1

Have a look at flights a week or two from now, should give you a better idea.

2

Not sure what airlines you've looked at, but try Hong Kong Airlines. They tend to have the lowest prices on this route. http://www.hongkongairlines.com/en_HK/homepage

3

I travel to VN from HK via SIN. Jetstar currently sells to HAN for about 160-170EUR on 3rd Dec and 6th Dec. Overnight in SIN, but that's supposed to be the best airport to sleep in. I have already spent 4 nights there and another two is coming :-)

To SGN it's probably cheaper if you can change plans, United had reasonable one-way price a while ago, although that can't beat Jetstar either.

I start to have a feeling travelling to Europe or US West Coast is relatively cheaper than somewhere "near" HK. :-(

4

Hi

Thanks for the tip. Hong Kong airlines are no cheaper $415USD for a 2 hour flight is a complete rip-off. Is short haul air travel normally this expensive in asia.

I tried Jetstar too. They dont fly on Dec 4th.

5

China Southern via Guangzhou? Look at www.skyscanner.com for some other options.

Hong Kong - Hanoi has always been an expensive route.

Alternatively, fly to HCMC - should be cheaper.

6

Airfares in Asia are a real patchwork -- whether they are high or low depends on the state of competition, which depends in part on the state of government regulatory policies. Places like Japan have notoriously higher fares because of government policies -- though these are just starting to come down on a few international routes, as a couple of cheaper airlines have been allowed in, after more than a decade of keeping them out.

The Hanoi-HK route was for years a monopoly of Vietnam Airlines, with Cathay Pacific just doing a code-share agreement to sell seats on the VN Airlines flight. That changed about 3 (?) years ago, when Cathay/Dragonair started their own flights, but for whatever reason they have chosen to just enjoy the high ticket prices and not compete aggressively.

I had higher hopes when HK Airlines entered the market, but apparently they are not competing very much on price either. One is left to speculate why this might be the case -- anticompetitive practices by the dominant carrier? Pure speculation....

BTW, there is one other option for low(er) fare travel, depending on your luck with booking really cheap fares.....fly Air Asia from HK (or Shenzhen or Macau) to Bangkok, and then Bangkok to Hanoi. That's two fares, but sometimes Air Asia has deep-discount fare sales that could benefit you.

7

It's generally an expensive route. Hanoi is relatively pricey to access from anywhere regionally.

Using zuji.com.hk website, cheapest for that date is China Southern's connection via CAN (no Chinese visa needed for transit). All-in HKD 2372 = Euro 248. Still not cheap, and the journey takes longer than a nonstop flight. The nonstops are indeed high, as you're finding. And HK Airlines is nearly as much as Cathay/Dragonair.

Under the circumstances, I'd wait and track fares for another 4-6 weeks. It's more likely they'll drop a bit rather than rise, but no guarantees.