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Japan Travel Thread

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Sr. Member
May 19, 2009
885 posts
1234 upvotes
Vancouver
express.items wrote: How did you manage to book it like this? Did you do multi-city? I booked YYZ-ITM, it is routed as:

YYZ-DFW-NRT-ITM
ITM-HND-ORD-YYZ

I wanted to start my Japan adventures from NRT but have read that this would cancel the rest of the itinerary - thus I would have no return flight.
Yes, I did multi-city (Vancouver to Tokyo, Tokyo to Osaka, Osaka to Vancouver). And yes, I have heard that if you missed one of the flights, it'll cancel the rest of your itinerary, so do not do that.

I also looked up Vancouver to Tokyo, then Osaka to Vancouver, and the flight was around $780 CAD or something like that, so if you want flexibility with domestic travels you could consider this.

Edit: I tried to use Toronto instead of Vancouver to do multi-city search on Expedia and the flights I find are like $1300+... while I can still see my flights from YVR for $690 (JAL). It's probably cheaper for you to buy what I got, and then buy round trip YYZ <-> YVR (~$450) lol.
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Jul 27, 2004
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sherri-chan wrote: Yes, I did multi-city (Vancouver to Tokyo, Tokyo to Osaka, Osaka to Vancouver). And yes, I have heard that if you missed one of the flights, it'll cancel the rest of your itinerary, so do not do that.

I also looked up Vancouver to Tokyo, then Osaka to Vancouver, and the flight was around $780 CAD or something like that, so if you want flexibility with domestic travels you could consider this.

Edit: I tried to use Toronto instead of Vancouver to do multi-city search on Expedia and the flights I find are like $1300+... while I can still see my flights from YVR for $690 (JAL). It's probably cheaper for you to buy what I got, and then buy round trip YYZ <-> YVR (~$450) lol.
It's too late, as I booked this a few days ago - but even within 24hrs, Expedia wouldn't let me cancel :( I'm going Apr 18-May 9. I later looked and thought to come back May 12 (Sunday) instead for $50 more. I booked through Expedia so I could get the points for TD First Class Travel VISA. The flights to/within Japan are operated by JAL, but this is all ticketed through American Air - AA has the 24hr policy, but it doesn't apply to third-party (travel agent/Expedia/etc.) and Expedia is thus unhelpful :(

Any recommendations on how to get to Tokyo? I'm guessing hopping over to Korea is a little tight, and seems to be more expensive with Golden Week happening :(
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Raggie wrote: Has anyone flown with Cathay Pacific to Japan? How is it and what is the cost of advance seat selection?

What about Korean Air? How is this flight to Japan?

Thanks.
CX food is just better than AC.lots of tour groups. Personal ly I would fly direct instead of transit ting in HK 12 hours instead of 18 hours
From Korea flew Asiana first class courtesy of aeroplan.Superb! Korean should be similar?
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goldenball wrote: CX food is just better than AC.lots of tour groups. Personal ly I would fly direct instead of transit ting in HK 12 hours instead of 18 hours
From Korea flew Asiana first class courtesy of aeroplan.Superb! Korean should be similar?
I had to change my flight and AC jumped $500 overnight! They had the best times. So my only affordable options were the ones mentioned above. I ended up booking Korean Air.
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Sr. Member
May 19, 2009
885 posts
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Vancouver
express.items wrote: It's too late, as I booked this a few days ago - but even within 24hrs, Expedia wouldn't let me cancel :( I'm going Apr 18-May 9. I later looked and thought to come back May 12 (Sunday) instead for $50 more. I booked through Expedia so I could get the points for TD First Class Travel VISA. The flights to/within Japan are operated by JAL, but this is all ticketed through American Air - AA has the 24hr policy, but it doesn't apply to third-party (travel agent/Expedia/etc.) and Expedia is thus unhelpful :(

Any recommendations on how to get to Tokyo? I'm guessing hopping over to Korea is a little tight, and seems to be more expensive with Golden Week happening :(
Ah yes, as far as I know you cannot cancel/alter with Expedia once you booked, unless you pay a $200 fee or something. I have been sitting on it for a few days before I finalized the booking.

I booked with the Scotia Bank Infinite visa because of the 10% cash back, and it looks like it has decent travel insurance that covers delays and lost luggage (I do have BCCA insurance as well).

