I Love Credit Cards and Japan!

[dunkindonut]

I think we are going to do just Tokyo and Osaka. Would you recommend flying in to Tokyo and
train to Osaka and flying back home from there or reverse? The plan was 7 nights Tokyo and 3
Osaka. Thks

Unless you live somewhere with a direct flight to Osaka (LA or San Fran are the only places in America with it as far as I know) then I would not recommend it. But I mean if you have to go to LA or San Fran anyway for a connecting flight then take it.

 

[dunkindonut]

United has ANA economy as low as 55K pts for several dates in May. I researched ANA economy and it appears to be better than most if economy is your only choice.

I would stay away from ANA operated from united. ANA planes operated by ANA are the same price and completely superior.

 

[gelatoni fan]

So so true. My kids (young adults) have even asked for the trip after this one to include a lunch at CTS...

I liked the doria at the Doraemon cafe and the dessert at the Hello Kitty cafe. I'd definitely want to fly to/from CTS again.

 

[djmeredith]

So do you book on United or ANA site?

You book on the United site. It shows up like the regular United flights, it just says "operated by ANA."

 

[Jax1023]

I’m beginning to plan a trip for Japan for spring break of 2025- late March/ early April. I realize this will be a popular/ expensive time to travel, but it’s either then or summer as we are limited by school schedules. Looking at 2 weeks.

It seems unlikely we could get 4 suits in business on points correct? Perhaps a premium economy would be better? I don’t usually mind economy but this would be the longest flight we’ve ever been on.

I think we’d like to do Tokyo itself, 2-3 days at Disney, Kyoto and maybe Osaka/ universal but I am less attached to that. My kids will be 12 and 7 then.

Anyone have any tips/ itineraries/ best place to look for flights?

Also @calypso726, were you on a tour at animal Kingdom on 10/15? I thought I might have recognized you and plane princess.

 

[nono]

I’m beginning to plan a trip for Japan for spring break of 2025- late March/ early April. I realize this will be a popular/ expensive time to travel, but it’s either then or summer as we are limited by school schedules. Looking at 2 weeks.

It seems unlikely we could get 4 suits in business on points correct? Perhaps a premium economy would be better? I don’t usually mind economy but this would be the longest flight we’ve ever been on.

What airline are you targeting? When does spring break happen in your school district in 2025?

 

[Jax1023]

What airline are you targeting? When does spring break happen in your school district in 2025?

I don’t really have any particular airline in mind. We have currently about 300k UR and 160,000 MR.

Spring break next year is 3/29-4/6 and we would likely add on an extra week, either before or after. My DH is on sabbatical next spring, which is the only reason we could do more than a week not in summer. It’s the first time we’ve had a non Easter spring break

 

[Kwami]

I don’t really have any particular airline in mind. We have currently about 300k UR and 160,000 MR.

Spring break next year is 3/29-4/6 and we would likely add on an extra week, either before or after. My DH is on sabbatical next spring, which is the only reason we could do more than a week not in summer. It’s the first time we’ve had a non Easter spring break

That's pretty much perfect timing for cheery blossoms in Tokyo and Kyoto!

I've always flown economy class to Japan and back. It's a 13-hour flight from here, but it's not so bad. JAL has direct flights from my airport to Narita and they fit 2-4-2 seats in economy on their 787s, which means that my wife and I can sit together without any "friends" next to us. They have wider seats and more legroom than most airlines, too, and there's plenty of entertainment on the seat-back screens. The food is OK.

I might actually fly business class next time, though, if I can get enough awards by transferring my credit card points to Cathay Pacific points and then exchanging them for JAL seats through them... It's a bit risky, though, since I probably won't be able to book as soon as my dates become available. Meh.

I don't know where you're flying from. If you can fly JAL (or ANA), then do that. If you can get a better itinerary or use up some points with a different airline, well, then maybe it's worth flying that airline. You won't find better service than with JAL (One World) and ANA (Star Alliance), though!

(Tokyo has two major international airports. Most flights from the US still fly to Narita, which is further from Tokyo than the other airport, Haneda. However, transportation to Tokyo station or Shinjuku station or wherever else you're going is trivial from either airport. So, I wouldn't worry too much about which airport you fly into.)

