Discount Air Tickets in Japan

Discount Air Tickets in Japan

Regular airfares on domestic routes in Japan can cost you a world. But, no more! A wide range of discount offers has made domestic air travel in Japan very lucrative and competitive these days. Check out the various discount plans. Paying regular fares is now a thing of past for air travelers. Different discount plans are available for both foreign visitors and residents of Japan.

Features of Air Passes for Foreign Visitors

  -   JAL and ANA (Star Alliance) are offering two types of air passes for exclusive use by foreign visitors to Japan.
  -   Holders now can fly anywhere within Japan for around 12,000 Yen per flight.
  -   The offer is excellent, especially for longer flights, such as from Tokyo to Kyushu, Okinawa or Hokkaido.
  -   The passes have to be purchased outside Japan and before leaving for Japan.
  -   They can only be used by non-residents of Japan who arrive to and depart from Japan by international flights.
  -   There is a limit of one air pass of the same airline per person.
  -   The passes are valid for a minimum of one or two and a maximum of five domestic flights or sectors.
  -   The number and routes of the sectors must be specified at the time of purchasing the pass.
  -   Air passes are valid for 60 days after the date of the first domestic flight.
  -   There are some blackout periods during which air passes cannot be used.
  -   The typical blackout periods are during the winter holidays of December 17 to January 10, the spring holidays of March 11 to 31 and the summer holidays of July 16 to August 31.
  -   JAL Welcome To Japan Fare, JAL Yokoso Japan Airpass, ANA Visit Japan Fare Star, Alliance Japan Airpass are the four types of air passes.

Features of Air Passes for Foreign Visitors and Residents of Japan

  -   Advance Purchase Discount
If you reserve your ticket in advance, you will get discounts on domestic flights. The biggest discounts are offered on popular routes where competition is high. During peak travel seasons, some of the discounts are reduced or not available.

  -   JAL Birthday Discount
Within seven days in advance or after your birthday, you and up to three accompanying passengers can fly domestically for only 12,000 Yen per flight and per person. The tickets must be reserved at least three weeks in advance of the boarding date. This plan also comes under the blackout periods norm.

  -   JAL Bargain Fare and ANA Chowari
Avail yourself of huge discounts on domestic flights for certain boarding dates when booked during a particular reservation period. The reservation period is December 14-23, 2006 for the Boarding Dates February 14-20, 2007 and the reservation period is January 4-13, 2007 for the Boarding Dates March 2-8, 2007. Some of the routes are Tokyo-Sapporo, Tokyo-Osaka, Tokyo-Okinawa, Osaka-Okinawa and others.

  -   JAL Time Waribiki and ANA Totsuzen Waribiki
This plan applies to the purchase of two or more round trip tickets on specified flights departing on weekends, reserved ten or fewer days in advance of the boarding date.

  -   Roundtrip Fare
On domestic routes, roundtrip tickets are around ten percent cheaper than two one way tickets. But, the return trip has to be made within 90 days following the outward journey.

  -   Early Morning and Late Night Flights
You will get discounts on some early morning and late night flights by around 10-20 percent.

Discount airlines, such as Air Do, Skymark Airlines, Skynet Asia Airways and Starflyer offer many of the same plans as JAL and ANA, but the prices are at least 20 percent lower:

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