Ways of Getting to Japan

Valcun · Post by **Valcun** » Dec 14th, '05, 22:36

I know the common answer of getting to japan is to "save". But just list some ways you think is cost effiecient and pretty good deals.

I was shopping a Grocery store and I saw this guy paying for his stuff with a Credit Card. This was no ordinary card, it was a "Delta Sky Miles, American Express" Card. Then a thought hit to me. Everytime I buy something , I always have cash for it. Why not do it through the Credit Card? I will get bonus Skymiles everytime I use my card and they add up. Eventually I can get a free ticket to japan!!

Here is a link:
http://www66.americanexpress.com/cards/ ... 251840/0/n

Another way too is to get a scholarship at a College.

aya · Post by **aya** » Dec 14th, '05, 22:38

This sounds like adverstising to me

Valcun · Post by **Valcun** » Dec 14th, '05, 22:41

Not really, Its just an Idea that occured to me. Do you have a better way? I can't always save up 2000 to 3000 dollars going to Japan. Especially because I'm a college student

|sUiZiD| · Post by **|sUiZiD|** » Dec 14th, '05, 22:53

But still I think saving is all you have if you dont have a scolarship or any otehr oppurtunity

just calculate how much money you have to spend to get the Skymiles you need to get a ticket..... so saving is better then spending

an other way is to find some people where you can stay in japan, maybe you can find someone who can offer you a room for a small fee, if you are lucky enough for free.... I am sure there are a lot of people willing to do so

I have been to japan 3 month ago and I spent all of my money, now I hardly meet my ends....

by the way how much do you pay for a ticket to japan?

I paid about 550 euro..... (650 USD?)

usagineko-chan · Post by **usagineko-chan** » Dec 14th, '05, 23:07

hey i live in Florida and i can get a ticket to japan for 1500$ and I'm a high school student

I'm going for my graduation trip!!!!!!!!!!!!

spacecommand · Post by **spacecommand** » Dec 14th, '05, 23:09

It takes 60,000 delta skymiles for a free ticket to Japan from the US.
The AMEX skymiles card gets you 1dollar 1mile for most spending (2mils perdollar if you use it at delta related places) this is the same for most frequent flyer credit cards.

So if you don't fly much (to get more miles) or stay at hotels that give you skymiles cards (bonus miles), you have to spend anywhere between $30,000 - $60,000 for a "free" ticket.

However, the card does work (not to mention the numerious other frequent flyer cards) if you are already a member of a frequent flyer program (in this case Delta) to add to the miles one may already have it does pay off, or if you were already planning on spending that much its good to have.

|sUiZiD| · Post by **|sUiZiD|** » Dec 14th, '05, 23:13

spacecommand wrote:It takes 60,000 delta skymiles for a free ticket to Japan from the US.
The AMEX skymiles card gets you 1dollar 1mile for most spending (2mils perdollar if you use it at delta related places) this is the same for most frequent flyer credit cards.

So if you don't fly or stay at hotels that give you skymiles cards, you have to spend anywhere between $30,000 - $60,000 for a "free" ticket.

However, the card does work (not to mention the numerious other frequent flyer cards) if you are already a member of a frequent flyer program (in this case Delta) to add to the miles one may already have it does pay off.

thats what I am saying.... better saving then spending

hey i live in Florida and i can get a ticket to japan for 1500$ and I'm a high school student Laugh I'm going for my graduation trip!!!!!!!!!!!!

whoa... thats expensive.... no way to get it cheaper?

Spike23 · Post by **Spike23** » Dec 14th, '05, 23:28

Every country has a japan embassy, wherever that is located in your country.

Valcun · Post by **Valcun** » Dec 15th, '05, 05:12

Hmm, I also looked at the packages the tourist agency has, I get a full plan with hotels and stuff for around 2000 - 3000 Dollars. How much is 1 way ticket? ROFL

Childhoodless · Post by **Childhoodless** » Dec 15th, '05, 06:55

Since you're in college, you might want to go for something like the Education Abroad program. I don't know how it is elsewhere, but my school had that program. It costs pretty much the same as regular tuition, room and board. You'll be taking similar or the same courses in Japan as you would in the States.