Any recommendations on how to get to Tokyo? <--- do you mean from the airport to Tokyo? It kinda depends on where you're staying... personally I like the Limousine bus since you can sleep on there, the bus ticket includes 2 luggage, and it takes you to major stations and hotels, but it's pricier than taking the train.

If where you're staying requires a few transfer and you arrive at Tokyo during the morning, then I recommend shipping your luggage using courier (it's about 2000-3000yen depending on destination, usually arrives the next morning) to your hotel, then you can hop onto the train and do some sightseeing right away instead of taking your luggage to the hotel. I'm a short girl so I personally find it difficult to drag my luggage around, and I don't want to trouble other riders. Also, not all train stations have escalator/elevator so moving the luggage up the stairs is hard for me. For my trip, I'm arriving in the evening, so I'm gonna take the Limousine bus to Shibuya station, then take the train to my friend's house from there (only a few stops away so quite easy to take the luggage with me).
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lurkknight wrote: really depends on what you like, nerdy anime/game stuff, technology, traditional japanese culture, food, etc. If you are bringing younger kits or older kids, that will also dictate what you could do. Start with a google search or trip advisor for things to do in japan or near tokyo. Also see if there are any festivals happening while you are there. Being an omni nerd, my first trip was all about doing all the stupid stuff I saw in movies and anime, Second trip was about wandering around without being shy about doing or asking things, going way out of my comfort zone in attempting communication in japanese and third trip was specifically about food.

Any of the travel aggregates will find you cheap hotels. If you are single travelers you can book in business hotels usually around 100$/night. It ends up being a double bed in a small room but it's fine for traveling. If you are a family then you will probably want to look at more expensive western chain hotels or a local chain with suites or airbnb. I don't really have a suggestion on where in tokyo to stay, you can't really go wrong in any of the bigger districts for your first time. It would be easier to get to and less need to navigate. There are lots of hotel choices near train stations. Best way to pick is maybe pick a district you are most interested in, shibuya, shinjuku, akihabara, ginza, etc. Google search the local train station and then do a local/nearby search for hotels and shop around the district. Another option is 1 or 2 train stops away from those bigger districts so it's less busy and smaller train stations to figure out to get in and out of. Shinjuku is an above ground maze on top of an underground maze, so if you're bad with direction sense you could have trouble finding your way in and out of the station at the proper exit. Any district on the yamanote train line is probably the most convenient for navigation.

Streets are not usually named and buildings are not numbered logically, so if you aren't used to the asian style of addressing, picking something that's a reasonably straight shot walk to the station will help a lot. Bring a compass... I have a small one clipped on my backpack. knowing which way is north at any given time helps a LOT. GPS signals are hard to acquire sometimes in the valleys of the concrete jungle, so starting off in the right direction helps a lot in not getting lost right away.

At 9 days you need to decide how you want to break up the trip and see if a rail pass can be used efficiently, otherwise you'll need to plan longer train trips accordingly.

I also agree with above, kyoto/kansai can be a trip all on it's own. 9 days would make it difficult to experience both tokyo and kyoto. especially since your arrival/departure are tokyo, doesn't make a lot of sense to go out and back, though you could do 2 days in tokyo, go out for 4 and come back for the rest. You're using 2.5 hours each way though but you do get a good ride on the shinkansen.

You can always go north of tokyo as well, there's several smaller cities that might give you a taste of not tokyo if you want to get away from the crazy density of the city. Hakone is nice but all the tourists go there.
kenze wrote: 4 full days in Tokyo, 1 day trip to Kamakura, 2 nights/3 days in Nikko and 1 night at a ryokan in Hakone.

I'm not including Kyoto because it requires 4 nights to experience properly. Also, there are many nearby cities worth visiting such as Kobe, Osaka, Himeji, Nara etc. So I recommend visiting all those cities on your second trip.

Thank me later ;)
Took some of your advice - I don't think we're going to Kyoto anymore. What do you think about this possible itinerary?

