Award Success! Thai Airways Bangkok – Ho Chi Minh City In Business But From Which Program?

My Asian Sakura shuffle from Japan to Thailand also took me to Vietnam, as I ended up buying Emirates business class ex-SGN, and I don’t mind revisiting the city where I have spent several months of my life (I loved those PBs at the ICs there).

I have quite often found reasonably priced business-class tickets on this city pair, most recently with Bamboo before they had a near-death experience.

United MileagePlus BKK-SGN

United doesn’t have access, or they are blocking Thai Airways availability, as they only offer SQ.

Aegean Miles+Bonus BKK-SGN

Aegea’s Miles+Bonus usually has very well-priced awards, but not for this city pair.

Air Canada Aeroplan BKK-SGN

Air Canada’s direct pricing isn’t bad at 20K, especially if you combine it with another flight and pay the 5K for a stopover.

Avianca LifeMiles BKK-SGN

I was actually surprised that Avianca was able to pull up this inventory (I took this screenshot today because I forgot to take it on April 6, when I actually redeemed the ticket).

The price was 15,800 miles in business and roughly $50 in fees, of which $25 was their ticketing fee.

My Previous Awards for 2026:

Award Success! JAL First Class Osaka – Haneda – Bangkok!

Award Success! Emirates Dubai – Tokyo To Replace Canceled Etihad Award

Award Success! Emirates Dubai – Johannesburg In Business But From Which Program?

Award Success! South African Airways Johannesburg – Sao Paulo (Last Minute!)

Award Success! GOL Salvador da Bahia (SSA) – Rio de Janeiro (GIG)

Award Success! Last Minute Emirates Business Rio de Janeiro – Dubai But From Which Program?

My Points & Miles Goals for 2026:

My Loyalty Check-Up: Taking Stock of Miles and Points For 2026

Conclusion

My goal of reducing my frequent flier account balances is going quite well, although I also mix them with cash tickets (I paid for an EK business out of SGN).

I have already redeemed couple of awards for next month as well that will take me to couple of countries in Central America at which I have not previously been, but more of those next month.

I am surprised that Avianca LifeMiles has better access to Thai Airways awards than United, which doesn’t appear to be able to pull them up at all, and tries to route you on Singapore Airlines via Singapore. I love Singapore Airlines’ business-class product, but not if I end up wasting half the day.

But I am glad that I was finally able to use some of these LifeMiles that have been sitting in my account, as it appears that Avianca/LifeMiles doesn’t have access to most partner awards at present, or I have just had really bad luck with my searches.

I am not sure what is happening with Thai Airways, as they used to run a widebody aircraft on this route between Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City. The regional business seat was fine, but the long-haul business is certainly always better.

Source