Busy, contracted vehicles can't keep up during Tet holiday

Many contracted passenger transport vehicle owners said that since Tet, many customers have booked car rentals, and many vehicles are fully booked until the end of the first lunar month.

"Sold out" of service vehicles after Tet

On the morning of February 2 (the 5th day of Tet), Ms. Nguyen Thanh Thuy (residing in Sam Son City, Thanh Hoa Province) called to book a 5-seat car from Sam Son to Hanoi to return to work tomorrow, but after contacting several places, she still could not book a car.

Many contracted vehicles operating during Tet are fully booked until the end of January, mostly serving groups of tourists going on spring outings and temple visits.

Some car owners said they were fully booked for the day. Others did not take passengers to Hanoi, only taking spring tourists within the province because they were worried about traffic jams and the fares would not be enough to cover the cost of gas.

Meanwhile, Mr. Pham Duc Thang (residing in Hai Hau, Nam Dinh ) said that on the 3rd day of Tet, his family rented a 7-seat car from Hai Hau to go on a spring trip to Ninh Binh.

Learning from last year's experience of struggling to find a car, this year, Mr. Thang booked a car before Tet for 2 million VND.

Mr. Thang said: During Tet, people's travel needs are quite high, contract service cars are very popular, because they work on Tet holidays, the price will be higher than usual, customers renting cars have to accept it.

A survey by Giao thong Newspaper reporters on service car groups shows that these days, there are very few posts about cars looking for customers, most of them are customers looking for cars. However, under the posts, instead of bustling comments about car information and prices, there is silence.

Some car service owners said that most of the Tet holidays, passengers who booked a car had paid a deposit in advance, ranging from 100,000 to 200,000 VND. Due to the high demand, there were days when drivers received phone calls to book a car continuously but only accepted bookings from 1-2 people depending on the distance, the remaining passengers had to refuse.

"We cannot accept appointments and then cancel them, causing passengers to miss out. I only accept appointments from customers who have made a deposit in advance to avoid "breaking the appointment" and having to find another customer to make up for it, which is very time-consuming," added Mr. Pham Van Truong, a car service owner.

At tourist destinations during this time, parking lots are full of contracted service vehicles. Many service vehicle drivers do not have time to gather with their families during Tet.

Car prices increase slightly during Tet holiday

Having two 29-seat and 16-seat contract service vehicles, during Tet, Mr. Nguyen Hoang Hai (residing in Hai Minh, Hai Hau, Nam Dinh) rarely has time with his family because he has to take passengers on spring trips.

Mr. Hai said that during Tet this year, the price of service vehicles has only increased slightly compared to last year. For a 16-seat vehicle, passengers traveling from Hai Hau to tourist destinations such as Trang An, Tam Chuc, Bai Dinh or Huong Pagoda will have a price of about 2.5 million VND, for a 29-seat vehicle the rental price is 3.5 - 4 million VND. In addition, the rental price also depends on the distance traveled and the destination, but in general, compared to normal days, it has only increased slightly by a maximum of 500 thousand VND.

Passengers on this occasion are mostly regulars, mainly going on spring outings or temple visits. Many customers have booked a month in advance because they are afraid of having difficulty renting a car at the beginning of the year.

According to Mr. Hai, from the 4th to the 6th day of Tet, there are very few buses carrying passengers going on spring trips in Hanoi or passing through Hanoi due to concerns about traffic jams.

On the afternoon of the 4th day of Tet, Mr. Hai's 16-seat car driver left Hai Hau at 2:00 p.m. but after 6 hours, it was 8:00 p.m. when he dropped off the passengers in Hanoi, and it was 11:00 p.m. when he returned to Hai Hau.

"I'm a regular customer so I don't increase the rental price even though there's traffic jams and gas consumption. But after a few trips like this, everyone in the contract car and tourist car group tries to avoid trips to Hanoi because if they increase the price, they're worried about losing customers on weekdays, and if they keep the price, it won't be enough to cover the costs," Hai shared.

Similarly, Mr. Cao Lam (residing in Nghi Son, Thanh Hoa) is the owner of a 7-seat service contract car, said that this afternoon (the 5th day of Tet), he received a schedule for a family to go from Nghi Son to Hanoi, the one-way car rental price is 2.5 million VND; for a 5-seat car, the rental price is usually from 2 - 2.2 million VND.

"On normal days, the price is about 500,000 VND lower. But during Tet, there is traffic jam and if we don't increase the price, we can't go anywhere," said Mr. Lam.

For intra-provincial trips, car rental prices are lower, for example, from Nghi Son to Sam Son City, round trip from 800,000 VND to 1 million VND, including waiting time.

According to service drivers, during Tet people often eat, drink, and congratulate each other, but to ensure traffic safety for passengers during this time, they absolutely do not drink alcohol and must always stay alert, even when driving at night.

Even willing to sacrifice time with family to work, therefore, the slight increase in bus fares during this time compared to normal days is understandable, passengers also sympathize and happily accept.

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/dong-khach-xe-hop-dong-chay-khong-xue-dip-tet-192250202134237438.htm