timing of a Vietnam vacation to avoid Tet an VNY problems
 

I am planning a vacation to Vietnam for early 2017. Vietnamese New Year is Jan. 27 + 28 and Tet is Jan. 29-31. If I arrived in Vietnam Jan. 4 or 5 and was gone by Jan. 20 will I avoid travel problems and higher prices? If I wait to arrive Vietnam until after Tet, how long after Jan. 31 is it safe to go? I can enter through either Hanoi or HCM City.

Because I will be using AA miles before the devaluation I have to finish this trip before Feb. 15, 2017 the last day to travel under the current miles rate. I'd prefer to go in late Feb. or early March but it will take many many more miles for J or F seats.

Tet (Lunar New Year Day) for 2017 is on 28-Jan-2017. Vietnamese tradition calls for the celebration to start a few days before and a few days after the Lunar New Year Day. The government sets the Tet holiday period each year. For example, Tet (Lunar New Year Day) for 2016 is on Monday 8-Feb-2016, and this year's official holiday period starts from Sat 6-Feb through Sunday 14-Feb.
Beside the official holiday period for the locals, Tet is also a heavy travel period for Vietnamese overseas returning for family gathering or vacationing. Their travel pattern of course is not the same as for the locals. Usually folks overseas will start their homeward migration 2 weeks before the Lunar New Year Day and leave 2 weeks after that date.

My suggestion is for you to plan your trip in late Feb/early Mar 2017 to avoid your concerns. Arriving before Tet would be during the period of Christmas and New Year and you would get into a similar but not as bad situation.

Hope this helps,

Late Feb. or early March is when I would prefer to go but to get award seats at the lower level before the massive increase in miles needed I have to be ticketed by March 22. That means travel has to be in Feb. 2017.

I will probably go right after Jan 1 and stay 2 weeks, leaving Vietnam before the worst of the heavy travel starts. A week before VNY starts I'll be leaving the country.

I think it should be after about 15 days when the Tet is over

Just remember that weather in the north in Jan-Feb will be considerably cooler/overcast than in the south, and could affect coastal beaches as far south as Danang/Hoi An until early March.

Would in the center and south be warm in early December? I might go then. The one thing I want to do on this visit is go to Phong Nha Ke Bang to see the big caves. I know that because of rain in times to visit here are limited. This year December was good. Other than a few days in Hanoi at the end of the trip where I will depart from I don't plan to be in the north much. I'm sticking to the center Dong Hoi/Hoi An and south. Maybe even fly over to Phu Quoc.