You might also want to look into some of the schools in Japan. Usually, they have student programs for those who want to learn Japanese. There might be some sort of package deal.

But because of that, you'd have to stay there for a while, around 3 months or so.

sesshu.kotoyumu · Post by **sesshu.kotoyumu** » Dec 15th, '05, 07:03

My ticket to Japan cost 732 USD roundtrip for a 4 day stay. Flown into Narita Airport, than some more money for the train ride into Tokyo + my hotel. Didnt even break a thousand.

Pikawoo · Post by **Pikawoo** » Dec 15th, '05, 07:45

732USD?

Where did you fly from?
And when did you do it?

The problem i would think is after you land in Japan, where do you go?
I live there for a couple years and I did the Jijya temple stuff

I just look forward to my old friends there

groink · Post by **groink** » Dec 15th, '05, 08:25

I wonder if stop-overs make it any cheaper? Like maybe stopping in Hawaii on your way to Japan. It also makes the flights a lot less of a headache (7 to 8 hours from HI to JPN.)

--- groink

CloudKilla711 · Post by **CloudKilla711** » Dec 15th, '05, 08:34

I went to Japan June of this year. I stayed for a month about $700 for the ticket and about $800 staying there. Of course though, I stayed at a friend's house for free in Hiratsuka. So that meant free breakfast and free dinner whenever we were home. Also, I got a Jrail pass. I recommend walking as much as possible to save on transportaion haha. Yeah, for a cheap trip make a friend in Japan and live with them for free.

Also, if you plan on drinking I say bring your own from America because liqour is expensive there haha. I don't know if having a stopover makes the flight cheaper, but from LAX to Narita took about 10 hours. I used Singapore Airlines.

albertoavena · Post by **albertoavena** » Dec 15th, '05, 11:14

That's pretty cheap. This summer, I'm planning on staying for about 15 days and I'm also staying for free, because I know some friends. I looked into the pricing and for a round-trip, it would cost a little over $1000 USD. I'm wondering how much I should bring for spending money. Also, I want to help my friends out with some money so I don't feel I'm muching off of them. When I looked at the pricings, I looked and United Airlines. Does anyone reccommend a cheaper airline? I live in Arizona.

Yoroshiku · Post by **Yoroshiku** » Dec 15th, '05, 11:21

CloudKilla711 wrote:I went to Japan June of this year. I stayed for a month about $700 for the ticket and about $800 staying there. Of course though, I stayed at a friend's house for free in Hiratsuka. So that meant free breakfast and free dinner whenever we were home. Also, I got a Jrail pass. I recommend walking as much as possible to save on transportaion haha. Yeah, for a cheap trip make a friend in Japan and live with them for free. Also, if you plan on drinking I say bring your own from America because liqour is expensive there haha. I don't know if having a stopover makes the flight cheaper, but from LAX to Narita took about 10 hours. I used Singapore Airlines.

hahah, i thought u got a Jail Pass.

spacecommand · Post by **spacecommand** » Dec 15th, '05, 18:41

Airfare is pretty cheap depending on time of year traveled. For example summer time is the most expensive time to travel. But fall, winter and early spring is the cheapest times to travel. $1500 is a little high, wait until 2months out before your trip andlook for airline discounts. Another way is getting consolidator fares, by going to a travel agency that specialized in travel to Asia, they usually have better deals that aren't published fares.

As for transportation within Japan, transportation is pretty cheap depending on where you travel.

For example if a person is just visiting Tokyo and surrounding areas in the Kanto Area (ie Kanagawa where Yokohama or Hiratsuka is located). Then getting a Japan Railpass is a waste of money.

For example:
A 7 Day JR railpass costs 28300Y (roughly $280 usdollars). Since single fare tickets range anywhere between 120Y-190Y in Central Tokyo (by JR trains) Depending on distance traveled, one would have to ride the trains over 150 times in a 7 day period to make the railpass economical. So its certainly a lot cheaper to go by single fare tickets or one or two day passes depending on how much travel you do.
Not to mention the JR railpass is only valid on JR trains, not subways or other train lines.

Now, the JR Railpass is good if you travel to Kyoto (or beyond) from Tokyo and return within a 7day period.