Day 0 - Arrive to Haneda Airport - 8:30pm, train or taxi (?) to hotel, eat, sleep
Day 1 - Tokyo
Day 2 - Tokyo
Day 3 - Kimugawa - check in to Ryokan
Day 4 - Ryokan / Nikko - check out of Ryokan - check-in to hotel
Day 5 - Nikko / travel to Yokohama hotel and check-in
Day 6 - Day trip to Kamakura, sleep in Yokohama
Day 7 - Yokohama
Day 8 - Tokyo
Day 9 - Tokyo
Day 10 - Eat breakfast/lunch in Tokyo, depart from Narita Airport 3:30pm
Jr. Member
Aug 7, 2011
120 posts
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THORNHILL
superfresh89 wrote: Took some of your advice - I don't think we're going to Kyoto anymore. What do you think about this possible itinerary?

Day 0 - Arrive to Haneda Airport - 8:30pm, train or taxi (?) to hotel, eat, sleep
Day 1 - Tokyo
Day 2 - Tokyo
Day 3 - Kimugawa - check in to Ryokan
Day 4 - Ryokan / Nikko - check out of Ryokan - check-in to hotel
Day 5 - Nikko / travel to Yokohama hotel and check-in
Day 6 - Day trip to Kamakura, sleep in Yokohama
Day 7 - Yokohama
Day 8 - Tokyo
Day 9 - Tokyo
Day 10 - Eat breakfast/lunch in Tokyo, depart from Narita Airport 3:30pm
Hey, you should really look into taking the Limo Buses from the airport. They stop at different areas all over town, you just have to figure out which area you're staying in get on that bus and stop at the closest stop to your hotel, if you're lucky and staying at a very popular hotel then it may stop right outside. Usually around 1500-2500 yen from Haneda airport for the bus, and quite a bit more to Narita as Narita is a lot further from the city.

They're coach buses and very comfortable, I highly recommend NOT taking a taxi from the airport, especially Narita's or you'll go bankrupt lol Taxis are really expensive in Japan.
Newbie
Feb 16, 2017
31 posts
13 upvotes
Hey, me and a couple of friends got the deal back in October for a week in Japan and a week in Taipei and were leaving near the end of April. We were wondering if anyone has tried this or knows if we can not take our existing flight to Taipei and stay a couple of days more in Japan and just buy a new flight going to Taipei. Would that cause any issues on our flight back?
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Jul 27, 2004
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sherri-chan wrote: Ah yes, as far as I know you cannot cancel/alter with Expedia once you booked, unless you pay a $200 fee or something. I have been sitting on it for a few days before I finalized the booking.

I booked with the Scotia Bank Infinite visa because of the 10% cash back, and it looks like it has decent travel insurance that covers delays and lost luggage (I do have BCCA insurance as well).

Any recommendations on how to get to Tokyo? <--- do you mean from the airport to Tokyo? It kinda depends on where you're staying... personally I like the Limousine bus since you can sleep on there, the bus ticket includes 2 luggage, and it takes you to major stations and hotels, but it's pricier than taking the train.

If where you're staying requires a few transfer and you arrive at Tokyo during the morning, then I recommend shipping your luggage using courier (it's about 2000-3000yen depending on destination, usually arrives the next morning) to your hotel, then you can hop onto the train and do some sightseeing right away instead of taking your luggage to the hotel. I'm a short girl so I personally find it difficult to drag my luggage around, and I don't want to trouble other riders. Also, not all train stations have escalator/elevator so moving the luggage up the stairs is hard for me. For my trip, I'm arriving in the evening, so I'm gonna take the Limousine bus to Shibuya station, then take the train to my friend's house from there (only a few stops away so quite easy to take the luggage with me).
I wish I sat on it, but I thought this deal wouldn't be around for so long! :(

I meant getting from Osaka to Tokyo, since I must complete my flight to ITM but I want to see both cities, and maybe a few more. I land 6:30PM at ITM, I can either say in Osaka for the night/few days or make my way to Tokyo. I still need to plan where I want to visit, so I can get appropriate accommodation :(
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Apr 9, 2010
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superfresh89 wrote: Took some of your advice - I don't think we're going to Kyoto anymore. What do you think about this possible itinerary?

