Reaching SGN airport at 11 pm. Best way to Go to District 1?

May not be the cheapest way but is the simplest and best way given it will be your first time to SG.  Save your money elsewhere during your stay.

Thank you Yoda.  Which option do you recommend?  Book taxi inside the airport, take Vinasun taxi outside, or any other option?   I am not looking for the cheapest way to go to District 1.  I am looking for input as to which is the best way - safest and without getting scammed or robbed in the middle of the night.  Thank you in advance.

While better than most, Vinasun drivers are not immune from cheating.  Once when I was engaged to my wife, we took a Vinasun from Thu Duc to Tan Son Ngat.  He proceeded to route us through District 2 instead of directly.  At that time the Pham Van Dong highway was not built but Binh Trieu bridge would have been the proper route as he well knew.  I don't know if he detected a country accent from my wife or he assumed she was Viet Kieu but he certainly looked to cheat us.  I called him on it early in the trip and paid him only what I thought the fare should have been.  Even that was a little too kind.  Fortunately we had ample time for our flight.   I just mean to point out that while it may help, the choice of one of the major companies does not an absolutely assure against cheating.

There is more than one legitimate way to get from the airport to District 1 but the fares should fall in a certain range.  I can't say that I ever made that exact trip by taxi so perhaps someone else can suggest an appropriate fare.  It is fair to note that taxi meters in HCMC have a time/distance algorithm so heavy traffic can legitimately increase fares but probably not by more than 20%.

Thank you THIGV.  I appreciate your input.

Fair should be about 120-150 TSD VND anyway not much money...........

Thank you AustriaKarl.   Yes, that is not much money.

Uber and Grab Car cost less than that, 80,000 dong the last time I checked and this was during off peak hour.

Download an Uber or Grab app. When you book a ride from the airport using wifi connection send a message to the driver letting them know exactly where to meet you at the airport. I typically use Popeye's chicken as the pick up point. You don't need a local phone number unless you want the driver to call you then pick up a sim card at the airport.

Thank you QuidProQuo.  Your response is useful. I appreciate it.

Uber & Grab - But not at 1:00h am......... Dreamer!

SummitREFS wrote:

Thank you Yoda.  Which option do you recommend?  Book taxi inside the airport, take Vinasun taxi outside, or any other option?   I am not looking for the cheapest way to go to District 1.  I am looking for input as to which is the best way - safest and without getting scammed or robbed in the middle of the night.  Thank you in advance.

I would say just book inside for about 20 and be done with it knowing every newly arrivals pay the same.  Or you can uber for about $4 usd but then you need to either connect the wifi or get a new CIM card and may need to speak to the driver.  If you plan to have cim then you can monitor the route to make sure he's not taking you joy ride.  Metered taxi is a bit higher around 8-10 usd.  Take photo ID pic on dash board when you get in for added peace of mind but it wouldn't be that bad.  Enjoy your stay.

Thank you Yoda.  I agree that booking taxi inside will be preferred.  I will do that.  Thanks again.

Thank you for everyone's help with my question.  I am new to this Forum but have found it to be awesome and with very helpful Expats.  I am hoping to pay it forward soopn!

QuidProQuo wrote:

Download an Uber or Grab app. When you book a ride from the airport using wifi connection send a message to the driver letting them know exactly where to meet you at the airport. I typically use Popeye's chicken as the pick up point. You don't need a local phone number unless you want the driver to call you then pick up a sim card at the airport.

I agree with this point on selecting an easier pick up point such as Popeye.

I was over hcm last week and the Grab drivers cant find me at the location I've selected via the app. Got cancelled a few times 

End up walking out to take vinasun for 170k at peak hour.

Do be careful with the taxistand's touts, I got approached for 350k vnd to go district 4, ridiculous price.

Thank you latter_rain.   I appreciate your input.

If you decide to take a Vinasun Taxi, don't forget to take note of the driver's photo ID displayed on top of the dashboard.
Easiest and unsuspecting way to do this is .... (assuming you will be seated in the rear seat) you can simply use your cell phone to zoom on it and take a photo.
In case you end up paying an unusually high fare, later you can report it to the so-called Tourist Police or to the taxi company ... and if lucky, you may end up getting a refund and much more ... as in this recent case in Da Nang.

Take a look at this page to stay alert.
Complete guide to avoiding taxi scams in Saigon

Thank you senwl.   Your post is very informative.

I wouldn't worry aobut it very much.  It's not expenseive no matter what you pay.

If I' alone, I use Uber. Easy, cheap and I don't have to explain where I am going.

When you are arriving, you won't have a sim yet. So forget Uber type options. Besides taxis are easy and cheap. I never heard about taxi booking in the terminal (because I don't speak Viet like Yoda?)  Anyway it is easy to avoid the taxi scam, and don't worry about getting robbed.

Steps:
1. Come with a piece of paper that has the name and address of your hotel and "District 1", in big easy-to-read-at-night letters, because you can't speak Vietnamese.
2. After immigration, you go downstairs, find your bags on the carousel, then if you are not declaring anything (right?) look for the sign to exit customs.
3. You are now in the lobby. Welcome to Vietnam. There will be ATMs and some people selling SIMs and currency exchange. I always use the ATMs because I like to save my US dollars for emergency. (Note: your dollars/euros must be in like-new condition and they like $100s best. Suggest you bring 10 or 20 of those Benjamins as backup in case your ATM card fails like mine did last week). Get at least $50 worth of Vietnamese dong, you are now a million-dong-aire.
4. Go outside and the hot air will hit you in the face. There will probably be hundreds of Vietnamese greeting you. No, not you, kidding. Head straight through the crowd and ignore everyone who talks to you. There is now a "good taxi" island, you have to cross one or two traffic lanes, can't remember.
5. The taxi queue is a long aisle and you drag your bags to the head of it. There will be a woman who will ask "Where are you going". Show her the paper. Say one word: Vinasun. That is pronounced "vee-nuh-soon". They will understand why you request that company. Probably all the taxis in the queue are legit though, but I always insist on veenuhsoon even when I am with my Vietnamese wife.
6. The lady will give you a slip of paper with the taxi name and some official statements because this is how they keep the taxis honest.
7. Show the taxi driver your hotel address. Doesn't hurt to make sure the meter is running, starts at 15 or 20? I can't remember, short for 15,000 etc. If you are worried, you can sneak a photo of the driver's badge with your smartphone.
8. While driving, watch your google map on your smartphone (should work without a local sim *) and start to get an idea of the city layout. You can also monitor that the taxi is taking a fairly straight route southeast.
9. My last trip to the airport was 4 weeks ago but from D7, it was 186,000d in traffic so you will pay less to D1, maybe 120.000d at that time. You never need to tip.
10.  Next day you can get a sim from your hotel or the hotel will tell you a store to go to.  Costs something like 100,000 for the sim, 100,000 for voice and data per month. The shop will install it. Put the XE app on your smartphone for conversions.
ok that's it!
* correction: Go ahead and download the Saigon map and save it locally on your smartphone before you come. Google for instructions.

Thank you Wxx3.

Thank you gobot.   Wow!  Your step by step detailed instructions are great.  I also enjoyed your sense of humor.  I appreciate your and everyone's help.