Vientiane - Post Report Question and Answers
What is your home city/country? How long is the trip to post from there, with what connections? How easy/difficult is it to travel to this city/country?
East coast U.S. It takes about 20 hours of flying time to get from the U.S. to Vientiane. Be sure to add in time for a layover. For example: 15 hours from D.C. to Seoul, overnight layover because you have to exit the airport and reenter for a different airline, and then five hours to Vientiane. People regularly travel through Seoul and Bangkok to get to Vientiane. There are other options, but those seem the most popular. - Dec 2024
My hometown is Los Angeles. No direct flights from Vientiane so we have to fly to LA through Bangkok or Seoul. It takes about 24-48 hours to get back to the U.S. Travel within SE Asia is easy but it can be expensive from Vientiane. We have the option to fly out of Udon Thani, Thailand to Bangkok which is much cheaper (it's about a 1 hour drive from Vientiane and you have to cross the land border which can take time depending on what time you go). - Mar 2024
Flights to and from Vientiane have been increasing since the reopening of borders, but it is still difficult to get in and out of the country. Most of the time, you will have to do a layover in Bangkok to catch your next flight. To get to the U.S. it can take anywhere between 30-60 hours depending on where you are going and the flight connections. To get to other countries in Southeast Asia is also difficult even if proximity would tell you otherwise. - Mar 2023
Washington DC. It's possible to get from Vientiane to DC in (just) under 24 hours going through Seoul. Other options include going through Bangkok. There are relatively few non-stop flights to Vientiane so you will almost certainly have to travel through Seoul or Bangkok. There are also non-stop flights (but not many) to Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. - Jun 2020
Washington, DC. It takes over 24 hours to get there, usually though Tokyo/Bangkok or through Seoul. One can also travel through the Middle East and Thailand. - Oct 2018
Pennsylvania. We departed from Dulles and it was at least a full 24 hours through CA, Japan, and Bangkok. - Jan 2014
