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Vietnam forum
| Author | Message |
| rakkie newbie Posts: 1 |
#1 Posted: 6/2/2010 - 08:16 I recently visited Hanoi for the first time and decided to catch the public bus (#17) from the airport to save money. They charged me 50000 dong for me ticket which seemed expensive but they refused to give me any change even though I tried to argue (I later found out this was 10 times the normal price). I've never had problems with bus drivers in any other countries, so is there a good strategy to avoid this in Hanoi? |
| borisborough backpacker Posts: 20 |
#2 Posted: 6/2/2010 - 12:34 I think 50000D is about US$3 - losing that shouldn't break the bank although it is a bit annoying. When we were in Vietnam, we were bartering and arguing about 5000D (30cents). Getting a low price is all well and good but a difference of 30, 60 or 90 cents isn't really important. We also used the public trains in Vietnam - there's a price for locals and an inflated price for foreigners - that's life! |
| daawgon tuk tuk driver Posts: 221 |
#3 Posted: 8/2/2010 - 12:34 rakkie - you got off the easy. I took the jetboat from Haiphong to Cat Ba Island and paid 300,000VND when the regular tickets go for 120,000! I guess we're all to blame for not checking the price beforehand. I paid 35,000VND for a ticket on the Vietnam Airlines van at Hanoi Airport when I'm sure the locals only paid 30,000 (for 5,000 it's not worth making a fuss, but for 180,000 it is). |
| RobAston newbie Posts: 3 |
#4 Posted: 9/2/2010 - 14:32 Losing change is pretty common, a bit of shouting and clear anger will usually produce it but you just have to be careful to always pay in exact change and avoid the situation all together. A Taxi driver got me yesterday in Hanoi as I was catching the bus to China, I didnt have time to sit and argue and as he left the meter running while I was trying to get change it soon had run up to the amount I had handed over. I disagree with the people who say its a small amount of money so it doesn't matter. The reason the situation is so bad in Vietnam for this kind of behaviour is because tourists have had that opinion for far too long and it is starting to lose its position of being a budget destination for backpackers which is pretty sad. Not to mention that it does all add up, 10,000d for a can of coke doesn't seem like much but when you can get one for half that price in Shanghai thats a lot of food and drink inflation over a holiday. My girlfriend is Chinese, we tried a little experiment getting her to buy stuff while acting naturally and not saying a word, the prices for everything were a fraction. |
| violets hippy Posts: 74 |
#5 Posted: 11/2/2010 - 08:00 I've never had that happen on a public bus in Hanoi, but the buses are subsidised for locals and there's no reason tourists should be subsidised. There are no longer different fares for tourists and locals on the trains. |
| NOIBAI newbie Posts: 2 |
#6 Posted: 19/2/2010 - 22:31 Posted from within Vietnam (why do we highlight this?).Hi There ! Sorry to hear that, Next time take the shuttle bus ticket of Jestar or Kumho-Vietthanh, Price about 25.000 VND Good Luck ------------------------------ Hanoi Airport Transfers Service |
| ntdblizzard newbie Posts: 1 |
#7 Posted: 4/3/2010 - 15:58 Posted from within Vietnam (why do we highlight this?). I'm a local Hanoi person. It's so bad that you have been charged 50,000VND for a public bus ticket. I can only tell that when you get on a public bus, ask for the price and see if the it is matched with the price printed on the ticket. The public bus that take you from the airport cost 5,000VND and the ones that travel around the center of Hanoi cost 3,000VND. You should not take a public bus at times like 6-8AM, 4-6PM, that's the time when many people get on the bus to go to work, school and go home. At that time a bus can have up to 100 people on it, you can't even breath >. |
| luvmedic longtail driver Posts: 9 Located in: Malaysia |
#8 Posted: 4/3/2010 - 16:44 i believe there is an official shuttle bus to the airport at the end of the hoan kiam lake. i took that and it cost 17,000 if i remember correctly. locals and tourist pays same price |
Possibly related threads
The following thread(s) may also be of use.» Don't pay higher prices then local Vietnamese. Don't get ripped off!
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