FINDING CHEAP FARES ON AIRLINES TO VIETNAM
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INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES TO VIETNAM
Finding cheap fares on airlines to Vietnam is the first secret to a budget tour. Being patient and diligent in your search is the second.Finding a bargain airline to Vietnam as a solo traveler or small group is fairly easy if you organize your search.
SMALL GROUP TOUR PLANNING.
One of the first things your group should do when you start planning your trip is to set a travel budget from home to your primary destination and back. Do some quick and dirty research regarding fares on airlines to Vietnam.
CAUTION: If you use a credit card to purchase a ticket directly from an airline you must have the credit card in your possession while you are traveling. If the planner uses his credit card to purchase 5 tickets and he gets sick, it is possible that no one is going anywhere. What if he gets sick in-country and is hospitalized or has to get medically evacuated? One way around this (and I’ve done it) is to entrust the planner with the credit card numbers and security codes of all members of the group and if he finds a good fare he can act. Be sure you understand what the security code is on the credit card is – contact customer service if there are any questions. No matter who you purchase your ticket from, it’s always a good idea to have that credit card with you.
There are two schools of thought when it comes to getting cheap airfares: "Get’em early" or "get’em late". The "get’em early" school says that if you need 6 seats together going to Hanoi and returning from Ho Chi Minh City (also known as Saigon) – "get’em early". The "get’em late" school says if you need 1 or 2 seats going just about anywhere – "get’em late" These "get’em late" seats are available through consolidators. This source will be covered later.CODE SHARING is the practice of some US based airlines to “share” an air route with a foreign partner airline. If you find code sharing is going on with your planned flight be sure to check the fare of the foreign carrier to compare fares. Sometimes fares are different for the same flight. Be sure to read the “fine print” before purchasing your tickets, sometimes your rights are different as a traveler on foreign airlines. Many Asian airlines to Vietnam only serve the west coast of the US or major US cities. Check for flights from Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, New York, Chicago, Houston and Dallas. Do not book domestic (in-country) air travel outside Vietnam or any country in Southeast Asia. This could cost twice as much as waiting until you get to Vietnam or other destination. Current airfares on airlines in Vietnam for a trip from Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC or Saigon) to Hanoi are about US$100.00, HCMC to Danang about US$50.00. I have never had a problem booking for 1 or 2 seats walk-up or as many as 5 travelers with 2 days notice. Diligent searches for cheap airlines to Vietnam will save you as much as 50% of haphazard booking of air travel. These air travel providers have had good fares to Vietnam in the past:
Delta Airlines
Eva Airlines
China Airlines
has great connections!
Northwest Airlines
often has great fares to Vietnam, but they require a layover in Singapore coming or going. Changi International Airport in Singapore is an awesome facility – well worth a visit as is the rest of Singapore. There is even a reasonably priced (US$30.00 for 6 hours w/ common area bath and shower, US$43.00 for a room w/ bath and shower - single) hotel in the airport -
Changi Airport Hotel
.
The rest of Singapore can be a bit pricey. A Singapore Sling at the famous
Raffles Hotel
is the calling of many a traditional traveler.
Consolidators, representing airlines to Vietnam, purchase blocks of tickets from the airlines at a discount hoping to resell them at a profit while still beating the airline’s published fare. If you can travel on short notice consolidators reduce their fairs right up to the last minute to avoid taking a loss. Finding budget fares through a consolidator often has good results. Consolidators come and go. Find current offerings by doing a “search” for: “cheap Vietnam airfares”, “budget airfares to Vietnam”, “airfare bargains to Vietnam”, etc.
Check
HERE
for a review of 2 guides for using consolidators and other alternatives for finding cheap fares. Check the first "free sample service", it has a link to a website that provides nearly all domestic and international schedules. It doesn't cover some of the discount airlines such as Southwest. This site provides the published airfares, giving a "baseline" when you start looking at consolidator and other cheap airfares.
Use these Travel Search Engines (TSEs) to find airlines serving Vietnam, don’t count on finding a super deal though. Cheap Flights - cheapflights.com
Booking Buddy - http://www.bookingbuddy.com/
Expedia - http://www.expedia.com/
Hotwire - hotwire.com
Orbitz- orbitz.com
PriceLine - http://tickets.priceline.com/
Travelocity - http://www.travelocity.com/
NOTE: Once in a great while a travel website will make a mistake and enter a wrong fare in its data base. The group must be prepared to act result of this once in a life time occurrence, Therefore, when you have an emergency communication procedure in place and a RIDICULOUSLY CHEAP flight is found by the planner, he can let everyone in the group know. Then they can get online to buy their tickets. The airlines and travel agencies usually don’t let the CHEAP fares stay on their website very long. It’s easy to misplace a decimal point. And there’s a bit of difference between $120.00 and $1200.00!
Remember all the money you save on airlines to Vietnam you can spend on Hanoi and Saigon hotels, Sapa souvenirs, Nha Trang restaurants, Halong Bay cruises and Hoian tailors. GOOD LUCK.
CHECK "YVTG CONSOLIDATOR" AIRFARES PAGE
CHECK THE "SECRET SOURCE" OF VIETNAM AIRFARE BARGAINS
SUBSCRIBE TO the VIETNAM TRAVELER NEWSLETTER
Avoiding jetlag on your trip.
GETTING THERE
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