Asia - Pricing cheap(er) intra VN fares?

When I lived in SE Asia we just bought these locally once in VN. Is there a booking engine that quotes anything other than full Y?
I need to get 5 people on HAN-NHA-SGN and am getting super pricey fares out of kayak. I'd love to know how much we're going to have to budget for this.
thanks!

You can book it on VN website and they have several fare categories, so you may not necessarily be paying full Y. You can probably get away with less than VND5,000,000 for each passenger.

Having said that, I found domestic travel on VN to be a total rip-off. Fine if they think they can charge a huge premium when they have a monopoly (almost) on certain routes,, but it's the only airline I have been on where the only beverage offered onboard is water. I am not expecting wine or beer, but they don't even offer OJ, coffee or tea !

As Mario stated, VN's own web site will have cheaper fares than full price. Make sure you select Vietnam and English.
http://www.vietnamairlines.com/wps/portal/en/site/home?country_code=VN&country=vietnam&lang=en


You can also try the domestic carriers, Jetstar (http://www.jetstar.com/vn/en/home)is popular.
Or there's Air Mekong (http://www.airmekong.com.vn/Sites/Web/en-Us/Home)amongst others

I do want to reiterate that looking online at the search engines will NOT get you the cheapest domestic fares. You could also go to an agency once you're in the country. I don't think the airfares will fluctuate too much unless you're booking very early.

Thanks folks, the VN site is decent. Those fares are in the range of what I'm used to paying once in the country (although HAN-NHA still looks a bit steep). With 2 little ones I have less of an appetite for waiting until we arrive to purchase the tix!

Vietjet would be slightly cheaper, I am not sure how bad they are but I can't possibly imagine anything worse than VN domestic Y .....

There are ways around expensive flights to NHA, for example flying into the central highlands and getting a car... depends how much time you have!

VN don't seem to offer domestic tickets below Y internationally, and I've never been able to get better (or even different) fares from a TA in-country.

Vietjet would be slightly cheaper, I am not sure how bad they are but I can't possibly imagine anything worse than VN domestic Y .....

Has anyone here actually flown the unfortunately coded VD (i.e., VietJet)?

They have some amazing DAD-SGN fares for our dates, but I'm concerned that they won't exist in mid-October when we need to fly...

I actually thought that Vietnam Airline domestic was quite good. Speaking to other tourist in Vietnam, they all agreed that it was the airline to chose when flying domestically and that Jetstar Asia was one to best avoid if possible (older planes and not good service).

Jetstar Pacific (NOT Jetstar Asia - that's the one based out of Singapore) is majority owned by VN now anyway.

I find them much of a muchness to be honest. Sometimes VN has given me upgrades and I can chase status on them, so I've preferred them in the past.

I actually thought that Vietnam Airline domestic was quite good.

The only airline I have been on where only drink available in Y is water. The flight attendants do not even utter a single word when they hand you the snack box let alone initiate eye contact. Then they hide in the galley, eating their decent looking crew meals and reading magazines. And their domestic fares is perhaps the highest in the world. If this is 'quite good' I need to migrate to another planet.....

The flight attendants do not even utter a single word when they hand you the snack box let alone initiate eye contact.

Definitely not my experience. Quite the opposite.

And their domestic fares is perhaps the highest in the world.

Seriously? Full Y maybe, but for flights of similar length in Thailand or Indonesia I wouldn't expect to pay much less on the flag carrier...

Seriously? Full Y maybe, but for flights of similar length in Thailand or Indonesia I wouldn't expect to pay much less on the flag carrier...

On Vietnam Airlines, Hanoi to Nha Trang is close to USD135-140 one way on the lowest fare category available and all I received was a lousy sandwich with water (no soda, nor OJ, nor coffee or tea) in an old aircraft where the seat is highly uncomfortable in the upright position (similar to Air Asia).

On Garuda, Jakarta to Denpasar can be had for as little as USD60-65 one way, you get a pre departure drink (usually a juice), wet tissue, a hot meal with various drink choices, new aircrafts with ptv (if you are lucky in a wide body).

Both are part of Skyteam (or going to be) and flag carriers of emerging South East Asian countries. And both are flights from capital cities to resort destinations. VN is twice as expensive but GA is a hundred times better.

Definitely not my experience. Quite the opposite.
..

Really, I wonder why every Vietnamese I know share the same experience as me .....

On Vietnam Airlines, Hanoi to Nha Trang is close to USD135-140 one way on the lowest fare category available and all I received was a lousy sandwich with water (no soda, nor OJ, nor coffee or tea) in an old aircraft where the seat is highly uncomfortable in the upright position (similar to Air Asia).

By "close to USD135-140" I assume you mean USD115 :rolleyes:

Base Fare: 2150000 VND
Passenger Service fee-Domestic (AX)/01 Adult: 44000 VND
VAT - Value Added Tax (UE)/01 Adult: 215000 VND
Total: 2409000 VND

2,409,000.00 VND = 115.3736 USD

On Garuda, Jakarta to Denpasar can be had for as little as USD60-65 one way, you get a pre departure drink (usually a juice), wet tissue, a hot meal with various drink choices, new aircrafts with ptv (if you are lucky in a wide body).

I don't have a lot of experience on Garuda, but for the same date range I checked for HAN-NHA, covering a two week period in August, I found one day that had flights that low. Nearly every other day, the flights were a similar price to that HAN-NHA flight. Some days the cost was rather more.

Both are part of Skyteam (or going to be) and flag carriers of emerging South East Asian countries. And both are flights from capital cities to resort destinations. VN is twice as expensive but GA is a hundred times better.

VN as an airline isn't wonderful, sure. But all in all, prices aren't that bad.

Really, I wonder why every Vietnamese I know share the same experience as me .....

I've only flown more than 100 domestic sectors on VN in the last two years, why would I know what I'm talking about... :rolleyes:

By "close to USD135-140" I assume you mean USD115 :rolleyes:

Whether it's USD135 or USD115 (I used a rough mental estimate & I didn't do a latest price check like you did), it's still around double the USD60-65 (again rough estimate and based on memory) fare which GA is charging for a similar distance domestic flight. And as I have said before, VN domestic is about as bad as it can get (only airline which does not serve any other beverage apart from plain water) while GA is top class.

On a similar note I just flew a slightly longer distance domestic flight on Malaysia Airlines for USD70 one way and they served a pre meal drink (juice) and a hot meal with selection of non-alcoholic drinks, compared to VN pathetic sandwich and plain water. Service is also ten times better than VN. Even compared to MH, VN is a rip-off with a disgraceful level of service.

I've only flown more than 100 domestic sectors on VN in the last two years, why would I know what I'm talking about... :rolleyes:

You are probably immuned to the rip-off fares and poor service standard ......

You are probably immuned to the rip-off fares and poor service standard ......

Not at all. I've eaten the same "meat" and coleslaw sandwich more than 50 times :D

It may be because I'm foreign the staff try harder, I don't know. However I'm always handed the meal box with eye contact, and sometimes even a smile... the planes have no IFE at all, true, but my very last domestic VN flight was on a brand new plane and the seats are definitely comfortable enough to nap in.

Fare-wise, as I say, I've felt they're aligned with similar flights regionally. Albeit yes, the overall product isn't as good.

(As an aside, it's a little unfair to compare HAN-NHA, which is VN's domestic cash cow route and where there's inexplicably no competition. Comparing a route like Hanoi-Ban Me Thuot, a one-way would cost 1738000 VND, or less than US$85, and that's almost exactly the same distance as JKT-DPS.)