Self-drive car rental prices double in the days leading up to Tet (Lunar New Year).
The daily rental price for sedans, which normally costs 800,000 VND, has now increased to 1.5-1.7 million VND per day. Despite the high price, rental companies are still fully booked due to high demand.
During the Lunar New Year holiday, the demand for self-drive car rentals increases significantly compared to normal days. This is also considered the best time for businesses providing this service.
According to Mr. Truong, the owner of a self-drive car rental business in the Nam Tu Liem area (Hanoi), about a week before the Lunar New Year, the number of customers inquiring about car rentals increased significantly. Many customers had already placed deposits well in advance to avoid missing out on a car during the Tet holiday.
The increased demand has led to a significant rise in car rental prices compared to normal days. For example, Mr. Truong's business currently rents out Kia Cerato cars for 22 million VND/10 days, with no option for shorter rental periods or for less than that number of days.
Under normal circumstances, a car rental business in the Dong Da district (Hanoi) has enough cars to meet various customer needs, but as Tet approaches, all available cars are fully booked, even though prices have increased significantly.
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| Small cars like the Kia Morning are popular rental options. |
During off-peak seasons, this company rents out vehicles for 500,000 VND/24 hours/250 km or more, depending on the type of vehicle. However, during Tet (Lunar New Year), these vehicles are not rented by the day but in 10-day packages.
A standard Kia Morning costs 500,000 VND to rent for 24 hours, which increases to 8 million VND for 10 days.
For some sedan models, which normally can be easily rented for 800,000 VND/day, the current rental price is around 15-17 million VND/10 days, which is double the usual price.
The owner of a self-drive car rental business said that he spends most of his time these days answering phone calls and turning down customer inquiries because all his cars were booked well in advance of Tet (Lunar New Year). "Customers book early to get better prices compared to the days closer to Tet. Therefore, we no longer have cars available for rent," he added.
Small cars like the Kia Morning and Hyundai Grand i10 are in high demand because they have lower rental prices and are suitable for family use. However, these are also the first models to run out of stock. While the prices are considered low, rental rates for these cars during Tet (Lunar New Year) have doubled compared to normal days.
For companies that still have cars available for customers, the rental contract price at this time will be at least twice as high as for customers who booked early, as in the case of the Kia Cerato mentioned above.
The owner of a car rental business shared that during the Lunar New Year, if customers can't rent a car, they can use transportation services. The cost might not be much higher than renting a self-drive car, while avoiding other problems such as accidents or theft.