The Great Travel Rush: Will Train Tickets Be Any Different?

Air tickets are scarce and expensive

According to a survey by VTC News on the morning of December 15, round-trip economy class tickets on many domestic and international routes during the Tết holiday (from January 24, 2025, to February 3, 2025) have increased from over VND 1 million to over VND 2 million per ticket compared to normal days, an increase of about VND 3 million compared to the same period last year, and an increase of a few hundred thousand to a few million VND compared to the booking price at the end of November.

Specifically, for the Ho Chi Minh City – Hanoi route (including taxes and fees), the round-trip ticket price of Vietjet Air is VND 6.476 million, an increase of VND 200,000 compared to the booking price at the end of November and an increase of VND 2.4 million compared to the current price; Vietnam Airlines’ price is over VND 7.722 million per ticket, an increase of VND 200,000 compared to the booking price at the end of November and an increase of more than VND 2.7 million compared to the current price; Vietravel Airlines’ price is VND 7.2 million per ticket, an increase of VND 200,000 compared to the booking price at the end of November and an increase of VND 2.8 million compared to the current price; Bamboo Airways’ price is VND 7.706 million per ticket, an increase of VND 300,000 compared to the booking price at the end of November and an increase of more than VND 2.8 million compared to the current price.

For the Ho Chi Minh City – Hai Phong route (round-trip tickets including taxes and fees), Vietjet Air’s ticket price is VND 7.436 million, Vietnam Airlines’ is VND 9.49 million, and Bamboo Airways’ information is not found. The prices of these airlines have increased by more than VND 3 million compared to the current flight time, an increase of about VND 2 million per ticket compared to the same period last year, and an increase of VND 300,000 – VND 1.2 million compared to the Tết booking price at the end of November.

Other routes such as Ho Chi Minh City – Thanh Hoa, at the time of the survey (December 15), the round-trip Tết booking price of Vietnam Airlines is VND 12.2 million, double the current flight time and an increase of more than VND 4 million compared to the Tết price in 2023.

For the Ho Chi Minh City – Nghe An route during Tết, only Vietnam Airlines tickets are available, with a round-trip economy class price of VND 9.9 million, an increase of VND 3.6 million compared to the Tết booking price at the end of November. Vietjet Air and Pacific only have tickets for the Vinh – Ho Chi Minh City route after Tết.

According to the Civil Aviation Authority, some domestic routes during Tết have reached a booking rate of 100% for flights from Ho Chi Minh City to the North and Central regions, while the opposite direction during the Tết period is low, even below 10%.

Specifically, in the pre-holiday period (from January 21 to January 28, 2025), the booking rate on flights from Ho Chi Minh City to provinces and cities has mostly reached over 50%.

Some routes have a high booking rate (90%-100%) on days from January 23 to January 26, 2025, such as Ho Chi Minh City to Hue, Pleiku, Tuy Hoa, Quy Nhon, Quang Binh, and Thanh Hoa.

On routes from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi and Da Nang, ticket supply is still abundant, with a booking rate ranging from 20% to 50%; for example, the Ho Chi Minh City – Hanoi route on January 25, 2025 (the 26th of the lunar month), the day with the highest booking rate during this period, is only 62%.

In the opposite direction, from provinces and cities to Ho Chi Minh City, the booking rate on flights is mostly at the level of 15-30%.

In the post-holiday period (from February 1 to February 7, 2025), the booking rate on flights from localities back to Ho Chi Minh City is high, reflecting the typical aviation transport activities during this time of the year.

Some days are already fully booked, with rates above 90% to 100% such as from Pleiku, Tuy Hoa, Thanh Hoa, Quy Nhon, Chu Lai, Dong Hoi, and Buon Ma Thuot to Ho Chi Minh City.

“Surveys for departure dates close to January 25, 2025 (the 26th of the lunar month, the start of the holiday), on the Ho Chi Minh City – Hanoi route, Vietnam Airlines and Bamboo Airways offer tickets ranging from VND 3.7 million/way; while Vietjet Air and Vietravel Airlines recorded ticket prices of about VND 3.7 million/way, an increase of about 10-20% compared to the pre-holiday period,” the Civil Aviation Authority said.

Train tickets are also expensive and hard to come by

While air tickets are scarce and expensive, train tickets from the South to the North are also sold out.

Specifically, as of the beginning of December 2024, the total number of train tickets sold for Tết is about 125,000, with ticket revenue of VND 189 billion, of which the number of online tickets accounts for 61%.

“Tickets from Ho Chi Minh City to the Northern provinces have been sold out, and we have added 5,000 more tickets. However, as of December 15, 2024, more than 90% of the additional tickets have been sold,” said an official from the Southern Branch of the Railway Transport Joint Stock Company.

Meanwhile, Ms. Pham Thi Anh Dao, Head of the Hanoi Railway Transport Station, said that there are still many tickets from Hanoi to the Southern provinces after Tết.

“In the post-Tết period, from January 29 (the 1st of the lunar month) to February 16, 2025 (the 19th of the lunar month), there are still many tickets for all days and stations. Only the route from Ho Chi Minh City to the Northern provinces before Tết is scarce. This year, ticket prices range from over VND 2 million to over VND 3 million, an increase of 3-5% compared to Tết 2023 and an increase of 15-30% compared to normal days, depending on the trip and the departure date,” Ms. Anh Dao said.

On the morning of December 15, reporters surveyed the online ticket sales page of the Vietnam Railways Corporation and found that most of the Ho Chi Minh City – Hanoi trips from January 24-25 (December 25-26) were sold out for trains SE2, SE4, SE6, SE8, SE10, SE12, SE24, TN4, and TN6.

Only a few trips have some tickets left, such as SE2 on January 26 (December 27) with 01 soft seat left; on January 27 (December 28), SE10 has 174 tickets left, SE4 has 127 tickets, SE6 has 5 tickets, SE2 has 125 tickets, and SE24 has 257 tickets… One-way tickets are also sold at high prices, ranging from VND 2,338,000 to VND 3,016,000.

According to a representative of the Railway Transport Joint Stock Company, as in previous years, travel demand during the Tết peak season to the Central provinces, and tourist destinations is always high. To meet the travel needs of passengers, from the 29th of the lunar month to the 3rd of the lunar new year, the company also organizes trains to serve people going on spring trips such as Hanoi – Vinh, Hanoi – Dong Hoi, Saigon – Nha Trang…

Currently, the railway sector is applying many preferential policies to support passengers such as discounts for social policy beneficiaries, union members, and customers with membership cards; a 3% discount on the ticket price for trains departing from Saigon Station on January 27, 2025 (the 28th of the lunar month) and traveling 1,000 km or more; a 5% discount on the return ticket price for round-trip passengers; and especially, students will get a discount of 10% to 20% depending on the date of travel.

In addition, the Railway Transport Joint Stock Company has opened for sale regular trains during and after the Tết holiday such as: SE1/SE2, SE3/SE4, SE5/SE6, SE7/SE8 (Saigon – Hanoi), SE21/SE22 (Saigon – Danang), SNT1/SNT2 (Saigon – Nha Trang), and SPT1/SPT2 (Saigon – Phan Thiet). When the demand for passengers increases, the company will organize additional trains, add more carriages to meet the maximum needs of customers.

“In case the travel demand of the people increases, the unit will calculate and open additional trains to meet the needs of the people,” said a representative of the railway sector.