Tan Son Nhat Airport (SGN): Ho Chi Minh City Guide

Tan Son Nhat (SGN) sits 8 km north-west of central Ho Chi Minh City, well inside the urban area. On a quiet Sunday morning you'll be in District 1 in 25 minutes. On a Friday at 6pm the same trip can take 90. Plan accordingly.

The replacement, Long Thanh International (LTI), is under construction 40 km east of HCMC in Dong Nai province with first flights scheduled late 2026. Until then everything still runs through SGN.

Terminals

• Domestic Terminal (T1) — Vietnam Airlines, Bamboo, Vietjet, Pacific. Northwestern end of the airport. Recently expanded; reasonably modern.
• International Terminal (T2) — everything else. Southeastern end. Smaller and older; gets crowded at peak times.

The two terminals are a 10-minute walk apart or a 5-minute free shuttle ride. For domestic-to-international connections, allow at least 90 minutes including the walk and second security check.

Getting into the city

The airport sits in Tan Binh district. District 1 (Ben Thanh, backpacker street, the river) is about 8 km. District 3 is closer. Districts 2 and 7 (Thao Dien, Phu My Hung) are 12–18 km via the tunnel or bridge.

Mode	Cost to District 1	Time	Notes
Public bus 109	12,000 VND	30–50 min	Aircon, runs every 15 min to Ben Thanh and 23/9 Park. Best public option.
Public bus 152	6,000 VND	30–50 min	Cheaper, less luggage room.
Grab / Xanh SM car	120k–200k VND	25–90 min	Pickup zones are signed but layout changes; follow the staff.
Vinasun / Mai Linh taxi	180k–280k VND	25–90 min	The two trusted metered brands. Use the official rank.
Airport "fixed-price" taxi counters	250k–350k VND	as above	Convenient but pricey.
Pre-booked private transfer	250k–400k VND	as above	Worth it if you arrive at 2am.

For Grab/Xanh SM, the international terminal pickup zone is across the road from arrivals via a covered walkway. Domestic terminal has a dedicated lane on the upper departures level — counter-intuitive but it's faster than waiting on arrivals. The Grab driver app will tell them where; you just follow Google's pin.

Avoid taxi touts in the arrivals hall. If a driver approaches you offering a "special price" before you've left the building, ignore them. See taxi meter scams.

The traffic warning

The route into the city goes through Pham Van Dong or Hoang Van Thu street, both of which are choke points in the morning (7–9am) and evening (5–7:30pm) rush. A 25-minute trip becomes 75. Add 60 minutes to your transfer time for any flight leaving 4–8pm. Better still, leave for the airport before rush hour and wait in the terminal.

Lounges

T2 has the SongHong Business Lounge, Le Saigonnais and the Vietnam Airlines Lotus Lounge. Priority Pass and LoungeKey work in the first two; the Lotus is VN business and SkyTeam Elite Plus. All three have showers and a hot buffet. T1's domestic lounges are minor — fine for a coffee.

Wifi, SIM, ATMs

Free airport wifi works throughout. SIM kiosks in arrivals on the international side (Viettel, Vinaphone, Mobifone) sell tourist SIMs for around 200,000–300,000 VND. The price is higher than in town — see SIM cards and mobile data for the cheaper route. Bank ATMs (Vietcombank, BIDV, Agribank) are on arrivals level. Avoid the standalone Euronet ATMs.

Food

Both terminals have a Highlands Coffee and a Phuc Long. Pho Bay 24 in T2 is decent. The T1 food court is acceptable. None of it is a reason to arrive early.

Departure

Check-in opens 3 hours before international flights and 2 hours before domestic. Security on the international side is well-staffed and rarely takes more than 20 minutes. The domestic security line at T1 can hit 40 minutes during the Friday evening Hanoi rush. Allow extra time then. For domestic flight options see the domestic flights guide.