The 14day JR Railpass, is economical if you do extensive, extensive, travel around the entire country.

As for stop overs in Hawaii it can be more expensive do to certain fare rules one mayhave when purchasing an airline ticket, depending on where you started.

Also, if you plan on drinking I say bring your own from America because liqour is expensive there haha.

Well remeber due to Customs regulations, if you bring more than 3 bottles (a bottle is defined as a 750cc) you will be subject to customs duties/ taxes.

Post by **techie** » Dec 16th, '05, 05:00

The sky miles might work through another way too.
I think Delta will allow you to receive skymiles from a sponsor card holder too.

A friend of mine transfered miles to another traveler all the time, and he gets gazillions of those things for just travelling frequently.

The next thing is, try to find out if you can get special discounts through another airline.
The cheapest ticket roundtrip in London with JAL was £775 (app $1500).

If you go with China Air you can get it for nearly half price. But you will have to be willing to do stop overs in totally different places than you thought of.

And the best thing, if you really have "friends in high places" (excuse the pun) working for an airline, they get great deals too.

Also dont forget to pay your airfare taxes in departing country.
If you dont they will slap you a landing tax in Tokyo as well.
A friend of mine who works for an undisclosed airline can fly for $1 to any location they service and bring a friend along for $60. Regardless of the destination. That price was supposedly one way so double it up to get back home

(If you want to)

nexocentric · Post by **nexocentric** » Dec 16th, '05, 15:49

I'm a travel agent for a Japanese travel agency call Nissin. If you're going to japan you want to go through a Japanese travel agency of some sort. There are lots of reason for this, first of all we get special deals from the airlines to give you unpublished fares to Japan. That means you'll get a cheaper ticket through us then lets say delta directly. If you were going to Germany, you WOULDN'T want to go though a japanese travel agent because they wouldn't have any special fares to Germany. We would give you the same price as if you went to the airline direct.

Second, if you want to get a cheap ticket get it as early as possible. The discount tickets sell out pretty fast so you want to do it AT LEAST 4 months in advanced. Don't expect to get a good priced ticket a month before departure.

Next depending on the season that you go you'll pay a lot or a little. High priced fares start from May and end the 1st of September. You don't want to go during this time because it's the travel season. Proably the cheapest time to go to japan is february through april.

Finally, since right now is december and special contracts are ending Japanese travel agencies won't have the new fares for feb - april until the middle of january.

There are lots of japanese travel agencies out there, I'd like to say you could go through mine, but since it does mostly business you'd be paying 20 extra dollars for service you couldn't use... I know how hard it is to be a student, so even though they are a rival company I'd say IACE travel is your best bet. If not get a hold of Nissin.

GOOD LUCK!!!

Nex

nexocentric · Post by **nexocentric** » Dec 16th, '05, 16:04

OH and I almost forgot,

In addition the the JR railpass they people have been talking about there are also, airpasses that allow you to do the same thing but by plane.

For example, a ticket from tokyo to okinawa cost somewhere around 300 dollars, but if you get one of the special air passes offered by ANA or JAL you can fly each leg of your trip for a flat fare. That means that you'd pay about 165, per segment and you could use that fare to fly anywhere. Flying from Okinawa to Hokkaido would cost you 165 instead of the price it really is. If you want to know the names of the airpasses so you can find out if that's what you want to do just PM me and I'll give you those names.

as for the JR railpass, that's a really good deal and it's only available to those who are visiting japan. Japanese peeps can't use them. Unless your Japanese American.

there's the 7 day rail pass and 14 day rail pass like stated previously, but for each there are two types. There's the green and the ordinary. If you get the green pass you'll have to pay more money, but you get reserved seats which means for sure that you'll get to sit down. If you get the ordinary you won't have reserved seat (You'll probably be able to sit down but there may be a chance you might have to stand for some of your trip). You might as well suck it up and get the ordinary, I'd only recommend the green to people of old age.