Day 0 - Arrive to Haneda Airport - 8:30pm, train or taxi (?) to hotel, eat, sleep
Day 1 - Tokyo
Day 2 - Tokyo
Day 3 - Kimugawa - check in to Ryokan
Day 4 - Ryokan / Nikko - check out of Ryokan - check-in to hotel
Day 5 - Nikko / travel to Yokohama hotel and check-in
Day 6 - Day trip to Kamakura, sleep in Yokohama
Day 7 - Yokohama
Day 8 - Tokyo
Day 9 - Tokyo
Day 10 - Eat breakfast/lunch in Tokyo, depart from Narita Airport 3:30pm
Did you mean Kinugawa onsen in Nikko?

- I recommend staying at a guesthouse for 3 whole nights in Nikko. (Some guesthouses are pretty much ryokans) The sights are really spread out and it would be a pain in the butt to check in and out.
- Yokohama isn't really worth including and would be better replaced by Tokyo/Kawagoe

The following would be a perfectly planned itinerary :

Day 0 - Arrive to Haneda Airport - 8:30pm, train or taxi (?) to hotel, eat, sleep
Day 1 - Full day in Tokyo
Day 2 - Take the train around 11AM and check in at guesthouse in Nikko
Day 3 - Full day in Nikko
Day 4 - Full day in Nikko
Day 5 - Go back to Tokyo around 12PM and spend the night there (No daytrip on this day because Nikko to Tokyo is about 3 hours by train.)
Day 6 - Full day in Tokyo
Day 7 - Wake up early around 8AM and daytrip to Kamakura/Enoshima return to Tokyo at night
Day 8 - Full day in Tokyo (Can be replaced with half a day in Kawagoe)
Day 9 - Full day in Tokyo
Day 10 - Eat breakfast/lunch in Tokyo, depart from Narita Airport 3:30pm


Notes : Stay in Asakusa area (or close) to have easy access to Tobu train to Nikko. They offer a 4 day pass.

http://www.tobu.co.jp/foreign/en/pass/all.html
Sr. Member
May 19, 2009
885 posts
1234 upvotes
Vancouver
faldue wrote: Hey, me and a couple of friends got the deal back in October for a week in Japan and a week in Taipei and were leaving near the end of April. We were wondering if anyone has tried this or knows if we can not take our existing flight to Taipei and stay a couple of days more in Japan and just buy a new flight going to Taipei. Would that cause any issues on our flight back?
As far as I know (no actual personal experience), if you "skip" one of your flights that's part of your original itinerary, the rest of your itinerary will get cancelled. You should call the airline to double check for the most accurate info. This isn't something I'd rely on opinions from the internet as everyone's experience could be different.
Sr. Member
May 19, 2009
885 posts
1234 upvotes
Vancouver
express.items wrote: I wish I sat on it, but I thought this deal wouldn't be around for so long! :(

I meant getting from Osaka to Tokyo, since I must complete my flight to ITM but I want to see both cities, and maybe a few more. I land 6:30PM at ITM, I can either say in Osaka for the night/few days or make my way to Tokyo. I still need to plan where I want to visit, so I can get appropriate accommodation :(
The deal was going longer than I thought too! I just looked at Expedia again and they have even more options than when I booked now (different time for flying back, and flying back from ITM instead of KIX)... and it's $2 cheaper LOL. Oh well. I should just stop looking.

I guess depending on how long you plan to stay / travel to other cities, then it might actually be a good idea for you to get the 7 days JR Pass. The easiest way to travel to Tokyo is definitely the Shinkansen since they run frequently and you don't really have to book ahead of time. I'd recommend starting during day time, as from what I heard, the JR Pass goes day-by-day so it doesn't make sense to start your pass during the evening. You can probably stop by Yokohama and Nagoya (they have Shinkansen stops between Osaka and Tokyo). Plan everything you want to see / travel long distances for during those 7 days, and return to Osaka with Shinkansen on the evening of that 7th day. If you do a round trip Shinkansen Osaka <-> Tokyo I think the pass pretty much pays for itself. Hopefully someone else with actual experience of the JR Pass can tell you more Winking Face I have only done one-way travel with the Shinkansen and it's pretty nice.