 

[gelatoni fan]

I’m beginning to plan a trip for Japan for spring break of 2025- late March/ early April. I realize this will be a popular/ expensive time to travel, but it’s either then or summer as we are limited by school schedules. Looking at 2 weeks.

It seems unlikely we could get 4 suits in business on points correct? Perhaps a premium economy would be better? I don’t usually mind economy but this would be the longest flight we’ve ever been on.

I think we’d like to do Tokyo itself, 2-3 days at Disney, Kyoto and maybe Osaka/ universal but I am less attached to that. My kids will be 12 and 7 then.

Anyone have any tips/ itineraries/ best place to look for flights?

Also @calypso726, were you on a tour at animal Kingdom on 10/15? I thought I might have recognized you and plane princess.

It will be near impossible to find that much business award availability at saver rates from the US. You could maybe find enough seats on United or the LAX to NRT Singapore Airlines route at 100K+ points per person each way or around 1 to 1.5 million points total.

It'll probably make the most sense to transfer Amex points to ANA and fly their premium economy. But it really depends on where you're traveling from.

 

[nono]

Spring break next year is 3/29-4/6 and we would likely add on an extra week, either before or after. My DH is on sabbatical next spring, which is the only reason we could do more than a week not in summer. It’s the first time we’ve had a non Easter spring break

Schools restart in Japan in April, so adding on time into April is better, but cherry blossom blooms bring a whole 'nother crowd in, so...crowd-wise, I guess it would depend if you are targeting more youthful or more mature itineraries. If it's more youthful, better to add time in April...as those types of places may have crowds ease due to schools going back in session.

 

[calypso726]

I’m beginning to plan a trip for Japan for spring break of 2025- late March/ early April. I realize this will be a popular/ expensive time to travel, but it’s either then or summer as we are limited by school schedules. Looking at 2 weeks.

It seems unlikely we could get 4 suits in business on points correct? Perhaps a premium economy would be better? I don’t usually mind economy but this would be the longest flight we’ve ever been on.

I think we’d like to do Tokyo itself, 2-3 days at Disney, Kyoto and maybe Osaka/ universal but I am less attached to that. My kids will be 12 and 7 then.

Anyone have any tips/ itineraries/ best place to look for flights?

Also @calypso726, were you on a tour at animal Kingdom on 10/15? I thought I might have recognized you and plane princess.

Depending on the airline only 2 seats in business might be released. You will want to snag those as soon as they are. I will always go for the airline that has the seats I want first. However, I know I will likely position for the flight. So I check everything and everywhere I know they fly.

Yes! We were there on a tour 10/15. Small world

 

[Jax1023]

That's pretty much perfect timing for cheery blossoms in Tokyo and Kyoto!

I've always flown economy class to Japan and back. It's a 13-hour flight from here, but it's not so bad. JAL has direct flights from my airport to Narita and they fit 2-4-2 seats in economy on their 787s, which means that my wife and I can sit together without any "friends" next to us. They have wider seats and more legroom than most airlines, too, and there's plenty of entertainment on the seat-back screens. The food is OK.

I might actually fly business class next time, though, if I can get enough awards by transferring my credit card points to Cathay Pacific points and then exchanging them for JAL seats through them... It's a bit risky, though, since I probably won't be able to book as soon as my dates become available. Meh.

I don't know where you're flying from. If you can fly JAL (or ANA), then do that. If you can get a better itinerary or use up some points with a different airline, well, then maybe it's worth flying that airline. You won't find better service than with JAL (One World) and ANA (Star Alliance), though!

(Tokyo has two major international airports. Most flights from the US still fly to Narita, which is further from Tokyo than the other airport, Haneda. However, transportation to Tokyo station or Shinjuku station or wherever else you're going is trivial from either airport. So, I wouldn't worry too much about which airport you fly into.)

We’re east coast- PHL would be out airport, but my sister lives 15 minutes from Newark and my in-laws like half an hour from JFK, so those are probably more realistic options. I’d also consider the DC airports but I sort of doubt they’ll have better choices than the NY ones

 

[Jax1023]

Schools restart in Japan in April, so adding on time into April is better, but cherry blossom blooms bring a whole 'nother crowd in, so...crowd-wise, I guess it would depend if you are targeting more youthful or more mature itineraries. If it's more youthful, better to add time in April...as those types of places may have crowds ease due to schools going back in session.

