Customers are surprised that airfare prices have cooled despite the summer travel peak

At the end of April, Ms. Hoai Thuong (Hanoi) planned to buy a plane ticket to travel to old Phu Yen (now Dak Lak) in May but hesitated because of the high price. A family of three, including two adults and one child, costs about 10 million VND for a round-trip ticket from Hanoi to Tuy Hoa. However, on June 22, when she checked again, the price for the same trip was only over 8.7 million VND, so she decided to book immediately.

“Every year ticket prices usually increase during the summer peak. I didn’t expect to get a good price at this time,” Ms. Thuong said.

On June 10, Mr. Van Hung (Hanoi) bought a round-trip ticket to Da Nang at the end of the month for 4 million VND. By June 22, the equivalent hourly flight ticket price has decreased to about 3.6 million VND.

A survey on the morning of June 22 showed that the Hanoi – Da Nang route in early July has the cheapest round-trip ticket price of about 2.7 million VND; Convenient flight time frames around 3.5 million VND. In early April, when ticket prices peaked, convenient flight times for this route cost from 4 million VND or more. For the Hanoi – Nha Trang route in early July, the cheapest round-trip ticket is about 3.8 million VND, at prime time it is about 5.2 million VND, a significant decrease compared to 5.8 million VND at peak holiday time.

Information from airlines shows that Jet A1 fuel prices have decreased significantly compared to the most tense period of the Middle East conflict. If there was a time when it exceeded 240 USD per barrel, it is now fluctuating around 140 USD. However, this level is still significantly higher than the same period last year, when the price was only about 80 USD per barrel. Cooling fuel costs have created conditions for companies to expand low price ranges and deploy additional stimulus programs in the summer.

From the perspective of a travel agency, Mr. Pham Anh Vu, Deputy General Director of Viet Tourism Media Company, said that the company’s business data shows that domestic ticket prices in early June are down 10-20% compared to a month ago. Some routes are lower than the same period last year, up to 700,000 VND per route, especially in the early morning or late evening flight time frames.

Sharing the same opinion, Ms. Nguyen Nguyet Van Khanh, Director of Vietravel Marketing Department, assessed that the appearance of many good prices right from the beginning of the summer is a positive development for consumers. Airlines are flexing ticket prices on midweek days to optimize seat utilization.

Previously, the fact that domestic air ticket prices remained at a ceiling level for a long time had a direct impact on tourist behavior. Mr. Bui Thanh Tu, Marketing Director of Best Price, said that since the beginning of the year, family and group guests have considered more carefully.

This tourist flow tends to move to destinations that can be reached by road such as Ha Long, Ninh Binh, Sa Pa (North) or Vung Tau, Phan Thiet (South). A large number also turned to short-term foreign tours in Southeast Asia and China.

However, experts note that the current decrease is mainly compared to the “peak” price a few months ago. Overall, summer ticket prices in 2026 are still about 10% higher than the same period last year.

In the short term, the price drop brings close benefits to individual customers booking services themselves, but has little impact on the price of domestic package tours because travel companies have finalized the service and booked a series of tickets 3-6 months ago.

According to Ms. Khanh, although it does not affect domestic tour prices much, the positive developments in ticket prices give businesses more room to exploit stimulus programs such as increasing incentives for customers who book early, upgrading tour services or giving more experiences and gifts to customers.

The representative of Vietnam Tourism also advised that if you have a summer travel plan, you should register for a tour or book a plane ticket early when you see a suitable price, instead of waiting for it to “be even cheaper”.

“This is a good opportunity to book summer travel tickets, but no one knows how long this price policy will last,” Mr. Vu said.