the weekend with the missus).
Tan Son Nhat International Airport (SGN) Departures Area
Hotels
As a GHA Titanium member, I e-mailed the hotel staff a week before the trip, and confirmed that I was upgraded from the base-level Deluxe Room to the Junior Suite. I was looking forward to the club benefits, but was a bit disappointed to know that this was not applicable for the upgrade. But still a very good deal!
I also added on breakfast when I checked in, with an additional $9 for both nights.
PARKROYAL Saigon Lobby
Lounges
Nothing of note for this trip, only the Terminal 3 Silverkris Business Lounge in which I have visited before.
Travel Insurance
I continued to use my annual Travel Insurance Prestige Plan from Singlife for S$309.
Transportation
I arranged a two-way shuttle bus with the hotel. The outbound was $11.93++, while the inbound was $9,28++
Although more expensive than Grab, I decided to go with this option for the convenience (heard some horrid reviews on the Grab situation at the airport).
Miscallaneous
In terms of cellular coverage, I continued to use Airalo, which I found it very convenient to use during my overseas trip, and very affordable. I took a 1GB local data plan with 7 days validity, which cost only US$5, and was more than enough for me. The only negative is that SMS is not covered, but it does the job for me.
If you are interested in trying it out, sign up using my referral code G1063 to get USD 3 off your first purchase.
Conclusion
Overall, a short 1.5 days trip, but an excellent opportunity to discover a new city! Stay tuned.
