The Price of Homecoming: Vietnamese Travelers Spend a Fortune on Tet Tickets

HCMC-Hanoi route costs nearly VND 10 million

Mr. Nguyen Tuan Hung, from Thu Dau Mot city, Binh Duong province, shared that his family had booked four flight tickets for his grandparents and his wife and son to return to his hometown in Ha Nam province on January 23rd, 2024, at a price of VND 3.7 million per ticket for the HCMC-Hanoi route. As he couldn’t arrange his work schedule until January 14th, Mr. Hung had to book his ticket on that day.

“On that day, I searched various online booking websites and travel agencies but could only find business class tickets. Vietnam Airlines offered tickets at VND 10.2 million, while I couldn’t find any information about flights from other airlines like Vietjet Air and Bamboo Airway. As I had to return to my hometown, I finally decided to purchase the business class ticket, which cost more than VND 10 million,”

Mr. Hung said.

Mr. Pham Quang Khai, owner of a fire protection company in Go Vap district, HCMC, shared a similar experience. Last Wednesday (January 15th), a close partner asked him to urgently book a flight ticket from HCMC to Hanoi. Despite his efforts in searching through various websites and seeking help from travel agencies, he couldn’t find any economy class tickets.

“I had no choice but to book a business class ticket, which cost more than VND 9.8 million, for the flight from HCMC to Hanoi on January 26th (the 27th of the lunar calendar). As my partner needed to return to his hometown for Tet and to celebrate his father’s birthday, I had to accept this exorbitant price,”

Mr. Khai said.

Many others, like Mr. Khai and Mr. Hung, had no choice but to spend tens of millions of dong on business class tickets for their return journeys due to unavoidable reasons.

Mr. Tran Trung Kien, from Phu Nhuan district, HCMC, shared that he and his wife had to purchase business class tickets at a price of over VND 9.7 million per trip to return to their hometown in Dong Anh district for Tet.

“If it weren’t for this urgent matter, I wouldn’t have booked a flight at this time because the prices are too high,”

Mr. Kien said.

Over 7.2 million seats supplied, yet “sold out”

According to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam, on January 18th, Vietnamese airlines added 586 more flights during the Tet peak period from January 17th to February 12th, 2025.

Specifically, the Hanoi-HCMC route increased by 90 flights, HCMC-Hanoi by 89 flights, HCMC-Danang by 24 flights, HCMC-Thanh Hoa by 22 flights, HCMC-Hue by 23 flights, HCMC-Vinh by 24 flights, Hai Phong-HCMC by 43 flights, and so on.

“With these additional flights and leased aircraft from Vietnam Airlines, Bamboo Airways, Vietjet Air, and Vietravel Airlines, during the peak Tet season from December 15th, 2024, to January 15th, 2025, the airlines have provided over 7.2 million seats, including 5 million domestic seats. This does not include flights operated by foreign airlines in Vietnam,”

said Mr. Bui Minh Dang, Head of the Aviation Transport Department (Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam).

The Civil Aviation Authority also stated that despite the additional flights, many routes from Tan Son Nhat Airport (HCMC) to other localities are quickly filling up during the days leading up to Tet and the opposite direction in the post-Tet period.

Currently, several routes continue to have a 100% booking rate, such as Hanoi – Buon Ma Thuot (Dak Lak) (100%); HCMC – Hue/Pleiku/Tuy Hoa/Quy Nhon/Buon Ma Thuot/Quang Binh/Thanh Hoa/Vinh/Chu Lai/Quy Nhon/Nha Trang/Hue (100%).

The routes HCMC – Danang/Hanoi and vice versa are also rapidly filling up during the period from January 25th to February 2nd, 2025 (the 26th of the twelfth lunar month to the 5th of the first lunar month). The HCMC to Danang/Hanoi route on some days before Tet has a booking rate of over 90%.

According to the flight schedule and booking data, Tan Son Nhat Airport will operate more than 6,100 flights and serve approximately 900,000 passengers during the seven days from the 29th of the twelfth lunar month, an increase of 8.7% in the number of flights and 4% in the number of passengers compared to the same period last year.

The busiest day at the airport is expected to be the 5th of the first lunar month, with more than 155,000 passengers (a 4% increase compared to the peak day after Tet in 2024).

During the 2025 Tet holiday season, Noi Bai Airport will serve approximately 90,000 passengers and 550 flights daily. The busiest day before Tet is expected to be January 24th (the 25th of the twelfth lunar month), and the busiest day after Tet is expected to be February 2nd, 2025 (the 5th of the first lunar month), with an estimated 100,000 passengers and 590 flights.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam will continue to support airlines in management and coordinate with units in the industry to enable airlines to add more domestic flights to meet the travel demands of the people during the 2025 Tet holiday season.

“The number of passengers at airports, especially at Noi Bai and Tan Son Nhat International Airports, will increase significantly, and congestion may occur at certain times in the domestic terminals.

Therefore, we recommend that passengers proactively stay updated with flight information to plan their travels accordingly and comply with safety and security regulations,”

the Civil Aviation Authority advised.