All the 'hot' stages are sold out

One week to go until the April 30-May 1 holiday, statistics on bookings from the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (Ministry of Transport) on flights from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to famous tourist destinations show that on the first day of the holiday (April 27) and the last day of the holiday (May 1), the booking rate on flights from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to localities mostly reached over 75%.

Some routes have reached 90% to 100% booking rate, such as from Hanoi to Hue, Quy Nhon, Quang Binh, Nha Trang, Tuy Hoa, Dien Bien; from Ho Chi Minh City to Da Lat, Tuy Hoa, Phu Quoc, Dien Bien,...

Notably, according to a survey by reporters, flights from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to Tuy Hoa (Phu Yen) are sold out for both outbound and return flights.

The only tickets left for the Phu Quoc route from Hanoi are Vietjet tickets, priced at up to 8.5 million VND/round trip ticket (including taxes and fees), there is only one return flight left; if you go from Ho Chi Minh City, there are no more flights.

For flights from both ends of the city to Dong Hoi (Quang Binh) from Ho Chi Minh City, there are still many tickets left, but from Hanoi they are all sold out. To Quy Nhon, there are no more flights from Hanoi, but from Ho Chi Minh City there are still plenty of tickets, prices range from 4.5-4.7 million VND/round trip ticket.

Notably, for the flight to the hot spot Dien Bien - due to the National Tourism Year and the 70th anniversary of Dien Bien Phu victory, the flight tickets from Hanoi are sold out, and from Ho Chi Minh City there is only one flight left for both the outbound and return flights (April 27 - May 1) even though Vietnam Airlines and Vietjet have prioritized increasing the capacity on this route twice.

These are the routes with high booking rates throughout the entire 4/30-5/1 holiday period and are expected to continue to be tense in the following days.

In the opposite direction, on flights from localities to Hanoi/Ho Chi Minh City, the booking rate at the beginning of the holiday period was only average, fluctuating at 50%; some routes with higher rates were Hai Phong - Ho Chi Minh City, Dien Bien - Ho Chi Minh City, Dien Bien - Hanoi, Da Lat - Hanoi,...

Thereby, the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam commented that the booking rate shows that the "head-to-head" movement of air transport during peak holiday periods is clearly formed.

Delay departure 1-2 days, still have many opportunities to fly

Struggling to find a flight ticket for the April 30 holiday, which means departure on April 27 and return on May 1, Ms. Nguyen Thu Thuy in Cau Giay (Hanoi) tried checking the airline booking system for departure on April 28-29 and return on May 1-2, which means delaying it by 1-2 days. She was surprised because there were still flight tickets available, and the price was relatively reasonable compared to traveling on the exact date.

For example, if booking tickets to Phu Quoc at this time, her family (4 people) will spend about 25 million VND, instead of 34 million VND if going during the holiday. "I immediately discussed with my husband, if we can book a room, we can still arrange to go, if we come back late, my husband and I can take a day off and my children can take a day off from school, so we can have a trip and save money," Ms. Thuy said.

According to the ticketing systems of domestic airlines, on April 26 and April 28, the booking rate tended to increase, one day before and one day after the first holiday.

However, the mid-holiday day of April 29th has not seen much increase or any significant fluctuations in booking rates, mostly fluctuating between 30-50%. Passengers still have many options for air travel at reasonable prices on this day.

Therefore, by simply delaying the departure time by 1-2 days, customers still have the opportunity to buy air tickets, even for stressful routes.

For example, if you leave on April 28 and return on May 2 (1 day later than the main holiday), there are still air tickets from Hanoi to Tuy Hoa, priced at over 6 million VND; 2 days later, the price is only 5 million VND. From Ho Chi Minh City to Tuy Hoa, there are still tickets for departure on April 29 and return on May 2, priced at around 3.4 million VND.

Similarly, for the Phu Quoc route on April 28, there are still many seats left. From Hanoi, the price is about 6.4 million VND (2 million VND less than the departure on April 27), and from Ho Chi Minh City, it is only from 2.8 million VND/round trip.

Thus, if you can arrange your work and time, traveling by air during the April 30-May 1 holiday can still be done if you delay your departure by 1-2 days.

Tourism struggles because of 'hot' airfares, 30/4 holiday schedule 'finalized' late. Airfares for the 30/4-1/5 holiday are as tight as a bowstring because they are both record high and scarce, plus the 5-day holiday is finalized later than every year, causing travel companies to struggle.