Tet flight tickets: Many flights from Ho Chi Minh City are fully booked, ticket prices eat up all Tet bonuses

(Dan Tri) - Although Vietnamese airlines have added 522 more flights and increased the number of seats on domestic routes by 133,000, many routes are still sold out during the Lunar New Year.

Ticket price "blew away" almost all Tet bonus

On the evening of January 14, after many hours of checking airfares for domestic routes, Mr. Binh Minh (from Nam Dinh, currently living and working in Go Vap district, Ho Chi Minh City) could not help but be bewildered when he saw that airfares for the Ho Chi Minh City - Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City - Hai Phong routes had skyrocketed.

"I plan to return on January 25, booked a Vietnam Airlines ticket from Ho Chi Minh City to Hai Phong on a night flight, priced at 7.6 million VND/way. The return date will not cool down because that is the time when workers return to Ho Chi Minh City. For now, I will book a one-way ticket in advance, and then we will consider it later," said Mr. Minh.

Late night flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Hai Phong costs 7.6 million VND/way including tax and fees (Photo: Character provided).

Talking to Dan Tri reporter, the 28-year-old guest said that every Lunar New Year, buying plane tickets always gives him the biggest headache.

This year, Mr. Minh received a Tet bonus of more than 20 million VND, and the cost of the round-trip airfare alone is expected to cost about 70%. The guest said that he is not married yet, so everything is under control for now. However, airfare prices continue to skyrocket every year, making workers far from home like Mr. Minh even more worried.

"If next year I have a wife and children, my whole family will have to celebrate Tet far from home, and it will be difficult to afford the plane tickets," he confided.

Like Mr. Minh, the family of Ms. Dinh Thi Luyen (29 years old, from Thanh Hoa) also had a headache deciding whether to stay or return home to celebrate Tet.

The couple currently lives and works in Ho Chi Minh City. Knowing that airfares during Tet are always high, she tried to book early but found that the prices were not cheaper. "Many people think that booking early will be cheaper, but in reality, demand is still high so ticket prices have not cooled down," she said.

Flight tickets for the Ho Chi Minh City - Thanh Hoa route on January 25 were sold out in all classes from economy to business (Photo: Screenshot).

When asked why she did not choose an earlier return date, Ms. Luyen said she had been monitoring ticket prices for a month, and some flights were a few hundred thousand cheaper, but they could not quit their jobs early. Since January 10, ticket prices have been steadily increasing until now.

Calculating that the round-trip airfare for the couple would "blow away" their Tet bonus, Ms. Luyen considered switching to taking the train to save money.

However, this year Lunar New Year does not have the 30th of Tet and taking the train will take more than a day and a half and then have to continue taking a bus from Hanoi to Thanh Hoa, both are still considering.

Similarly, many other workers far from home in Ho Chi Minh City said that this year, due to economic impacts, their bonuses are not the same as previous years. To cover their expenses, many families have agreed to stay in the city.

Domestic tourism is difficult to attract visitors

The Lunar New Year holiday will last for 9 days, from January 25 to February 2 (from December 26 to January 5). Therefore, at the present time, domestic flight tickets on all routes are also getting hotter by the hour.

According to a survey by Dan Tri reporters, flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi, Hai Phong, Da Nang, and Vinh on January 25 were sold out during the day and there were only a few early or late night flights left with prices starting at 5 million VND/way.

However, when booking tickets during the days before Tet, Vietnam Airlines sold out all economy class tickets and only had business class tickets left despite the addition of more aircraft. On the other hand, many peak-season flights also sold out early and only had business class tickets left.

Airlines have just added 133,000 seats on domestic routes but have not yet met the huge travel demand of people during Tet (Illustration: Manh Quan).

The latest figures from the Civil Aviation Authority show that as of January 10, airlines such as Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet Air and Bamboo Airways have added 522 flights, equivalent to 133,000 seats.

However, flights from Ho Chi Minh City to destinations in the North, Central and Central Highlands are still sold out. This shows the great pressure on the aviation industry during peak season.

Specifically, flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Hue, Tuy Hoa, Quy Nhon, Quang Binh, Vinh are all sold out. Flights from Ho Chi Minh City to major cities such as Hanoi, Da Nang and vice versa from January 25 to February 2 have a booking rate of over 90%.

The routes that have been sold out include Hanoi to Buon Ma Thuot (100% occupancy rate); Ho Chi Minh City to Hue, Pleiku, Tuy Hoa, Quy Nhon, Buon Ma Thuot, Quang Binh, Thanh Hoa, Vinh, Chu Lai, Quy Nhon, Nha Trang, Hue (100% occupancy rate).

With the price of airline tickets increasing, it is difficult for buyers to own them if they do not close early. Experts say that this not only affects costs, but also impacts domestic tourism during the Lunar New Year.

Mr. Phung Quang Thang, Vice President of the Vietnam Tourism Association, commented that airfare usually accounts for about 30-40% of the tour price, but during the Lunar New Year it can be up to 55%.

This forces travel agencies to increase domestic tour prices by 10% to 20%. This could reduce the attractiveness of the domestic market to Vietnamese tourists.

In fact, the price of domestic tours during the Lunar New Year holiday this year has caused consumers to switch to foreign tours such as China (road travel costs from 3.5 million VND/person) or Thailand (from 12.9 million VND/person), Taiwan, China (from 14.9 million VND/person)...

A representative of Vietluxtour said that although the market situation varies each year, the price of Tet tours remains at an increase of 5% to 15% compared to normal prices.

Previously, according to the explanation from the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, Lunar New Year is the time when people have the highest travel demand of the year, forcing airlines to operate at full capacity.

However, airlines usually only have one way ticket sold out, the other way has to operate empty flights (no passengers). Therefore, airlines have set the above price to balance and compensate for operating costs.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/du-lich/ve-may-bay-tet-nhieu-chang-tu-tphcm-het-cho-tien-ve-ngon-sach-thuong-tet-20250114212348060.htm