Peace!

lafiel · Post by **lafiel** » Dec 16th, '05, 16:17

i had the regular 7 day pass, it is really useful, though it cost me around HK$1900 (around 29,000 Yen), but it is useful if you plan to do a round trip or visit multiple cities, for example, I went to Osaka and Kyoto from Tokyo, then back to Tokyo, saving me some money and the time to buy the pass and the annoyance of paying large sums of cash to do so. JR pass only gives access to JR train and Shinkansen though, although no Nozomi line (that has the fewest stops and thus is fastest). Also, it does not count for the airport shuttle, forgot what it is called, but the one to and from Ueno to Narita. Oh wells, Japan is awesome, and I think the passes are either 7 days, 14 days or 21days? I thought there was, maybe I am mistaken, but I do not think I am. Also, there are other JR passes that are cheaper but limit the area you can travel in, such as the East pass or the Hokkaido pass <http://www.japanrailpass.net> That has more information

spacecommand · Post by **spacecommand** » Dec 16th, '05, 16:56

there's the 7 day rail pass and 14 day rail pass like stated previously, but for each there are two types. There's the green and the ordinary. If you get the green pass you'll have to pay more money, but you get reserved seats which means for sure that you'll get to sit down. If you get the ordinary you won't have reserved seat (You'll probably be able to sit down but there may be a chance you might have to stand for some of your trip). You might as well suck it up and get the ordinary, I'd only recommend the green to people of old age.

Incorrect, the Shinkansen has Green Cars (1st class) that are all reserved, the regular "ordinary" cars are ALSO reserved.

There are about 3 ordinary cars that are left unreserved, this is where one might find standing space, but usually only during high travel season.

But it is very much possible to reserve a seat with the ordinary railpass.

In the case of limited express trains, there are sometimes both green and ordinary that
are ALL reserved, for example the Narita Express.

---

Also, it does not count for the airport shuttle, forgot what it is called, but the one to and from Ueno to Narita.

The train from Narita Airport to Ueno is operated by Keisei Railways (a different railroad company), it is called the Skyliner. If you want to use the Japan Railpass to/from Narita Airport you have to use the Japan Railways Narita Express to Tokyo Station and beyond.
At Narita Airport, the Keisei Railways and Japan Railways stations are right next to each other.

Again, its only advisable for the Japan Railpass if one does extensive travel around, if not, (say you're just visiting Tokyo and surrounding areas, then theres no need for it).

kalau · Post by **kalau** » Dec 16th, '05, 17:22

I think the mileage saver cards are a great idea. However, trying to save up 60,000 miles to make it to japan might take you a while. If you keep an eye on the internet deals (the sites that strictly deal with japan), you can get a pretty cheap deal., I bought my ticket for 497$, flying out of San Francisco with japan or american airlines...i can't recall...got like 14000 points for the trip. And you can save on your hotel buy going thru priceline. All you need to do is plan ahead and know where you are going to be on certain days. I got most of my hotels for 85$/night for a 4-star hotel. So if you are not picky and just need a place to crash, then just go for lower grades.

And while you are there, charge what you can.....more mileage. But make sure you have the money to pay to it off. Don't spend money you don't have.

Being a college student, if permissible, pay your tuition and all your books w/ the same credit card, and then pay off the bills when the statement comes. You wil be amazed how fast the miles accumulate. I put everything on my credit card....gas, groceries, shopping, shopping, and shopping! And I have gotten so many free stuff from the mileage...several tickets to hawaii, free hotels, etc.

Good luck!

Gir · Post by **Gir** » Dec 16th, '05, 17:26

Valcun wrote:I know the common answer of getting to japan is to "save". But just list some ways you think is cost effiecient and pretty good deals.

I was shopping a Grocery store and I saw this guy paying for his stuff with a Credit Card. This was no ordinary card, it was a "Delta Sky Miles, American Express" Card. Then a thought hit to me. Everytime I buy something , I always have cash for it. Why not do it through the Credit Card? I will get bonus Skymiles everytime I use my card and they add up. Eventually I can get a free ticket to japan!!

Here is a link:
http://www66.americanexpress.com/cards/ ... 251840/0/n

Another way too is to get a scholarship at a College.

I'm working on that right now with a Northwest card. I'm only about 13,000 miles short for a Japan ticket, so about another year.

