Giving a spa session: how to choose a gift card

Choose an amount that matches one whole session: 500,000 VND for a short session of 45 to 60 minutes, 1,000,000 VND for a 60 minute facial or a 90 minute massage. The person receiving it uses it in one visit, pays nothing extra, and is not left with an odd balance.

At Lụa Spa (lụa means silk), gift cards come in four amounts, 500,000, 1,000,000, 2,000,000 and 3,000,000 VND, or as one named session. A card is valid for 6 months from purchase, for any session and any therapist. Below: how to pick the amount, what to read on any spa gift card, what two other Ho Chi Minh City spas state on their pages, and a few short messages you can use.

Which amount fits which session

Prices include 8% VAT and there is no tip. The last column is what stays on the card after that session.

One case to watch: the 75 minute deep hydration facial is 1,090,000 VND, 90,000 VND over a 1,000,000 VND card. The recipient pays the difference at the spa. If you know they want that one, choose a card for the named session instead.

A remaining balance stays on the card for next time, within the validity. Cards are not exchanged for cash.

Five things to read on any spa gift card

Wherever you buy, find the answers to these before you pay. If the spa’s page does not say, ask and get the answer in writing; a Zalo message is fine.

1. How long it lasts, and from when. From the purchase date or from when it is first used? Can it be extended?
2. Can the session be changed? If a card names a session the recipient does not like, can they switch?
3. Refunds. Most gift cards are not refundable. Better to know.
4. What happens to a balance. Kept on the card, lost, or must it be spent in one go?
5. Can the recipient choose the therapist, and how far ahead must they book?

At Lụa Spa: 6 months from purchase, with one 30 day extension if asked before it expires; amount cards cover any session; no refunds; any balance stays on the card, no cash back; the recipient chooses any therapist and books at least 3 hours ahead.

We have not found any Vietnamese regulation on how long spa gift cards must last. Everything here is each spa’s own terms, not law. If you are used to consumer rules on gift card expiry at home, do not assume the same here.

What a few other Ho Chi Minh City spas state

We read the gift card pages of two spas in the city on 4 October 2026. In short:

• L’Apothiquaire: minimum purchase 1,000,000 VND, for products or services. The page does not state an expiry. The buy button leads to a form. Corporate gifts are offered.
• Glow Spa Saigon: valid 6 months from purchase, any amount or one service. A digital voucher and invoice are emailed within 1 business day. Payment by card or Vietnamese bank transfer.
• Lụa Spa: from 500,000 VND, or one named session. Valid 6 months from purchase, one 30 day extension. Sent by email or Zalo within one opening hour after the transfer arrives, or a paper card collected at the spa. Bank transfer only, after the front desk confirms the order.

Their terms may have changed since we read them; open their pages before comparing.

Where we differ is the smallest amount. A 500,000 VND card covers a herbal hair wash (gội đầu dưỡng sinh) or a foot soak, so you can give a short session without spending a million.

An amount or a named session

An amount suits you when you are not sure what they would like. They choose the session and the therapist, and can even put two short sessions on one day. The downside: they have to read the price list and decide.

A named session suits you when you know. Your mother-in-law mentions tired feet; you give the 60 minute herbal foot soak. The recipient sees straight away what they have, how long it is and who does it. If you think they might change their mind, an amount is still more flexible.

A tip from the front desk: for older relatives or people who have never been to a spa, a named session is usually easier. They do not have to choose between sixteen lines of prices, and they do not have to read English or Vietnamese menus.

A card for two

For a couple, there are two ways:

• A card for the For Two package (Gói Hai Người): each person has a 90 minute body massage and a 45 minute herbal hair wash in the double room, with two therapists. 135 minutes, 2,290,000 VND for two.
• A 3,000,000 VND card: covers the For Two package and leaves 710,000 VND for one of them to come back for another session.

Bookings for two always wait for the front desk to confirm, since the double room needs two therapists free at once. Recipients should book a few days ahead, especially at weekends.

