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Domestic Vietnam Flights - when to book ?

Domestic Vietnam Flights - when to book ?

Old Apr 25, 2018, 8:57 am
  #1  
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Domestic Vietnam Flights - when to book ?

I'm just under 2 months away from flying Vietnam domestically (Ho Chi Minh - Phu Qouc, Phu Quoc - Hai Phong, Hanoi - Danang, Danang - Ho Chi Minh) - I've been tracking flight prices and they really haven't changed, when is the sweet spot to book ?
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Old Apr 25, 2018, 9:01 am
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If these are the same airline that I've been watching, the flight prices look pretty low to begin with. I'd love to see if they would drop a bit more.
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Old Apr 25, 2018, 11:44 am
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That's a lot of flights. Vietnam Airlines?
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Old Apr 25, 2018, 1:45 pm
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Vietnam airlines for most part, but only Vietjet flies Phu Qouc - Hai Phong

May try JetStar for HCM to Phu Qouc, I read that Vietjet is a disaster out of HCM - which I'm going to assume the same out of Hanoi
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Old Apr 26, 2018, 7:22 am
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Personally, I would just book it now. I assume you're holding out to see if the prices go down? How much do you think you could really save? I can't see saving any more than tens of dollars.
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Old Apr 26, 2018, 7:35 am
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tens of dollars x 3 pax x 4 flights = many dollars
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Old Apr 26, 2018, 4:42 pm
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Personally, I never win at the price waiting game. For my trips, it seems like the price usually go up as I get closer to the departure date.
I just pay the price if it is reasonable to me.
I checked a mid-week in June for one-way for SGN-PQC, HAN-DAD, DAD-SGN on Vietnam Airlines website. The coach ticket prices I saw for each of these segments range from 58 USD to 72 USD. The trip duration is between 1 hour to 1.5 hour. For me, in these cases, the price is certainly reasonable and I will buy them now.
I always stick with Vietnam Airlines by the way. I do not have any experiences with the other local airlines but I prefer to stay with VNA.
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Old Apr 29, 2018, 11:01 pm
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Writing this from Hue, overlooking Perfume River.

If it is just two month left, than prices unlike to go down and most likely will go up, based on my experiences with intra-Vietnam flights.

For cheap flighs with VN one should book flights at least 6 month before departure if you want to catch their Eco fares. The same applies for VietJet. You can sign up for their fare newsletter to know when is time to book.

Alternatively/in addition you can setup fare search at Skyscanner with target prices but, unlikely you get great deal right now two month before departure.

Three words of advice:

1. If you have connecting flights with separate tickets make sure you have at least 4h between flights. Not a single time my intra-Vietnam flights departed on the time shown when I booked them. Even with VN within 2 month of departure time flight moved three times forward and back. At least VN notifies you via email, Jetstar and VietJet - do not, unless you sign up for paid notification service (not a joke).

2. Avoid booking the very first and last flights - they are cancelled most often.

3. Check traffic conditions on the date/time of the departure - in Saigon it might take 45min to travel 5km via car.

Last edited by invisible; May 8, 2018 at 10:27 am
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Old May 6, 2018, 10:41 pm
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You should book at least 3 months in advance to get the reasonable price tickets.
Jetstar Pacific and Vietjet Air are low-cost airlines, much cheaper than Vietnam Airlines.
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Old May 7, 2018, 3:29 pm
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Originally Posted by invisible
At least VN notifies you via email, Jetstar and VietJet - do not, unless you sign up for paid notification service (not a joke).
Did this change within the last year?

I took several flights to/within Vietnam last summer on VietJet. Yes, the flight times were constantly changing, and with each change, I was notified by email. But I never paid for any special notification service.
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Old May 8, 2018, 10:27 am
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Originally Posted by Skyman65
Did this change within the last year?

I took several flights to/within Vietnam last summer on VietJet. Yes, the flight times were constantly changing, and with each change, I was notified by email. But I never paid for any special notification service.
Very latest example it with Jetstar which wants additional fee for sending SMS notifications. I remember seeing something similar with VietJet for international flights but can't be sure.
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Old May 8, 2018, 11:43 am
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I have booked several flights last minute in Vietnam over summer and prices didn't seem to go up by much. If your itinerary is not set I would wait.
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Old May 13, 2018, 8:26 pm
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Originally Posted by Marley Smith
You should book at least 3 months in advance to get the reasonable price tickets.
Jetstar Pacific and Vietjet Air are low-cost airlines, much cheaper than Vietnam Airlines.
I have booked last minute domestic flights on Vietnam air twice, including recently for travel tomorrow. Both times the flight was around 50 or 60 USD, and the Vietjet flight was 20-40 USD. I actively avoid Vietjet. I have no problem with discount airlines, in the past year Ive flown Wow over the Atlantic, AirAsia from HNL to KUL, and many others. But, the reviews on Vietjet say they often sell tickets for dummy flights that dont exist, only to cancel the flight a day or two in advance, and reschedule the passenger onto a flight that may leave 12 hours earlier/later.

My advice for flying in Vietnam is to stick with Vietnam Airlines. It may be a bit more expensive, but it is worth it unless you are so flexible you can handle your flight time being radically changed.
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Old May 14, 2018, 7:50 am
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Originally Posted by onuhistorian0116
But, the reviews on Vietjet say they often sell tickets for dummy flights that dont exist, only to cancel the flight a day or two in advance, and reschedule the passenger onto a flight that may leave 12 hours earlier/later.
I'm just guessing, but I would imagine that they do not have dummy flights. They just didn't sell enough seats to make that flight profitable, so they cancel it and move everybody to the next day. That way the plane has more passengers and they can turn a profit.

Imagine if you worked for that airline as a flight attendant or pilot. You would never know when you're supposed to go into work!
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Old May 15, 2018, 4:29 am
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Originally Posted by CrazyInteg
I'm just guessing, but I would imagine that they do not have dummy flights. They just didn't sell enough seats to make that flight profitable, so they cancel it and move everybody to the next day. That way the plane has more passengers and they can turn a profit.

Imagine if you worked for that airline as a flight attendant or pilot. You would never know when you're supposed to go into work!
Cancelling flights that undersell is difficult on operations, because it puts planes and pilots out of place. If a plane is supposed to go Hanoi, Da Nang, Saigon, Busan, and back to Saigon, and they cant really cancel the earlier legs. And even if there practices are closer to what you say, they are still essentially selling tickets on flights they do not plan to operate, and for the passenger that comes out to the same outcome.
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