One thing that bumps it up quite a bit is bonus, I was already in NW's mileage club, so getting the card was 25,000 miles, then a flight added some more. Also I put everything on the card Utility bills, fuel, about 99.9% of all my shopping, the only thing I don't (and I wish I could) is my mortgage payment. I also wished I did this all when I went to Japan in '98, I would of had a free ticket 2 years ago. But even though I have made 3 trips there I kept thinking I wouldn't make it back again, so I didn't join up.

Northwest has some good package deals sometimes. The first time I went was from Detroit to Narita and 4 days in Tokyo (with a day tour) and return flight, including transportation to and from the hotel and Narita, for around $800. And your can add extra days between flights without extra days in the hotel. (The hotel choices are in the $250 a night range) So you can get the 2 day package, and still spend 2 weeks there, and stay somewhere cheaper. Which is what I did the second trip.

groink wrote:
I wonder if stop-overs make it any cheaper? Like maybe stopping in Hawaii on your way to Japan. It also makes the flights a lot less of a headache (7 to 8 hours from HI to JPN.)

Actually lots of times I have checked many direct flights were less than stopover flights.
I never liked stop-over flights, as a direct flight Tokyo/Detroit is 12 going and 11 back, but one return flight I stopped in Seattle and Minneapolis and the flight took 17 hours, I'd much rather spend 11hours on a plane and be home then spend an extra 6 hours hanging around in airports and trying to make connecting flights, which I almost didn't because of a delay in Seattle had my flight into Minneapolis arrive only 15 min. before my next plane left. Same thing happened once coming from Kansai to LAX too.

Or, you can meet someone from Japan, start dating, fall in love, get married and go over as a spouse. That's my back up plan to the skymiles......Ok, it's not a good plan, but a plan none the less.

drukes · Post by **drukes** » Dec 17th, '05, 04:25

AIRBUS.

ToriQ · Post by **ToriQ** » Dec 18th, '05, 04:29

Gir wrote:Or, you can meet someone from Japan, start dating, fall in love, get married and go over as a spouse. That's my back up plan to the skymiles......Ok, it's not a good plan, but a plan none the less.

Or just get a job in Japan. Ok, yes this does mean that you'll have to wait until you've graduated, but at least it means you'll get paid for being in Japan. Some jobs will even provide your airfare for you.

OvertheRainbow · Post by **OvertheRainbow** » Dec 18th, '05, 04:36

Wonder if I can study abroad....If there are some good programs, Im packing my bags and heading off to Japan

Must go to Japan before I even start college!

whisperss_57 · Post by **whisperss_57** » Dec 18th, '05, 04:39

my brother went to japan with his best friend for about three weeks. and im so excited cuz this year for summer were going for about 2.5 weeks

WHEEEEEe but were also goign to taiwan to see my moms old house.. funn!

OvertheRainbow · Post by **OvertheRainbow** » Dec 18th, '05, 04:46

i want to travel the world someday

So far, most interesting place Ive been to is Vietnam

and Boston for boarding school...well those are the only two places Ive been

I even told my mommy I was gonna move to Japan and live there xP

rocket12 · Post by **rocket12** » Jan 11th, '06, 23:46

Or if you are in college and have a year where you are not gonna be taking alot of major related courses you can apply for a study abroad program. Im not sure if all colleges have them though. Im currently in the process of applying to study abroad in Hong Kong. But thats getting off topic. Plus if you recieve financial aid for college, I was told by my study abroad counsler that i can use that to pay for my expenses and tuition if i get acepted. Good deal if i say so myself. Plus, its STUDY ABROAD meaning that you get to meet cute asian college chicks.

Rupugus · Post by **Rupugus** » Jan 11th, '06, 23:56

if you're really crazy enough, there's alot of ways do do things. I have a friend who's a pilot, not a good enough friend for him to give me any discounts(grr...) but he did tell me about this rarely used annoying way to get flights. He said that some airlines allow you to pay a reduced fee to be put on the waiting list for a flight. if you've ever been on a standby list, you know how fun this is NOT. and then you have to stay in the airport until there's a cancellation on a flight. I've only done it once on my flight back to Puerto IRco, and I was waiting for 16 hours (16 hour wait for a 1.5 to 2 hour flight from Orlando to PR), I onlypaid $100 USD for a flight that coulda cost me 600+.

