Variety of ticket prices

Before the news of a 5-day holiday during the 30.4 - 1.5 holiday, Ms. Hoang Anh (Hanoi) was very happy because the whole family would have a long vacation together. To make the trip perfect, she went to the airlines' websites to find flight tickets for the Hanoi - Nha Trang route.

“I found the ticket prices very reasonable, with many different flight times, so I chose the best ticket for my whole family. Compared to normal times, the ticket prices are higher, but they are within my family’s ability to pay,” said Ms. Hoang Anh.

According to the survey, flights with high booking rates such as Hanoi - Hue have the lowest ticket price of 1.3 million VND (departing on April 28), Hanoi - Da Nang has the lowest ticket price of 1.6 million VND (departing on April 27), Ho Chi Minh City - Phu Quoc has the lowest ticket price of 1.5 million VND (April 29)...

At the end of the holiday or the days right after the peak season, airfares are also “softer”. The Phu Quoc - Ho Chi Minh City and Cam Ranh - Ho Chi Minh City routes are currently priced at around 1.4 million VND (May 2), the Quy Nhon - Hanoi route after the holiday has the lowest price of 1.5 million VND (May 3)…

If you are looking for a flight now, you can consider moving your travel dates a little bit by going earlier or later to get the best price. Because peak days are often the beginning of the holiday season.

1-2 days before and after, ticket prices are lower, so if you can choose a flexible schedule, passengers can depart earlier or later than peak days.

In addition, early morning flights (flights from 5am to 7am) or late flights (after 9pm) are also smart choices to both save costs and avoid crowded conditions during peak times from around 9am onwards.

According to a ticket agent, high fares only appear in business class tickets for passengers who want to experience full service. This fare includes priority service from the ground until boarding, seat amenities, meals, drinks, personal care amenities, etc.

Plane or train?

With concerns about high airfares, many people tend to switch to trains to save money. In reality, this is not necessarily the case.

Hearing from friends that airfares will increase during the holiday, Mr. Nguyen Duc Hung (HCMC) intends to travel to Da Nang by train. Looking for ticket price information, he found that a round-trip train ticket from HCMC to Da Nang costs about 2.5 - 3 million VND, with a travel time of 18 hours.

Turning to check the airfare, Mr. Hung saw that he only had to pay about 600,000 - 800,000 VND more to buy a ticket for this route, but the flight time was only 1 hour and 30 minutes, instead of nearly a day of tiring train travel.

Mr. Hung shared: “I think taking the train is only suitable for short trips. Even though the holiday is 5 days long, if the train travel time is long and the ticket price is not much cheaper, it will not be a suitable choice. Taking a plane is fast, allowing me to have more time to rest and explore the destination better.”

According to Mr. Hung, it is understandable that the prices of all services during the holidays are higher than usual. Airplanes are a safe, fast, convenient, and comfortable means of transportation for passengers, so ticket prices will be different from train and bus fares.

The ticket price is just a small expense of the trip.

Many passengers often wonder when they see that airfares during the holidays are higher than during off-peak periods, but they don't realize that the ticket price is only a very small part of the total cost of the trip.

For each trip, a family will usually have to stay at the destination for at least 2 nights. That means the cost of hotel accommodation, food, entertainment, shopping, etc. is not low. Some families choose to stay at luxury resorts, where the cost of a night's stay can be up to tens of millions of dong.

Thus, the other expenses of the trip are certainly much higher than the airfare.

And no matter how the airfares are adjusted during the holidays, airlines cannot sell them at prices that exceed the ceiling price. In order for all passengers to be able to buy the best price, suitable to their ability to pay, airlines always build many different ticket ranges and open them for sale early for passengers to choose from.

However, the number of tickets purchased during the holidays always increases, even "sold out" in some time frames, on some flights. Therefore, to own cheap air tickets, passengers should book early, instead of close to the flight date. This also helps airlines assess demand, proactively plan operations to best serve passengers.