anyone have leads on cheap airfare to Japan?

[trueno92]

anyone have leads on cheap airfare to Japan?

as per title.. going in high-season, around july-august...

trueno92@gmail.com

[Ashtangi]

anyone have leads on cheap airfare to Japan?

as per title.. going in high-season, around july-august...

trueno92@gmail.com

Since you are going during peak season, you are looking at a minimum of $1500, on JAL. And even then, you are most likely routing through a couple of American cities.

[canrocks]

I did a search on ITASoftware, and it seems that Air Canada is the cheapest no matter what. . . . The funny part is that AC's flight from Vancouver to Tokyo is more expensive than the one from LA to Tokyo, even though the one from LA goes THROUGH Vancouver!!! The price difference is pretty striking. . .


Has anyone ever tried that? Buy a fare that connects through the place where you really wanna leave from? Has it worked?

By the way, Are you in Toronto or Vancouver? Because If you want to go from TO, it's cheaper to buy the fare from Detroit, that flies through pearson, cost being $1590.

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[Roger99]

If you're in the Toronto area, try Elite tours, good prices:
http://www.elitetours.com/letter.html

[YYZC2]

The prices out of LAX are cheaper because there is more competiton out of LAX than out of YVR. AC wants a piece of the LAX market, where they are just another airline offering connecting service to Tokyo, therefore the offer competitive prices. Out of Vancouver, they are one of two airlines offering non-stop service most of the year. They price accordingly. Even pricing airfares out of Seattle, a competitively priced city just a short drive away, will usually yield big savings.

Another way to save on flights to Asia is to use an Asian travel agent or consolidator. One I have used in the GTA is toureast.com.

[Lonely Soldier Boy]

Try Voyage Campus.

Asian Travel agents get great discounts too - remember, the more tickets they sell in the area, the more experience and benefits they get. Also, if you want a JR Pass, you need to get it through a travel agent.

You can try Norco travel if you are in Montreal.

[samzor]

http://www.tokyotours.ca/simplejapan.htm

7 days train pass + round trip flight + 2nights in tokyo for 1600$ but the page says 2004 so u might wanna give them a call.

[Lonely Soldier Boy]

http://www.tokyotours.ca/simplejapan.htm

7 days train pass + round trip flight + 2nights in tokyo for 1600$ but the page says 2004 so u might wanna give them a call.

Expensive outside of the regular season.

Round trip from Montreal: ~$900
JR 3 Week ticket: 58000 yen or about $700

You would save money buying them seperately - outside of regular season.

[ash101]

Here is the Season periods:
Air Canada (Canada -> Japan)
Low Season: Now - 16Jun or 29Aug -15Sep
Shoulder Season: 18Jul - 02Aug or 16Sep or after
High Season: 17Jun -17Jul or 05Aug - 28 Aug

sometimes, Japan Airlines will do some promotion in the last time. Summer Periods time and price is not coming out yet.

[trueno92]

yes, thanks for the feedback guys!!! much appreciated

I'll be leaving out of toronto, and most of my japanese friends that had gone back to japan had routed thru detroit, so pearson->detroit->japan (nagano/tokyo).

I have heard good things about aircanada's japan flight and pricing seems to be reasonable..

im still ironing out time off of work, but it will be july or even aug/september.. depending on pricing...

[YLSF]

There is some Japanese tourism place in Toronto that deals ONLY with Japan travel. Their ticket pricing when I went last year was WAY cheaper that the competition when I bought my ticket last year. They also sell the rail pass (great deal)..

However, I completely forget the name of it or the website. I posted a thread about asking for cheap flights about a year ago so you might be able to find my thread if you do a search for threads by my name and then search for Japan.

[Lonely Soldier Boy]

By the way, if you are going to and want to save money on lodging and don't care about being kicked out early, you can try going to a hostel. Most of them are terrible, run by miniture hitlers, but the one in Tokyo's olympic village is pretty good although you have to be out by 10.

http://www.jyh.or.jp/english/

There are also these places called "Business hotels" which are cheap and great.