With 2 kids, I’m thinking we’ll be looking at my kid friendly things, although I’m sure there will be a bit of a mix of both. Good to know about the schools, that’s helpful.

 

[Jax1023]

It will be near impossible to find that much business award availability at saver rates from the US. You could maybe find enough seats on United or the LAX to NRT Singapore Airlines route at 100K+ points per person each way or around 1 to 1.5 million points total.

It'll probably make the most sense to transfer Amex points to ANA and fly their premium economy. But it really depends on where you're traveling from.

Yeah I don’t really think business is a realistic option. Goals for when my kids are grown and we’re down to flying 2!

We would be flying from the east coast, PHL is our home airport, but Newark and JFK also work well for us. So all of those are options. Id consider the DC airports too if those were somehow much better

 

[dunkindonut]

(Tokyo has two major international airports. Most flights from the US still fly to Narita, which is further from Tokyo than the other airport, Haneda. However, transportation to Tokyo station or Shinjuku station or wherever else you're going is trivial from either airport. So, I wouldn't worry too much about which airport you fly into.)

I'm not sure if that's true anymore, at least on the east coast every flight I've looked at only flies into Haneda directly. From what I've seen, flying into Narita usually now requires a lay over.

 

[Haley R]

I'm not sure if that's true anymore, at least on the east coast every flight I've looked at only flies into Haneda directly. From what I've seen, flying into Narita usually now requires a lay over.

We’re flying to Haneda from SFO next May. There were no flights available to Narita through AA for business class with JAL

 

[Kwami]

I'm not sure if that's true anymore, at least on the east coast every flight I've looked at only flies into Haneda directly. From what I've seen, flying into Narita usually now requires a lay over.

JAL flies BOS->NRT, though. There's no HND option from here.

It just depends on where you're flying from. I still see NRT more often than HND when I look at flights from the US.

 

[wanderlust7]

I’m beginning to plan a trip for Japan for spring break of 2025- late March/ early April. I realize this will be a popular/ expensive time to travel, but it’s either then or summer as we are limited by school schedules. Looking at 2 weeks.

It seems unlikely we could get 4 suits in business on points correct? Perhaps a premium economy would be better? I don’t usually mind economy but this would be the longest flight we’ve ever been on.

I think we’d like to do Tokyo itself, 2-3 days at Disney, Kyoto and maybe Osaka/ universal but I am less attached to that. My kids will be 12 and 7 then.

Anyone have any tips/ itineraries/ best place to look for flights?

Also @calypso726, were you on a tour at animal Kingdom on 10/15? I thought I might have recognized you and plane princess.

4 in business is possible on JAL, at least from the west coast. But you need to stalk around calendar open. We're doing SFO-NRT on JAL booked with BA. It was 77,250 Avios and $284 taxes, one-way, per person. On the way back, CTS-HND-SFO for 89,750 Avios and $301 taxes. BA charges by segment, so it was a bit expensive to add CTS-HND, but I wanted it on one ticket.

Last trip, we also did JAL in biz through AA. SJC-SEA-NRT, KIX-LAX back. It was 60k AA one-way, per person. Booked before Japan opened and flying on Christmas Day lol. AA calendar opens later than BA, so I don't anticipate being able to book with AA for 4 again.

It's also possible to book through Cathay, which I've never done. It costs 89k, but I think they're region based, so more advantageous for east coast. BA is distance based. They release 5 days earlier than BA. But redeposit fee is more ($120), BA is $55, AA is free.

 

[princesscinderella]

We are going to Japan this summer. I didn't have enough points for reward flights for the 5 of us but got a good price flying Air Canada to Narita from Fort Lauderdale with a layover in Montreal in premium economy.

Can you just use your cell phone and pay the international roaming daily rate of $12 (At&T) or do you need to get the pocket wifi because our phones won't work on their network?

 

[Kwami]

We are going to Japan this summer. I didn't have enough points for reward flights for the 5 of us but got a good price flying Air Canada to Narita from Fort Lauderdale with a layover in Montreal in premium economy.

Can you just use your cell phone and pay the international roaming daily rate of $12 (At&T) or do you need to get the pocket wifi because our phones won't work on their network?

Your phone will almost certainly work on the Japanese cell networks. How fast it'll work is going to depend on your carrier's roaming agreements.