Airfare wisdom?
Trying to book for May 2024. Decided not to do Tauck air due to some issues that arouse on out last trip with their flights.
The airfares from PDX to Tokyo round trip on Delta Comfort refundable are in the neighborhood of $5300. for 2.
If I fly Delta to Tokyo and return from Osaka, KIX airport nearest to our end of trip, the fare triples to $16,000.
So I’m thinking we need to return to Tokyo via train, stay the night and leave the next day to save that $10,000 plus.
Am I missing something here? Words of wisdom much appreciated. We do not have any air miles to defer the cost.
I tried to use the JAL website and found their fares are comparable with more difficulty in negotiating their site.
Thanks in advance for any replies.
Ellen
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Comments
Fares are cheaper roundtrip PDX/Tokyo than returning to PDX from KIX. You might take a look at Google Flights. Don’t know your precise dates, but it looks like there are premium economy (which I believe is the equivalent of Delta Comfort) roundtrip PDX/Tokyo 1 stop (Vancouver) flights on Air Canada for 2 priced under $4200. The PDX/YVR legs (an hour and a quarter) of the flights are economy, but the long YVR/Tokyo legs are premium economy. Good luck. We head to Japan in a week for the Essence of Japan trip.
I did this trip last year. Spent 3 days in Tokyo at the end of the trip and flew home from there. The train from Kyoto to Tokyo was easy. The high speed rail (Shinkansen) leaves Kyoto to Tokyo about every 15 minutes. The trip is just over 2 hours. You can buy tickets at the Kyoto station just prior to departure. And the station is about a 10 minute taxi ride from the hotel, which Tauck covered (TD gave us cash).
You might also look into connecting flights. I flew on United, one way non-stop (to DEN) using FF miles. The other way I flew through Vancouver, because it was about 50% cheaper than non-stop for biz class.
I just checked LAX to Tokyo, returning from Osaka (to LAX) and the fare for business class was just under $5,000. You might consider flying to a major airport, like LAX, and see what fare you get.
This was non-stop to Tokyo (NRT) and a flight from Osaka to Tokyo (HND) before flying back to LAX. There was one non-stop on both sides and the fare was a bit over $6,000 for business class.
Premium economy was a bit over $2,000. Regular economy is just over $1,000. Both economy flights were non-stop to Narita and the return was Osaka to HND, then to LAX.
I use matrix search to find flights - https://matrix.itasoftware.com/search
Like Mike, we often look at flying into and out of alternative US gate cities. We pay or use miles to get from our home airport to the gateway. Doing that can sometimes literally save thousands of $ if flying business.
Mike Henderson: I love the matrix search engine you posted. It is user friendly. I know I can still learn more from it. Matrixitasoftware.com.
An added note: If you're adventurous, you can take the Shinkansen from Osaka to Tokyo and a local train to the airport. That way you buy a round trip ticket LAX-Tokyo-LAX and that’s a tiny bit less expensive. You might arrive at NRT and depart at HND. The trains are very safe and on time.
Personally, I’d do the flight from Osaka to the Tokyo airport to save time, but I’ve ridden the Shinkansen before.
Re Mike's post above, I took the Narita Express to the airport from Tokyo station. The hardest part was finding the elevator to get down a few levels to the train with my bags. It was located just outside the building. The train to HND leaves from another station.
Did a flight from Osaka to Tokyo just two weeks ago. I was on several Shinkansen trains including the very latest one, they vary in their maximum speeds. The trains always arrive and leave on time. And always stop in exact the correct posts on the station. You have to be ready to get off the train straight away as it only stops for a few minutes.
Many thanks for all the wise advice. The additional web sites uncovered flight possibilities I never thought of.
Should be able to book soon. Much to my surprise Air Canada and Hawaiian Air are the top contenders. Appreciate the generosity of help among the Tauck community