I'm gonna be taking a road trip to california and trying this at one of the airports there, but I'm lucky enough to have people I can stay with in both cali and japan .^_^;

.... or you could swim.

jewelry_ex_dreamer · Post by **jewelry_ex_dreamer** » Jan 14th, '06, 00:16

japan is so cool but god it cost sooo much and takes forever to get there....i want to go to south korea and meet those crazie azn guys over there them sooo cute! i luv them! i hope they aint gay!

pokute · Post by **pokute** » Jan 14th, '06, 00:24

jewelry_ex_dreamer wrote:japan is so cool but god it cost sooo much and takes forever to get there....i want to go to south korea and meet those crazie azn guys over there them sooo cute! i luv them! i hope they aint gay!

I am sure they will give you a choice... you can go into the room with the 20 horny gay guys in it, or the room with the 20 horny straight guys in it. It'll be your choice. Good luck, little princess!

Super_Nerd · Post by **Super_Nerd** » Jan 15th, '06, 07:39

Valcun@; SAVE<SAVE<SAVE<THEN<SAVE<THEN ENJOY UR TRIP

ephesus · Post by **ephesus** » Jan 15th, '06, 07:47

Saving is for suckers!! Try this!

http://www.united.com/page/article/0,6722,51093,00.html

[edit: the above deal is long gone]

para~white · Post by **para~white** » Jan 15th, '06, 08:13

>_> it seems to my that you still have to save for that deal ^ ^ha-ha - but you are right it is cheap.

Japan is hard to get to. I don’t think anyone would deny that, coupled with the fact that most people here are college students/uni students i would say that maybe you should wait until you have a reasonable paying job and then find a way over there...

But! Even though that sounds good on paper. A lot of people are just so damn desperate to get to Japan (a.k.a me) - I think the things you have to do is

A] - Volunteer at a Japanese Organisation. It doesn’t even have to be one in your local area.

B] – Make friends with lonely foreigners over in Japan (not Otaku or really perverted ones are probably best)

C] – If your parents (if you are living with them) say “No- education comes before fun” you have to
1. Tell them you are going over for the experience of a life time
2. Get them addicted to Hana Yori Dango so they become obsessive
3. Just say No
(Mine was a mixture of 1 and 3)

If you want to go there to live.. the only way really in taking a “2 year working holiday” and yahh.
Personally I have both a girlfriend and a upcoming job over there – and I am 17… I am cannot help to much, but if you live in Australia I may be able to help you out as I am the head of a new Japanese – Australia Organisation called JPAU www.jpau.org (website is not up yet ^ ^;;) But I maybe able to help you get over there

I am spending 2 years in Kobe (Near Osaka) and I think that anyone with enough motivation can do the same.
Note for some fan girls: Japan is really not like it is portrayed in Animation or Dorama.

rocket12 · Post by **rocket12** » Jan 17th, '06, 07:38

LIES!!!! your destroying my image of japanese society!!!. lol j/k .well, getting to know what life is really like in other countries is partially why people travel too right?

para~white · Post by **para~white** » Jan 17th, '06, 15:21

I wonder though - how many people actually become disappointed on their first trips to Japan - I know mine was nothing to be disappointed at.
I spent the whole time at J - Music lives.. one of my friends caught a Miyavi water bottle he drank out of and threw into the audience.. she still has the 1/2 full waterbottle on her table >< lame i tells ya haha ^ ^.

merou · Post by **merou** » May 17th, '07, 21:57

What I have found to be cheaper are tickets that usually make stops at korea before moving on to Japan. Also i recommend a round-trip ticket, because flights going out from Japan are more expensive, as i have noticed this on my last trip.

spacecommand · Post by **spacecommand** » May 18th, '07, 00:16

Not withstanding that this thread is over a year old.

Cheap tickets depend on where you're coming from, its not neccessarily true that cheap tickets go through Korea. If you are coming from the US more flights go through Japan than through Korea.

Its all about fare buckets, time of year booked, hub non hub etc etc.

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