United discount fare to Vietnam & Hong Kong

Photo by Chuck Kuhn
"United Airlines is providing promotional summer fares for flights between Vietnam and the US, as well as to Hong Kong.

United Airlines offers low fares for Hong Kong, US from HCM City

Northwest Airlines opens route to Vietnam

United Airlines starts to sell tickets for new direct service

Passengers at the United Airlines booking office in HCM City.
The discounted fares for Los Angeles and San Francisco start at US$770, with travel until June 14.

The American carrier is selling a round trip between Ho Chi Minh City and Hong Kong starting at US$138, with travel from April 1 till June 10 this year.

The summer promotion is applied for max stay of four days, and the booking class is L.

United’s regular fares for a round trip between HCM City and Hong Kong are also available, starting at US$188.

The airline operates daily direct flights between Vietnam and the US via Hong Kong. The service was launched in December 2004, making United the first American carrier to fly to Vietnam since 1975.

In related news, Northwest Airlines, a wholly subsidiary of American carrier Delta Air Lines, will discontinue flights to HCM City via Tokyo, effective from March 27, 2010.

Delta became the second US airline to fly to HCM City in June 2009, five years after United. Once Delta stops its service, United will be again the only American carrier flying to Vietnam.

Till the end of 2009, United had transported more than 700,000 passengers in the route. The carrier said it had recorded average yearly growth of 20% in passenger traffic to Vietnam over the past five years."

The trend in travel: value-08 October, 2009

here’s a new norm in travel pricing: rock bottom, travel experts say.


“The rock-bottom room rates of the past year are expected to continue until hotels see a solid pickup in demand next year. Even then, prices won't skyrocket overnight because they were slashed so deeply, and no one knows what the new norm is going to be for travelers,” says The Arizona Republic.


"For the consumer, a buyer's market will persist into 2011," said Mark Woodworth, president of PKF Hospitality Research.


That's why there are summer-like prices and perks extended into the normally busier fall season in popular tourist areas such as Las Vegas.


Buy-a- night-or- two-and-get-one-free offers are abounding around the country, with discounts for dining, the spa and even the gift shop.


"We're at the mercy of the consumer right now," Roger Bloss, president and CEO of Vantage Hospitality Group. “Today, value is trendy.”


Some hotels have even added pick-up-your room service where guests order items but pick them up to save on tipping. Free poolside activities are also popular. And luxury hotels are expanding their menus in their casual eateries.


"The discounting is going to (continue to) be an issue," said David Kong, president and CEO of Phoenix-based Best Western International.


By David Wilkening

Vietnam Airlines up to 70% discount Oct1 -Jan 31

Vietnam Airlines has announced that it will offer a discount, of 60-70 per cent on all domestic and international flights scheduled from October 1 - January 31, the carrier's largest promotion to date.

Tickets for Vietnam Airlines flights must be purchased from October 1-20. Requests for flight delays or cancellations will not be allowed.

The airlines southern director, Nguyen Thi Minh Yen, said the promotion, which begins on the same day as the International Travel Expo (ITE), would help to shore up tourism during tough economic times.

The ITE, the country's largest and most important tourism fair, will be held from October 1-3 at the Phu Tho Exhibition Centre in HCM City's District 11.

Tickets for Vietnam Airlines flights must be purchased from October 1-20. Requests for flight delays or cancellations will not be allowed.

At the tourism fair, 300 exhibitors will be showcasing the tourism potential of Viet Nam, Laos and Cambodia to 150 participating travel agencies from 25 countries, including the US, Russia, Germany, mainland China, Spain, Canada, South Africa, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore.

Exhibitors are players in the hospitality industry, including governmental authorities, tour operators, transportation companies, hotels, restaurants, insurance companies, publications, business and conference facilities and recreation services, among others.

La Quoc Khanh, deputy director of the city's Department of Culture, Sport and Tourism, said the event would familiarise guests with the "three countries in one destination" concept, which was agreed upon by the tourism ministers of Viet Nam, Laos and Cambodia in 2007.

Boasting several UNESCO World Heritage Sites each, the three countries will offer tours that include stops at major sites like Cambodia's Angkor Wat, Viet Nam's Ha Long Bay and the former imperial city of Luang Prabang in Laos.

Deputy director Khanh said that despite the economic downturn, this year's event had managed to attract 50 more international buyers compared to last year.

"The event was carefully prepared down to the last detail," said Nguyen Van Tuan, director of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's representative office in HCM City.

The event also features an investment conference that brings together top tourism officials in the three countries and international investors to discuss strategies to develop Indochina's tourism potential and enhance its competitiveness.

The Tourism Alliance Award (TAA) will be also launched for the first time at the exposition.

A board of judges including industry experts will select 10 winners out of 100 nominees across 10 categories, including the best hotel, resort, restaurant, air carrier and tour operators, among others.

The awards aim to increase the overall standards of the hospitality industry in the region and to raise benchmarks to greater heights, according to the three countries' tourism associations, which are the organisers of the event.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News

Airlines going discount route

The economic crisis has made the business performances of airlines lackluster, though it is now the peak season of the aviation industry. Airlines are trying to attract passengers by offering gifts and airfare discounts.

At Noi Bai airport

The economic recession has prompted the national flag air carrier Vietnam Airlines to travel to Paris to advertise itself and attract tourists.

Vietnam Airlines has set up a representative office on one of the most famous and up-scale boulevards in Europe – the Champs-Elysees. It has also been advertising itself and beautiful destinations in Vietnam through billboards on the streets and in subway stations in the French capital.

Moreover, it has announced preferential airfares for travel firms and special airfare programmes for those eligible for the state’s preferential treatment policy.

The budget airline Jetstar Pacific has been following a flexible policy under which it cuts or offers more flights after considering numbers of passengers. On May 26, Jetstar Pacific announced the termination of Hanoi-Can Tho flights from June 1, while it will provide more flights on north-south air routes, increasing the number of Hanoi-Da Nang/HCM City flights.

The budget airfare for the Hanoi-HCM City flight now is 830,000. Jetstar Pacific has also announced a programme on giving gifts to children of under 15 years who take domestic flights on the occasion of International Children’s Day.

Jetstar Pacific’s Deputy General Director Nguyen Thi Thuy Binh said that the airline has contacted passengers who booked tickets for Hanoi-Can Tho flights after June 1, and has arranged seats for them on HCM City-Hanoi flights and given every passenger a rebate of 100,000 dong.

Foreign airlines have also been trying to do more things for passengers. Hong Kong Airlines offers $0 fares (passengers only have to pay security fee, fuel and airport tax) to passengers with Vietnamese nationality who have the same birthday as President Ho Chi Minh (May 19) and fly from Hanoi to Hong Kong.

VietNamNet/TP