Ticket prices are expensive
As a native of Thanh Yen commune, Thanh Chuong district, living in Ho Chi Minh City for more than 10 years, every year, Phan Van Kien's family takes the opportunity to return home to celebrate Tet. This year, finding tickets is more difficult, both husband and wife go to the airline's online ticket sales sites every day to buy tickets, although they determined that it would be very difficult to get tickets to return home during the 25th - 30th days of Tet.
Mr. Kien said: If we buy a round-trip ticket to go home for Tet, it will cost both of us 15 million VND, not to mention other expenses such as transportation, gifts for relatives, neighbors, etc. In difficult economic conditions like this year, going home for Tet with high costs makes me have to consider.
Like Kien's family, Nguyen Thi Mui in Dien Nguyen commune, Dien Chau district is having a "headache" calculating how to return home during Tet with the most economical cost. Mui said: The price of a regular ticket on a normal day is from 1 - 1.5 million VND from Ho Chi Minh City to Vinh City, but on the days before Tet, it increases to 3 - 4 million VND, and if you buy a business class ticket, you will lose a month's salary. Now the only way is to return before December 20 to get a cheap ticket, but it is difficult because you still have to go to work at that time.
This year, the Tet holiday is from February 8 to February 14, 2024, that is, from December 29 to January 5 of the lunar calendar. According to the reporter's records, since the time airlines opened ticket sales for Tet, economy class tickets were always "sold out" during the period from the 25th to the 30th of Tet, only mid-class and business class tickets remained, but the high ticket prices were difficult to reach a large number of customers.
Specifically, according to VietJet Air's online ticket sales page, on February 4, 2024 - December 25, there were 10 flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Vinh City, of which all daytime flights were sold out, the remaining flights at night had few tickets, the lowest economy class ticket price increased to 3.5 million VND/way, while on normal days it only fluctuated around 1.5 million VND/way.
For Vietnam Airlines, on February 4, 2024 (December 25), there were 9 flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Vinh, of which 7/9 flights were sold out of all economy tickets, 2 flights had economy tickets but only had "Flexible Economy" tickets with higher costs, 3 types of tickets "Super Economy Saver", "Economy Saver" and "Standard Economy" were all sold out. Ticket prices also ranged from 3.5 million VND/way. For business class, ticket prices above 6 million VND/way are still available, however, it is very difficult for people to access this level.
Not only the Ho Chi Minh City - Vinh flight but also other flights such as Vinh - Hanoi, Vinh - Da Nang, Vinh - Buon Ma Thuot... on days close to Tet, the prices all increase 2 - 3 times compared to normal days. Even though people accept the high prices, it is not easy to "hunt" for tickets these days.
According to statistics, at Vinh International Airport, on average there are about 50 flights taking off and landing every day, and during Tet, this number will increase to about 100 flights taking off and landing; expected to serve over 10,000 passengers. In response to the sudden increase in passengers, the airport has also made plans to ensure flight safety, security and order for people returning home for Tet.
Redirect to other media
This year, the general economic situation is difficult, people are tightening their spending, so spending a month's salary to buy a ticket to go home for Tet makes many people have to consider carefully. If they continue to choose to fly home for Tet, they must finish their work to return before December 20 to hope to get a cheap economy ticket.
Faced with this situation, many people have turned to other means of transport, although the travel time is longer, however, the top priority is to save costs after a year of difficult business. According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Mui's calculation, if traveling by train from Saigon station to Cho Sy station (Dien Chau), it will save half the cost, however, it will take a day and a half to get home. Currently, Ms. Mui is considering arranging her work to return home by train.
Mr. Cao Ngoc Tuan - Head of Vinh Railway Transport Station said: People's travel demand during Tet always increases, so ticket shortages often occur. Therefore, Vietnam Railways has a plan to add more trains to serve people during Tet. If there are 4 pairs of trains stopping at Vinh station on normal days, it is expected that more pairs of trains will be added in the near future. There are many ticket classes and prices, hard seats will be the cheapest, followed by soft seats with air conditioning and beds, depending on the passenger's finances. However, people also need to proactively book tickets early to get the most suitable train and seat class.
For passenger transport by road, bus companies have also started selling Tet tickets for people who want to book early. People can buy tickets directly at the store or contact the bus company's phone number or ticket sales page for reference. It is expected that this will be the form of transportation chosen by many people this year because of the large number of buses, much lower prices than planes and easier ticket booking.
Through discussion, the representative of Bac Vinh Bus Station said that currently, the station has about 200 vehicles registered to transport passengers in and out of the province, basically meeting the needs of passengers. Due to the high demand for travel during Tet, the bus station has also planned and worked with the bus companies to come up with a plan to ensure the safety of passengers during the upcoming Tet holiday.
Source
![[Photo] Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chairs Government Conference with localities on economic growth](https://vstatic.vietnam.vn/vietnam/resource/IMAGE/2025/2/21/f34583484f2643a2a2b72168a0d64baa)
Comment (0)