Which taxi app to use in Vietnam, and the airport scam to skip

Vietnam's taxi problem is narrow but real, and it clusters in the first day: a car that looks like a taxi, a meter that runs suspiciously fast or is said to be broken, and a flat price invented on the spot. The classic version is a fake cab dressed up to look like a known brand. Vietnam has two taxi companies most travelers rely on, Mai Linh, which is green, and Vinasun, which is white. Copycats use near-identical colors and a name that is close but not exact, so read the name on the car, not just the paint.

Two meter tricks are worth knowing. One is a rigged meter that climbs far too quickly. The other is simpler: Vietnamese dong has a lot of zeros, and a meter reading of 64.0 means 64,000 dong, not 640,000, and drivers sometimes lean on that confusion. The clean way around all of it is to book on an app, where the fare is agreed before you get in.

Grab is the one to have. It is the largest ride app in Vietnam, works in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Hoi An and most cities a visitor goes, and it does both cars and motorbike rides. Because the price is fixed in the app, the meter argument never happens. If you have used Grab elsewhere in Southeast Asia, it is the same app and login.

Two local alternatives are worth adding as backups. Xanh SM is an all-electric fleet, often a little cheaper and easy to spot. Be is another Vietnamese app. Any of the three protects you the same way. One warning that applies to all of them: if a street driver flashes a Grab price on his own phone, do not trust it, because he may have picked a pricier option. Check the fare in your own app.

This is where first-day scams happen, so have a plan. At Noi Bai (Hanoi) and Tan Son Nhat (Ho Chi Minh City), people will approach you inside and just outside arrivals offering a taxi. Politely decline and keep walking. Open your app and book a ride to the marked ride-hailing pickup point, or head to the official metered-taxi rank and use only a Mai Linh or Vinasun car.

As a rough sense of the fare, a metered or app ride from Noi Bai into central Hanoi tends to run around 250,000 to 400,000 dong (roughly 10 to 16 US dollars), depending on traffic and car size. A fake cab may try to charge a million dong or more for the same trip, so a quote well above that range is your signal to walk away.

In the app you can usually pay by card or in cash, and cash is still common, so carry small dong notes. If you take a legitimate street taxi, make sure the meter is running from the start and keep an eye on the reading. Tipping is not expected for a metered or app ride, though rounding up is a kind gesture and appreciated for a motorbike ride or heavy bags.

For the bigger money picture in Vietnam, including how much cash to carry and how card-friendly it is, see the Vietnam money guide.

Common questions

Quick answers.

More on Vietnam

The little money things nobody warns you about.

• Do I need cash in Vietnam, or can I use cards?Short answer: cards for hotels and larger purchases, and dong cash for daily life. One quirk to watch: the dong has a lot of zeros, so notes are easy to mix up. Here is how to handle it.
• Tipping in VietnamVietnam has a light tipping culture: not required, but increasingly appreciated in tourist areas. Round up at restaurants, tip guides and spa staff a little, and use small dong notes. Here is what you actually owe.
• Common money scams in Vietnam, and what they cost youVietnam is a wonderful and largely trouble-free trip, and the scams that target tourists are mostly small-value money hustles, not danger: overcharging, sleight of hand and a few transport tricks. They rely on confusion, and a few habits defuse nearly all of them. Here is each one and how to avoid it.