Domestic ~60–90 minutes when quiet; international ~2.5–3.5 hours in peak banks; landside walk for every passport change.

Cabin-bag domestic guests who already know the Grab kerb can often work with about 60–90 minutes curb-to-gate when Terminal 1 is calm. International needs about 2.5–3.5 hours for check-in, aviation security, and passport control — longer on Korean / Taiwanese / Chinese bank evenings and Vietnamese holiday peaks. VnExpress (25 Mar 2026) reported queues approaching two hours in the late-morning/early-afternoon and late-evening international banks while T2 ran about 170% of its 4 million design. Same-day domestic↔international always re-clears landside via the ~5-minute covered walk. Central Vietnam typhoon and flood weeks (late summer–autumn) are the reliability story more than runway length. T2 expansion works (from 19 May 2026) can shift check-in and boarding-bridge patterns.

Two terminals, covered landside walk ~5 minutes, no sterile domestic↔intl link.

Trust FIDS and your airline: T1 is domestic; T2 is international. The official transfer page puts the sheltered walk at about five minutes — there is no sterile domestic↔international corridor. International→international connectors use the T2 transfer counter on the first floor. Wrong-terminal Grab drop-offs are common with beach hotels; confirm T1 vs T2 before you leave. T2 expansion is under way; T1’s ACV rebuild is announced for August 2027, not this season.

City food wins on value; T2 lounges/cafés for longer airside waits.

Mỹ Khê / Han River restaurants beat most airport meals on value. If you are already through international security, T2 duty-free and dining are denser than T1. Without lounge entitlement, plan a café stop rather than a long destination dinner. Orchid / Vanda (lounge-network) or Lotus (Vietnam Airlines / SkyTeam) are the sensible longer-wait food plays. Do not publish invented bottled-water prices — confirm the shelf tag.

Complete PAI + visa before landing; evening Orchid space and T2 immigration can stack hard.

Foreign arrivals need a visa exemption, e-visa (evisa.gov.vn), or other valid entry authority — and a Pre-Arrival Information QR from prearrival.immigration.gov.vn within three days of arrival or on arrival (U.S. Embassy Vietnam notice 17 Jun 2026: mandatory for non-Vietnamese passports at all Vietnamese airports). PAI does not replace a visa. LoungeKey’s CIP Orchid page still notes temporary closure of CIP Orchid Lounge 2 with possible access limits especially 21:00–22:30 — have Vanda or a gate-seat backup. A biometric priority lane launched 10 April 2026; autogates still mainly serve Vietnamese chip-passport holders and crews.