Cost 3 times more because of booking flight tickets and hotel rooms close to April 30

High travel and accommodation costs are issues that many people worry about when deciding to travel late. Illustration photo: Phuong Lam.

Half a month before the April 30-May 1 holiday, Hoang Anh’s company (26 years old, District 8, Ho Chi Minh City) officially announced the 5-day holiday schedule. Before that, Hoang Anh’s friends had to wait for information from her to “finalize” the travel destination.

“If I only have two days off, the whole group plans to choose a domestic destination like Da Nang or Hue. If the vacation is up to five days, we plan to go to Thailand,” said the 26-year-old office worker.

However, the group of friends' travel plans did not go smoothly because of the high cost of booking air tickets and hotel rooms close to the date. Near the holiday, the round-trip airfare from Ho Chi Minh City to Bangkok reached 10 million VND, excluding taxes and fees, 3 times higher than usual.

Furthermore, because they booked hotel rooms close to the departure date, Hoang Anh's group of friends could not find any available rooms in the central area of ​​Bangkok. If they decided to go on the trip, she and her friends would have to accept staying far from the entertainment venues at the same price as in the center.

Staff struggled to arrange schedules, forced to plan trips close to the date because the company announced the holiday schedule late.

On April 12, the Prime Minister officially approved a 5-day holiday schedule for the April 30-May 1 holiday. After this announcement, many businesses officially announced the holiday schedule to their employees.

Hoang Anh is one of many employees who are in the same situation of spending a lot of money because of booking flights, hotels, and tours late. When the cost of traveling increases, some people "bite the bullet" and take out their wallets, while many people sadly cancel their trips.

Expensive

Although employees continuously asked to arrange personal schedules, company leader My Linh (24 years old, Go Vap district, Ho Chi Minh City) only officially announced the holiday schedule after the State made a decision.

Before My Linh received the notice from the company, her family had planned a trip to Nha Trang (Khanh Hoa) on the occasion of April 30 - May 1.

If she has 2 days off, Linh will enjoy this time in Ho Chi Minh City, taking the opportunity to meet friends. If the vacation lasts up to 5 days, she plans to join a family vacation.

To ensure that family members do not have to wait, My Linh advised her parents and sister to book flights and hotel rooms in advance. When she received a 5-day vacation schedule from the company, she visited the airline websites to book flights.

Booking tickets 2 weeks later than her family, My Linh was surprised when her ticket price was twice as high as the other members. Her parents and sister only spent 3 million VND/person for a round-trip ticket from Ho Chi Minh City to Nha Trang.

My Linh booked tickets at twice the price of other family members.

According to the female office worker, this is the cheapest ticket price, applied to flights at bad times. Unable to board the plane at a good time with her family, My Linh also has to pay for the transportation from the airport to the hotel, and has no chance to share the fare with other members.

“I spent a lot of money because I booked my ticket half a month late. However, I was lucky that I didn’t have to look for accommodation right at the time, I just had to pay an extra fee to share a room with my sister,” Linh said.

Despite receiving a 5-day holiday schedule from the beginning of April, event organizer Hoang Tran (27 years old, Hoang Mai district, Hanoi) still could not "finalize" a trip to Mang Den (Kon Tum) with 2 close friends.

The company’s holiday schedule applies to all employees. However, the urgent event that Hoang is in charge of has no official date yet, and will likely take place on April 30-May 1.

While Hoang's friends had already booked flights and accommodations since early April, he was still anxiously watching ticket prices increase as he accessed the travel app every day.

“I am especially excited about this trip and hope customers will decide on the date soon. Not only are the airfares going up in price, but they are also likely to sell out,” Hoang Tran shared.

Go or stay?

Despite having to pay twice the travel expenses of her parents and sister, My Linh was still determined to press the button to book a ticket to Nha Trang, witnessing her bank account being deducted more than 6 million VND.

“My sister lives and works in Australia and rarely visits her hometown. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for my family to reunite and travel together,” My Linh explained.

To save on travel expenses, Linh asked her friend to take her to Tan Son Nhat airport to save on taxi fare, every penny saved is a penny saved.

She also minimized the amount of luggage she brought on the plane to avoid paying extra baggage fees. My Linh planned to ask her sister to bring some of her belongings in advance to ensure her suitcase was as light as possible.

Some people decide to pay high prices for flight tickets because they book in a hurry. Illustration: Phuong Lam.

Unlike My Linh, Hoang Anh and her friends decided to cancel their trip to Thailand because the cost of travel and accommodation was too high. She originally planned to spend more than 10 million VND on the trip. However, this amount is now only enough to buy round-trip airfare.

“I felt guilty when the group had to cancel their outing plans because I got the day off late, but there was no other way,” Hoang Anh confided.

Still wanting to create beautiful memories with friends during the holidays, Hoang Anh suggested that his group change their destination to Da Lat (Lam Dong).

When the group agreed, she proactively contacted an acquaintance who runs a homestay business in this city to book a room, ensuring that her friends would have an ideal place to stay. To make up for her mistake, Hoang Anh also booked sleeper bus tickets from Ho Chi Minh City to Da Lat for her friends.

“The reason we chose this location is because of the close distance and the lack of need to travel by plane. Currently, domestic and international airfares have increased dramatically, making it impossible to plan a long-distance trip on a budget,” Hoang Anh shared with

HA (according to Zing)

Source: https://baohaiduong.vn/ton-gap-3-vi-dat-ve-may-bay-phong-khach-san-sat-dip-30-4-379355.html