Train and bus tickets for Lunar New Year At Ty are getting hotter every day

Sleeper tickets from Ho Chi Minh City to the Central region are sold out

On November 25, Chin Nghia bus company announced that it had sold out of sleeper and limousine tickets from Ho Chi Minh City to Quang Ngai during the peak period from January 22 to January 28, 2025 (December 23-29), with only seat tickets remaining.

At the new Eastern Bus Station (Thu Duc City), most passengers came to ask for tickets for the same day or to receive tickets after booking online. Many passengers directly searched for sleeper tickets for the days before Tet but were told that they were sold out.

“Unable to find a satisfactory ticket, I had to buy a seat for more than 750,000 VND to return to Quang Ngai, even though I knew the long journey would be very tiring,” said Minh Hoang (35 years old). Hoang said he chose the bus because train tickets were sold out, and plane tickets were beyond his budget.

Phuong Trang bus company also recorded a similar situation. Although it allowed customers to register for additional tickets during Tet, focusing on routes from Ho Chi Minh City to Binh Dinh, Quang Ngai, Da Nang, tickets on peak days were still quickly sold out. The company representative said that they are mobilizing buses from less crowded routes to serve the Central region.

Similarly, major bus companies such as Binh Tam and Thuan Thao also ran out of sleeper tickets for peak Tet days, only having tickets left for off-peak days.

According to the plan to serve Tet at the new Eastern Bus Station, the expected number of passengers during the 20 peak days from January 19 to February 7, 2025 (December 20 to January 10) will reach nearly 140,000 people, equivalent to last year. On the busiest days from January 24-26 (December 25-27), the station receives about 11,300-13,000 passengers/day, the remaining days average 7,000-8,000 passengers.

The bus station encourages bus operators not to increase Tet ticket prices by more than 40-60% compared to normal days, depending on the route and time, and at the same time requires specific price posting for control.

At the old Mien Dong bus station (Binh Thanh district), the number of passengers is forecast to reach more than 181,000 during Tet, a slight increase compared to last year. The station will arrange more than 9,300 buses to serve, with ticket prices increasing by up to 60%.

At Mien Tay bus station (Binh Tan district), the number of passengers during Tet this year is expected to increase by 5% compared to the same period, concentrated from January 19 to February 7, 2025. The station is expected to serve more than 437,000 passengers with 16,400 trips, of which the peak day on December 27 will welcome about 62,550 passengers. Ticket prices at the station will also increase by up to 40% to compensate for empty trips.

Train and plane tickets are increasingly scarce.

Speaking to Lao Dong Newspaper, a representative of Vietnam Railway Transport Joint Stock Company said that as of November 26, nearly 125,000 train tickets had been sold, with ticket sales revenue of VND189 billion, with online tickets accounting for 61% of the number of tickets sold. Comparing the speed of ticket sales (56 days of ticket sales), the number of tickets sold and revenue were both equal to 125% compared to the 2024 Tet ticket sales. Currently, train tickets before Tet (from January 22 to January 26, 2025) are sold out.

Vietnam Airlines said that on the occasion of the Lunar New Year 2025, the airline has provided more than 650,000 additional seats, equivalent to more than 3,000 flights on domestic routes in Vietnam in the period from January 13, 2025 to February 12, 2025 (ie December 15, Giap Thin year to January 15, At Ty year).

Despite the increase in flights, tickets from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi during Tet are becoming scarce, with ticket prices ranging from 3.5 million VND or more.

To ensure travel during Tet, units have prepared response plans.

Mr. Do Ngoc Hai - Head of the Road Transport Management Department (HCMC Department of Transport) - said that bus stations have prepared plans to increase capacity and are ready to clear the congestion if the number of passengers suddenly increases. The city also controls ticket prices, driver conditions and coordinates with localities to update traffic conditions to avoid congestion. To support people's travel, the HCMC Public Transport Management Center has increased buses to entertainment areas and inter-provincial bus stations, helping to quickly clear congestion when there is a traffic jam.

Vietnam Airlines recommends that people proactively plan, book and buy tickets early. At the same time, to avoid buying fake tickets or tickets with inflated prices during the Tet peak season, the airline recommends that customers buy tickets on the website, mobile application, ticket offices, official agents and request an invoice.