Air ticket prices in early summer ‘cool down’

Surveyed on the afternoon of May 29, airfare prices from Hanoi to famous beach destinations such as Da Nang, Nha Trang or Phu Quoc in June were at the average of the most recent 12 months, according to Google data. This data is collected and compared with similar flights, i.e. same season, flight time, same origin and destination, ticket class and airline.

For the Hanoi to Da Nang route, the cheapest round-trip ticket price found for the weekend (June 14-17) is about 2.4 million VND, flying at night. This price is 900,000 VND lower than in early June and 700,000 VND lower than a month earlier. Better flight hours, one-way night flight, price from 3.7 million VND. A good flight time costs about 5 million VND.

Best Price’s box office data shows that the price of 2.4 million VND for a night flight is a reasonable price. The price during good times is about 5 million VND, which is still high compared to the average price of this route. During the weekend of June last year, Best Price recorded selling some round-trip tickets for about more than 3 million VND (departure at 11:40 a.m., return at 3:00 p.m.). However, a Best Price representative said this comparison is only relative because the ticket price depends on the time of booking.

The route from Hanoi to Nha Trang in the same period has the cheapest price of about 3.1 million VND round trip, flying at night. The cheapest price on this route is 1.1 million VND lower than in early June and the same period last month. Normal flight hours cost more than 4 million VND. Last year, Best Price’s ticket office recorded selling tickets for the Hanoi – Nha Trang route (departure at 3:30 p.m., return at 12:40 p.m.) on the weekend of June, priced at more than 3.1 million VND.

Meanwhile, the Hanoi to Phu Quoc route in June has almost no late flights, the lowest round-trip price found in the period June 14-17 is about 3.7 million VND, flying from afternoon to morning. According to Google data, this price is unchanged from a similar trip two months ago but is about 400,000 VND cheaper than going a week earlier. With good flight times, the ticket price is about 4.7 million VND round trip.

Round-trip flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Da Nang on weekends in June cost from 3.5 million VND at normal times. If you fly at night, at night, the cheapest ticket price you can find is about 2.5 million VND. Similar trips with the same route, same starting point, cost between 3.4-5 million VND. Best Price representative commented that this price is at a normal level.

The route from Ho Chi Minh City to Phu Quoc, if flying at night, costs about 2 million VND round trip. Good flight times cost over 3 million VND. The cheapest ticket price for this route in the past two months is 2.5-2.9 million VND.

Box office data from Viet Tourism Media Joint Stock Company shows that airlines are offering good prices during the summer. For the Ho Chi Minh City – Hanoi route, early morning and late evening flights are reduced by about 30% compared to noon and afternoon flights.

On the afternoon of May 28, this unit’s ticket office found a price of about 1.9 million VND for the Ho Chi Minh City – Hanoi route on June 5, flying at 10 p.m. Normally, customers who want to buy at this price must book 2-3 months in advance. On the other hand, airlines also offer incentives for the summer such as 10% discount for groups of four passengers, 0 VND tickets, 9,000 VND tickets.

According to Mr. Pham Anh Vu, Marketing Director of Viet Tourism Media Joint Stock Company, air ticket prices for domestic routes have cooled because airlines have launched many low-cost ranges. However, most tickets have late flight times, early in the week, so they only target a group of customers who are proactive in their timing, not covering the market widely.

Mr. Vu said the main group of tourists during the summer are large, multi-generational families. Late flight times affect health, making it difficult to attract this group. For example, a standard tour from Ho Chi Minh City to Con Dao usually lasts three days. If you choose to buy cheap tickets, you will have to extend your trip to four days, incurring additional hotel costs. In addition, visitors also had less time to play on the first day due to a late flight, so arriving at Con Dao only had time to check into the hotel and rest. Booking flight tickets late causes scheduling and other costs to arise, sometimes inconvenient for passengers.

Meanwhile, Mr. Hoang Minh, representative of a travel agency in Hanoi, commented that night flights are not attractive enough to the majority. Mr. Minh is concerned that domestic tourists still have the mentality of choosing to travel abroad more.

Due to the trend of domestic tourists booking travel services close to the date, most travel companies predict that the number of domestic tour and retail service bookings will increase from the beginning of June. Vietnamese Tourism recorded an increase of about 20% in demand in about two weeks ago with trips from Ho Chi Minh City to the North, Da Nang or Hue; from Hanoi to Nha Trang, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang.

“The positive point is that the appearance of cheap air tickets partly relieves the general psychology of previously high air ticket prices,” Mr. Vu said, while commenting that domestic tourism still faces competition from tours. abroad, especially the road from China to Kunming – Dali – Lijiang or new tourist routes to Xinjiang and Xi’an.