Taxes are coming back soon, and I was thinking of using them to take a trip over to Japan for a work holiday, so I need help from someone who knows about airlines! I've been searching online, and I have no idea how these ticket prices are decided...I've gotten prices ranging from 1,200USD for a round trip all the way up to 5,500USD, just by changing the departure/return dates ahead or behind a few weeks. I'm just wondering if anybody here has any idea of how these crazy prices work, hahah. I'd like to start planning a trip!

Thank you, Ichigofriends. =)

I believe it mostly depends on when you go, certain periods are more expensive because of national holidays and such. Also, booking a long time in advance will usually make tickets cheaper. Other than that, no idea :P I don't fly often.

My extended family fly quite a lot to do with business, and they recommend you never take economy class. Not only because it isn't the most comfortable thing to take for a, say, 20 hour trip, but also because your flight has a higher chance of being cancelled. The $2000 USD mark seems to look about the right sort of cost; the only way to get a cheaper flight would be to book in for some sort of holiday deal that includes flight + accommodation etc. What Neko said plays a decent part in the prices as well. Also try and avoid picking the "rush" boarding times. The most common times to leave for an overseas trip is about 5-6am, if you can manage to find a flight that leaves at 3-4am it should be cheaper (you'll just have to sacrifice normal sleeping times for a while, but jet lag will do that to you anyway :P ).

The last thing I can think of, is to try and get a flight to another state or city first, because their international flights may be cheaper. It sounds silly, but if I were to travel to England, it would cost me (for your average Business Class) around $3000 from my city. However if I take a $100 flight up to another state, I only have to pay about $2500 for the flight.

Hope that helps. :)

Lol, I'd never pay more for anything but economy class. I'm going to Japan in May, return ticket is... I believe around 800 euros. That's less than 1000 USD. No way I'm paying 2500.

Edit: Oops, weird forum glitch double post. See below!

I believe it mostly depends on when you go, certain periods are more expensive because of national holidays and such. Also, booking a long time in advance will usually make tickets cheaper. Other than that, no idea I don't fly often.
Yeah, the prices seem totally arbitrary, hahah.

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My extended family fly quite a lot to do with business, and they recommend you never take economy class. Not only because it isn't the most comfortable thing to take for a, say, 20 hour trip, but also because your flight has a higher chance of being cancelled. The $2000 USD mark seems to look about the right sort of cost; the only way to get a cheaper flight would be to book in for some sort of holiday deal that includes flight + accommodation etc. What Neko said plays a decent part in the prices as well. Also try and avoid picking the "rush" boarding times. The most common times to leave for an overseas trip is about 5-6am, if you can manage to find a flight that leaves at 3-4am it should be cheaper (you'll just have to sacrifice normal sleeping times for a while, but jet lag will do that to you anyway ).

The last thing I can think of, is to try and get a flight to another state or city first, because their international flights may be cheaper. It sounds silly, but if I were to travel to England, it would cost me (for your average Business Class) around $3000 from my city. However if I take a $100 flight up to another state, I only have to pay about $2500 for the flight.

Hope that helps.
Thanks for the advice about checking different cities, Taemond, that's something to look into. I'll be flying economy class for sure though, hahah. Reduced comfort is worth paying half the price, lol.

Lol, I'd never pay more for anything but economy class. I'm going to Japan in May, return ticket is... I believe around 800 euros. That's less than 1000 USD. No way I'm paying 2500.


You're going in May? How long are you staying? The cheapest tickets I've found so far leave May 6th, and get back July 12th. At 1,100USD, they're ridiculously cheap compared to everything else I've found so far, so there's a good chance I'll end up going with them. We should meet up for some Japanese beers if we're in the country at the same time, hahah! =D
Also, it's a seventeen hour flight with one stop. Ohhhhh boy. I'll have to bring the DS on this flight. XD

http://www.kayak.com

Good suggestion M, that's realistic. Jimmy lives on the EAST COAST, it'd take him forever to kayak to China, he'd probably have to go through the Panama Canal. Nice try.

Good suggestion M, that's realistic. Jimmy lives on the EAST COAST, it'd take him forever to kayak to China, he'd probably have to go through the Panama Canal. Nice try.


Hey, hey. M's trying his best here. It's not his fault he doesn't know the first thing about international travel. D:
Nah, just kidding. Thanks for the link, M, but even using that, I couldn't beat the 1,100USD price I already found with some other random travel site. I think it's about as low as I'm gonna get, anyway...$550 for a trip to the other side of the planet is pretty cheap, I think...

I'll still take any advice people have to offer, though, if they have any.

We could make this a general "what to do while in Japan!" thread too, if people who have already gone want to. I'd be happy to take that sort of advice, too. =D

Edit: And lol, just saw the new (dead) General Chat thread. Too bad; I'd have liked to have seen it up for a few days, at least, for old time's sake. It'd probably get some of the lurkers that used to post their all the time to pop up, too. I wonder how many old members just come here and lurk now?

You wouldn't go to certain coventions for someone and pick up certain merchandise..................... :P

As for places to go, try dannychoo.com and browse through the archives. Danny makes great blogs and recommendations of where to go in Japan.

You wouldn't go to certain coventions for someone and pick up certain merchandise.....................

As for places to go, try dannychoo.com and browse through the archives. Danny makes great blogs and recommendations of where to go in Japan.
Fuckkkk, you got me all excited. But then I checked the date, and it's held after I'd be leaving with these current tickets. Maybe I'll have to look around some more, hahah. XD
And thanks for the dannychoo link! I've been there before, but forgot all about it. That guy definitely has a lot of useful traveling information! And he always has gorgeous photos to go along with his posts.