Traveling with two sons (17 & 21), can anyone suggest an interesting (and safe) way to travel from Bangkok to Ho Chi Minh City? We will be in SEA for July and August. We have a moderate budget. But, I think we'd pay above that for an interesting trip to Vietnam. Since there are three of us, we cannot afford a tour company.

From Ho Chi Minh City, we were thinking of going north to Hanoi and then to either Burma or back to Thailand depending on the costs.

Help on any of the legs of our trip: into; through; and, out of Vietnam will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Andy

For Bangkok to Ho Chi Minh City I would suggest flying with discount carrier Air Asia. The cost if you book well in advance can be as low as 2410 baht or $78us. The only drawback is that they currently fly only twice a week mon/fri.

Pacific Airlines and Bangkok Airways both fly BKK-HCM (I think Pacific is now owned by Jetstar).
Both of these airlines often have promo fares.
At the moment Bangkok Airways have special fares in April - called Delight Fare.
If you go to the websites of these airlines you can book online (pacificairlinesdotcom and bangkokairdotcom)

My husband recently booked BKK-HCM on a special fare with Pacific but ended up on a Bangkok Airways plane as these airlines seem to codeshare.
We've just returned from Vietnam (flew in to HCM City) and had a good time.

Bangkok Air flights for july/august are 6500 baht, quite a bit more than air asia. I did not known that Pacific or Jetstar flew out of Bangkok to Ho Chi Minh City. Nothing on their sites indicate that. From Singapore yes.

If flying I'd opt for the new Ho Chi Minh route on Air Asia too. Your sons are quite old though and you have two months so there shouldn't be any problem travelling overland via Cambodia with them if you prefer. Maybe see Angkhor Wat and the Phnom Penh war museum (S21) en route. There's some information about the land border crossings here. Cambodia: Overland Travel and International Border Crossings
Be careful about visas though. You can get the Cambodian visa on arrival but the Vietnam visa needs to be obtained in advance AND you need to tell them the exact dates and points of entry and exit for Vietnam.

__________________
“Not all those who wander are lost.” Tolkien.
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

Thanks everyone. I guess flying makes the most sense with Vietnam's visa requirements for precise dates.

Any advice on Hotels in Ho Chi Minh City? On the internet, they seem to charge first world prices.

I got onto Pacific Airlines by accident - was trawling through the Jetstar website and when I chose Bangkok as Origin and HCM as destination, I was automatically redirected to the Pacific webpage which opened up with my chosen flights.
I'm having a bit of trouble getting onto the Pacific site tonight but can still access it via the Jetstar site - so I guess this is the best thing to do if you want to check availability and prices.
However I've just entered a few random dates and the fare is $120 USD and that's one way (!!) so a lot steeper than Air Asia.

Yes Andy, you're right about the hotel prices in HCMC - they're very high especially for a developing country.
The topend ones cost well over $200USD a night. These are mostly in the deluxe part of District 1 but there are quite a lot of cheaper options not far away and these range from about $30USD a night upwards for budget level and midrange starting at around 60USD.

You could try this travel agency which I used for our HCMC hotel .....
Start off with the usual three w's then saigonhotel-link then dot com.
Click on accommodation and you can see Budget, Mid Range or Top end hotels.
There are quite a few decent budget ones but just bear in mind that a lot of them won't have lifts or are in very noisy streets. If either of those things could bother you, suggest you ask one of the consultants at the above travel agency to clarify or check out some of the reviews on travelfishdotcom

You can book online or call them (they're open till about 10pm Vietnam time - phone number on the website).

Yes try travelfish...he's got a very useful site. General info about Ho Chi Minh city and accommodation options varying in price from $10 to over $200. Includes a few reviews as well. Ho Chi Minh City travel guide for backpackers. Includes hotel and hostel reviews

__________________
“Not all those who wander are lost.” Tolkien.
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

Thanks for the information. Invaluable help.