How to Find Cheap Tickets to Japan
- 1). To begin, determine which airport within Japan you would like to fly to. Most people going to Tokyo stop in Narita [NRT]. However, tickets to Haneda [HND], one domestic connection away from Narita, can be purchased for a similar price as tickets to Narita and will put you closer to the heart of Tokyo.
- 2). If you do fly to Narita, be prepared to spend US$30 and 2 hours to $70 and 50 minutes on a train to get to central Tokyo from the airport. (If you are worried about your budget and in a rush, do not take a taxi from Narita to Tokyo.)
- 3). If you are not going to Tokyo, then don't stop flying in Narita! Make a connection to a local airport, or fly to a different international airport entirely! Airfares to Osaka (via Kansai International Airport [KIX]) or Nagoya (via Chubu International Airport [NGO]) are just as cheap as flights to Narita.
- 4). Once you've thought about where you're really going, take a look at discount airfare sites for your region. Assuming you are coming out of the US, start at airfare comparison sites like Sidestep (linked in the "Resources" section below). Orbitz, Expedia, and Travelocity are other popular options, but Sidestep tends to return the cheapest prices--even when you search for flights within the next few days.
- 5). Sidestep regularly returns competitive fares to Narita (NRT) or Nagoya (NGO) in the US$700 to $1200 range (as of August 2009). Seven hundred dollar economy fares are reasonable and possible with hunting and flexibility. You should be prepared to spend at least this much on the plane ticket, unless you have a lot of ingenuity or some special connections (such a close relative in the airline industry).
- 6). Another option for airfare is to call an airline directly. This is ideal if you are hoping to accrue frequent flier miles at a specific company. Speak to an operator and ask about cheap deals to the location you want--explain that you are flexible (if you are) in your dates and locations, and ask if the company is offering any specials. If you don't like the results, call a different airline or call the same one again and hope for a different operator (really! Not everyone at one company will give you the exact same numbers).
- 7). If you have enough frequent flier miles already, consider using them. On most major US airline programs, a round-trip economy class flight between the US and Asia costs 60,000 miles. An upgrade from a full economy fare to business class usually costs 25,000 miles.
- 8). Finally, check out travel agents and bucket shops. Traditional travel agents will probably not find you a better deal on a ticket than you will find from sites like Sidestep. However, they will be able to assist you in picking flights with good connecting times and securing good seats (e.g., if you prefer a window or aisle, and if you want to be close to the front so you can deplane quickly).
- 9). "Bucket shops" are a special breed of travel agent that deals in tickets for flights which haven't sold all their seats. The bucket shop scoops up a bunch of seats at rock bottom prices and then passes them off to budget travelers. Usually these sites will not sell tickets online because their inventory changes so fast. You will need to call them directly. Two travel agents in this vein that serve Japan are STA Travel (which specializes in tickets for students and under-25 passengers) and Amnet (a bilingual agent specializing in flights between the US and Japan). Both of these agents are linked in the Resources section below.
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