Historically, it has taken a long day to get to Vietnam from the United States. Most trips pass through Seoul, Tokyo or Taipei or another Asian city and include hours of layover time even before landing. The one exception to that rule is there, and there's a particularly comfortable way to do it right now.

Vietnam Airlines is the only airline that has a nonstop flight from the U.S. to Vietnam (SFO to SGN). Fortunately, a reliable run of business class award availability has been secured for Air France-KLM's Flying Blue program and now you can secure a lie-flat seat on that route for a fairly inexpensive number of miles.

What's Available Right Now?

Flying Blue is offering business class award space on this route for $313.50 in taxes and carrier charges plus 95,000 miles one-way. As of now, until two seats are booked on some services, dates of travel are June to July 2027. Economy is also available on this flight, and it is quite good considering the few miles you have to spend, with a flat-bed seat in the economy class on the only direct route between two countries being the true attraction here.

With nonstop Vietnam service being as sparse as it already is, it's definitely better to seize the opportunity when you see a lie-flat business class seat on reasonable mileage, than to wait and see if it gets better.

If you're not sure which dates you'll want to go to, pick a search tool to view all the dates on one.If you need to check out a bunch of dates without caring too much, a search tool such as Seats.aero is a great way to do so. When you see something that fits your time frame, you'll go to Flying Blue's site and finalize the booking.

Why This Redemption Is Worth Pursuing

This is a good way to see why miles are a good choice here for the time being: cash pricing. For the SFO–SGN nonstop, which is the only service available, business-class one-way fares have been known to exceed $4,000. Most of the miles that you'll find for redemptions are horrible use of your miles compared to paying for a five-figure round-trip cash fare, plus 95,000 Flying Blue miles and a few hundred dollars in fees.

Flying Blue is also one of the easier programs to accumulate points with, as it will accept transfers from almost all the major transferable points programs around. These programs include American Express Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Brex Rewards, Capital One miles, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou Rewards, Rove Miles and Wells Fargo Rewards. That is, if you are not, there is a strong possibility that you are sitting on points that you can move to Flying Blue without opening a new account or building a certain bank relationship.

What Card is Best for Accumulating Miles?

If you are aiming for this redemption, it's a worthwhile card to consider. The conversion rate is 1:1 from Amex Membership Rewards to Flying Blue, and it is nearly instant so you don't end up missing out on making limited award space go further.

In addition to the transfer speed, the card also awards bonus points for a wide range of dining at various restaurants around the world and in the U.S. at supermarkets, a significant welcome bonus, monthly statement credits for dining purchases and Dunkin purchases (requires enrollment) and monthly Uber Cash. These categories of earners can be a quick route to this redemption for anyone who eats out frequently or does some significant amount of grocery shopping.

Here are a few important points to note about this deal:

• There currently is no direct flight from the U.S. to Vietnam other than the SFO–SGN route.
• Business class one-way tickets is 95,000 flying blue miles plus approximately $313.50 in taxes and fees.
• For those with a lower number of miles, economy can be booked for 47,500 miles one way.
• Selling capacity is limited to a maximum of two seats on each flight and travel dates are now available from June until July 2027.

Bottom Line

Direct flights to Vietnam, simply don't happen very often, and that's what makes this particular award opening a must pay attention. There's no other way to get to HCMC as efficiently as this is on this direct route and the cash price for business class from the other city is very expensive, plus just how easy it is to seamlessly transfer to Flying Blue from a credit card most travelers already have.

Since the number of seats is not that high on each flight, it may be wise to look ahead and reserve as early as possible to see if better seat availability will become available later in the year.