Lâm Khánh Duy and Phan Ái Vy booked the For Two package for a Saturday, 15:00 to 17:15, in the double room, for their second anniversary. The 30% deposit was 687,000 VND and came off the bill. “The deposit came off the bill, so I didn’t have to work anything out.”

Sending the card: email, Zalo or paper

You pick one when you order:

• Email: a digital card with a code.
• Zalo: the same card through Zalo, Vietnam’s main messaging app, to the recipient’s number or yours.
• Paper: collected at the spa, for when you want to hand it over in person.

Email and Zalo go out within one opening hour of the transfer arriving. Opening hours are 10:00 to 21:30, so a transfer at 21:00 leaves 30 minutes that evening and the card arrives by 10:30 the next morning at the latest.

Company orders of 5 cards or more get one invoice. Five 500,000 VND cards for five staff come to 2,500,000 VND on one invoice, with each person receiving their own card by email or Zalo. Give the company name, tax code and address when ordering.

If the recipient will come back several times, a membership card may fit better: the Five Counts (Thẻ Năm Nhịp) and Ten Counts (Thẻ Mười Nhịp) cards can be passed on to family or friends. How to work out which one pays is in a card for 5 visits or 10.

Occasions, and where the expiry lands

A Lụa Spa gift card runs 6 months from the day you buy it, not from the day it is opened. Work out the end date before buying:

• Bought on 20 October 2026 (Vietnamese Women’s Day): valid until 20 April 2027.
• Bought on 28 December 2026, before New Year: valid until 28 June 2027.
• Bought on 8 March 2027 (International Women’s Day, a gift day here): valid until 8 September 2027.

The spa is closed from the last day of the lunar year to the third day of Tết 2027. If you give a card before Tết, the recipient has a few days fewer to book. If the end date is close and they have not booked, they can ask the front desk before it expires for the one 30 day extension.

Buying very early gains nothing. If the occasion is more than a month away, wait and buy closer to the day so the recipient gets the full 6 months.

Three short messages

The message box takes up to 200 characters. These say what the person gets, and make no promise about health or skin.

Here is a herbal hair wash at Lụa Spa for you. Any day within six months; I can book it for you if you like.

An afternoon for the two of us. The card lasts six months, so let’s pick a day together.

Thank you for a year of working together. This card is for any session at Lụa Spa, within six months.

You might add the expiry date to the message. It is the detail recipients forget most.

How we do it at Lụa Spa

You fill in the form on the gift card page: amount or session, recipient’s name, message, how to send it. The order is pending; the front desk calls or messages on Zalo to confirm and sends transfer details. The site takes no card payments. Once the money arrives, the card goes out within one opening hour.

The recipient books like anyone else and puts the code in the note box. The front desk checks it when confirming. Changes and cancellations follow the usual rule: free until 12 hours before. What happens with late cancellations and late arrival is in spa cancellation and late arrival.

Ngô Quốc Bảo bought a 1,000,000 VND card for his mother, Mrs Lệ, who is 68. It reached her on Zalo within the hour. She does not like lying down for long, so she chose the 60 minute herbal hair wash with shoulders (480,000 VND) and the 60 minute herbal foot soak (490,000 VND). Total 970,000 VND, with 30,000 VND left on the card. Chi does both, so she did not have to change therapist. “My mother doesn’t like lying down for long. An hour of hair wash and an hour of foot soak is just right.”

An illustrative story for a demo site; figures are made up.

Full terms, including extensions, balances and company invoices, are on the card and gift terms page.

Next steps

• See the amounts and order on the gift card page.
• Not sure what suits them: the treatment finder has “a gift for someone” as an answer to the second question, and suggests an amount from the time they have.
• If they will come regularly: see memberships.

We are at 63 Hoàng Văn Thái, Tân Mỹ Ward (old District 7), open 10:00 to 21:30 every day. Phone 0963 929 241.