Basically as the title suggests.
*disclosure: I searched through previous posts on the subreddit and couldn’t find anything specific to the UK. I saw a few posts discussing how expensive everything is (you can say that again) but no clear tips on what actually works.*
I’m looking to travel on the second week of March (flying out either 3rd, 4th, or 5th March) and be back by 12th March. (I cannot change the dates because this is the only block of time I can get off).
I’m in the Tokyo area (so originally tried Narita) but I thought going from KIX might be cheaper somehow (even with the cost of roundtrip shinkansen) but.. no not really. Basically the same if not worse.
**So far I’ve been able to find is around JPY 200,000\~250,000, and what I’ve tried is**:
(1) Looking on aggregator sites (Skyscanner, Expedia, Momondo, priceline, Booking etc.)
(2) Looking on airline websites directly (tried Etihad, Air France/KLM, Emirates so far).
Based on some of the other posts I saw through searching the subreddit, **I’ve seen people saying stuff like**:
**(A) It may costs more to fly out of Japan, so try to find a way to workaround that**
not sure where to start here. Sounds like trial and error so I’d love to get some tips first.
**(B) It may be cheaper to fly to a different place first and then fly to your actual destination**
Same as above.
**(C) It may be cheaper to book two separate one-way tickets than booking a roundtrip ticket.**
Just tried this. Still coming out around JPY 230,000
My other thought was to go through a small travel agent or something but the only small travel agent I’ve ever used (London-based Japan Travel Centre) seems to have closed down about 3 years ago for obvious reasons. Happy to try others (based wherever as long as they can get the job done) if anyone has any specific recommendations
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So that’s where I’m at so far. Are there any folks who travelled to/from the UK recently and managed to scoop a good deal? Anything I’m missing?
Thanks in advance I appreciate it
10 comments
NG #1 be flexible on your dates.
2 Try websites in Japan and local destination.
3 Use a VPN to spoof your location
4 Call the airline
5 Be rich
6 Your (B) but if a flight gets canceled or delayed you can be SOL.
What makes you think tickets can be had for less?
Fly to London and take a train to Manchester, might be a bit cheaper (you might get some cheap train tickets)
A/B- start with Korea. I popped “depart on March 4, return March 12” into Google Flights, changed the departure point from Tokyo to Seoul, and the price dropped by half. Then you just need a ticket from Tokyo to Seoul. That’ll be 50k roundtrip on those dates. You just saved 50k yen.
EDIT: However, you should leave at least 6 hours between flights if you do this, since this type of two-ticket connection isn’t protected if you miss it. If it were me I’d leave a whole night but that would leave even less time (depart March 3, one night in Seoul, leave March 4, on the return leave the UK March 10, arrive in Seoul March 11, leave Seoul for Tokyo March 12).
Won’t help now but for the future I’d strongly recommend investing in a decent mileage accruing credit card. I fly back to Manchester for free every year (well, you still pay taxes…).
An aside, ANA’s “the room” seating is THE BEST I’ve ever taken Asia to UK. Amazing flight experience.
Two ideas that have really helped me in the past but you would need to put in several hours research to understand and use them properly:
1. Buy frequent flyer miles and use them. Normally this is bad value for money but if buying tickets is that expensive it could be worth it. I bought ¥170,000 worth of miles to travel last summer when a cash ticket was about ¥300k. But you need to do research on what miles are good value and what tickets are available with miles and at what price since it varies a lot and tends to be quite different from paid tickets.
2. If you buy two one way tickets, the return can be a one-way ticket to Korea or SE Asia with a stopover in Japan which are almost always cheaper (hidden city ticketing). It is against the rules but if you find a ticket that requires you to change airports from HND to NRT or vice versa, they basically can’t enforce it since you need to get your bags and enter Japan anyway.
Again, research these in detail before you jump in and book anything but they can be powerful once you know what you’re doing.
Use a VPN and set it to a poor country like Mexico or something.
Singapore airlines to London is the cheapest you’ll find right now (if there’s any left for those dates). But a long layover in Singapore and the flight to Singapore in the wrong direction at the start, make it a hefty schedule.
Car rental is is pretty cheap, so you can drive from Heathrow to Manchester.
I searched around on my usual sites, and I can’t find anything cheaper than about 220 something thousand yen.
The fact that there are fewer flights, higher fuel surcharges, you want to leave on a Friday Saturday or Sunday, and return also on a weekend, all makes things more expensive. I’m afraid you’re gonna have to bite the bullet.
I don’t know about the UK, but it’s common knowledge that tickets are cheaper originating in the US to come to Japan rather than vice versa. One last possible option to investigate is if you buy a one-way ticket to Manchester, then from there buy a round-trip ticket to Tokyo, using the second leg of that ticket in the future to return again. Of course this only makes financial sense if you intend to return in the near future, within a year and it’s not necessarily cheaper, except that you might get three flights out of it
I found that, if you’re willing to stop, it’s a bit cheaper. For instance, going with Emirates. Yes, it takes a long ass time, but the price is much less.