I'd also do this trip during the earlier portion of your travel before Golden Week hits.
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Jul 22, 2017
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Pingu in the city
Here is a JR pass calculator if unsure whether it's worth it or not : http://japan.aoimirai.net/jrpass_calculator.html

Sometimes regional JR pass is more handy since you can pick separate days to active it, unlike the regular JR pass where it have to be in consecutive days.
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Can I decide when to use the JR pass? Like when I go to Japan i'll stay 4 nights in Tokyo, and then on the 5th day can I use the JR pass and that 7 days to travel around Japan?
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SquirreI wrote: Can I decide when to use the JR pass? Like when I go to Japan i'll stay 4 nights in Tokyo, and then on the 5th day can I use the JR pass and that 7 days to travel around Japan?
Yes you can. But once you confirmed the starting date at the JR pass exchange center in Japan, you will not able to change it. (Regular JR pass)
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PenguinRei wrote: Yes you can. But once you confirmed the starting date at the JR pass exchange center in Japan, you will not able to change it. (Regular JR pass)
SquirreI wrote: Can I decide when to use the JR pass? Like when I go to Japan i'll stay 4 nights in Tokyo, and then on the 5th day can I use the JR pass and that 7 days to travel around Japan?
In addition, you MUST use the JR pass on CONSECUTIVE days

So for example, you can not say I want to start using it on Saturday Dec 1 - You have until Saturday Dec 7 for the JR pass

So if you use it Saturday Dec 1, and dont use it again until Friday Dec 6 it doesnt matter you activated it for 7 consecutive days
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I recall someone posting about a Global SIM purchased in advance thru Amazon. Can you provide the info again?
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PenguinRei wrote: Yes you can. But once you confirmed the starting date at the JR pass exchange center in Japan, you will not able to change it. (Regular JR pass)
chillychin wrote: In addition, you MUST use the JR pass on CONSECUTIVE days

So for example, you can not say I want to start using it on Saturday Dec 1 - You have until Saturday Dec 7 for the JR pass

So if you use it Saturday Dec 1, and dont use it again until Friday Dec 6 it doesnt matter you activated it for 7 consecutive days
Thanks, so conflicted. i'm going to japan for 18 days. Thinking I should go with the 14 days but so unsure. 7 days is so short for me. I'd like to spend 4 nights in Tokyo, then 4 nights in Osaka, then maybe stay in Kyushu, and then head to Hiroshima. ughh... decisions.
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SquirreI wrote: Thanks, so conflicted. i'm going to japan for 18 days. Thinking I should go with the 14 days but so unsure. 7 days is so short for me. I'd like to spend 4 nights in Tokyo, then 4 nights in Osaka, then maybe stay in Kyushu, and then head to Hiroshima. ughh... decisions.
Try this calculator

https://www.japan-guide.com/railpass/

It can help determine if it is worth it for you to get a certain JR pass

Based on your itinerary and my humble opinon may be to lean toward the 14 days pass for you.

The round trip from Kyoto to Hiroshima pretty much paid for most of my 14 day JR pass, including my trip from Tokyo to Kyoto round trip.

Bear in mind you cant use your JR pass on local subways outside of Tokyo if I recall - For sure not for local transportation in Kyoto.

If you really want to max out your JR pass to make it worth while I would perhaps suggest also visiting these other places via JR shinaksen

-Kyoto
-Nara
-Himeji
-Kobe

These are all part of the "southern" route of Japan and each can easily be done with a short ride in a day. Though Kyoto needs a lot of time to see everything and appreciate, but the COMMUTE time between these places are very short.

UPDATE: Forgot to note that you also can use your JR pass for a hop on/hop off bus tour through out Hiroshima. You can also hit up Miyajima while your out there and if your quick, you can do both in a day. So the JR pass is quite worth the money for visiting hiroshima

Also in Hiroshima I HIGHLY recommend trying hiroshima style okonomiyki.....cant find it anywhere else
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Pingu in the city
Raggie wrote: I recall someone posting about a Global SIM purchased in advance thru Amazon. Can you provide the info again?
Not that person, but my friends and I tried a number of different sims.

I personally went with Docomo (The direct service one called Japan Welcome SIM. It's not the reseller ones that required APN setup.). Works quite well. I picked it up at Haneda airport's Lawson.
Also tested the Knowroaming sim. It works alright under Softbank network. But after the initial $5, the default reload value is quite expensive.
My other friend ordered from B-mobile and it also works quite well.
Another friend ordered an AIS sim from Amazon? or eBay. I forget. It also seems working quite well with best value too. However its customer service is in Thai language and his phone received some Thai SMS messages that we couldn't read.

That's all the stuff I know about sims.
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