[bionicbadger]

There are a few places. I don't have the web sites handy.
http://www.jtbi.ca/jtbi_html/index.asp is one.
These should be a HIS site for canada too thought I'm pretty sure its in Japanese only...Its a much better site than the JTB one. I would have to look at home for the URL

[trueno92]

By the way, if you are going to and want to save money on lodging and don't care about being kicked out early, you can try going to a hostel. Most of them are terrible, run by miniture hitlers, but the one in Tokyo's olympic village is pretty good although you have to be out by 10.

http://www.jyh.or.jp/english/

There are also these places called "Business hotels" which are cheap and great.

heh, thanks for the heads up.. actually my gf has returned to japan ~december, so i'll have a place to crash at her pad.

i'll look into some hostels and other "alternative" lodging.. i want to try one of those gaming-cafe places that allow you to stay overnight in a room with a bed and gaming stuff for $10usd..alternatively, i'll be abusing the 'love-hotel' hourly rates as well.

[trueno92]

There are a few places. I don't have the web sites handy.
http://www.jtbi.ca/jtbi_html/index.asp is one.
These should be a HIS site for canada too thought I'm pretty sure its in Japanese only...Its a much better site than the JTB one. I would have to look at home for the URL

thanks, please update when u get home.. the hirigana/kanji script is not a problem ;)

[trueno92]

ylsf:

found it:

Thanks for all of the responses. Travel cuts actually did have a better price then Flight Centre.. I know Flight Centre says they will beat the competition, but it is kind of a pain to get a written quote just to have them beat it!! Anyway, the best deal of the bunch was from JBT (Japanese Board of Trade) which worked out to $865.. The good thing about them was they put a hold on the ticket until the end of the promotion period (I had to cancel the 1 week hold I had with flight centre which was the $970 price).. I am glad that i don't have to go through the US (I probably could have saved another $30-$40 but it isn't worth the hassle for me)...

Also, I found out on Air Canada's website they have a promo going on for bonus points.. I should get 5,000 bonus air miles for flying in that period of time..

Now I am looking at whether it is worth it to get the rail passes advertised at JBT...
---------------

bionicbadger comes thru even 1 yr later!!!

[Lonely Soldier Boy]

heh, thanks for the heads up.. actually my gf has returned to japan ~december, so i'll have a place to crash at her pad.

i'll look into some hostels and other "alternative" lodging.. i want to try one of those gaming-cafe places that allow you to stay overnight in a room with a bed and gaming stuff for $10usd..alternatively, i'll be abusing the 'love-hotel' hourly rates as well.


I actually did that :)

On a late night (around 2 AM), stumbling back decidedly non-drunk (I don't drink), I found myself in Shinjuku and too tired to reach the Hostel which was in Sangubashi. (About a 20 minute walk)

I stopped at the local internet cafe, which lets you stay the night for 15 bucks or so. But it was a stupid mistake.

First, the booth you have is tiny (albiet comfortable!). Then, you are surrounded by Anime Otaku - and a lot of them are playing internet RPGs. Then you have the fat Otaku who is farting and snoring in the cubicles next to you. (Or next to me anyways)

Some hostels are great. Others are terrible.

http://www.1414productions.com/anecdotes001.php?subaction=showfull&id=1101808572&archive=&start_from=&ucat=3&

That's one of the crappy Hostels. What is good about Hostels is that you meet a lot of nice people. It is the same here too. (I was at the Canadiana Backpacker's Inn in Toronto, a very fun experience.) The Hostels in Japan are the same int erms of meeting people, but they have curfews and all sorts of other nonsense which can ruin one's stay. At the same time, what can you do? It is very difficult to reserve rooms in Japan if you don't speak Japanese. If you can speak Japanese, try this site, or ask your Girlfriend for help with it:

http://domestic.hotel.travel.yahoo.co.jp/

This is VERY helpful. I got a hotel near Shin Osaka for less than 30 dollars, and it was the second best hotel I was in during my trip! (The best cost me about 105 and that was only after a very special situation. If you fish around my blog you'll find it but I'm a bit embarassed to direct link to it)

As for the Love Hotels - after midnight, they can become very cheap. Just remember, once you enter a love hotel, you cannot leave until you are done with it. Sadly I didn't get a chance to use one but hey - that's life. :twisted:

[bionicbadger]

thanks, please update when u get home.. the hirigana/kanji script is not a problem ;)
Forgot about this yesterday....

Here is HIS vancouver:
http://www.his-van.com/air/index.html
They don't have the summer stuff listed yet, only flights leaving soon. Make sure to check the seat sale links.

[trueno92]

I actually did that :)

As for the Love Hotels - after midnight, they can become very cheap.


extremely helpful & entertaining..

[canabiz]

Don't know about Japan but i went to Korea (in the 'hood) last X-mas and i paid $1500 for everything flying out of Ottawa, and I believe X-mas is high-season

Northwest Airlines sucked though, don't go with that one if you could