airfare deals to Tokyo

[nsx-ray]

Trips to Tokyo can have wildy different airfares depending on when/where you're travelling. I travel overseas to Europe and Asia a fair amount and wanted to start this thread to advertise good airfares if you find them online. I also contribute to Seatguru.com.

I'll start off.

I bought a roundtrip Executive First class ticket from Orlando (MCO) to Tokyo (NRT) on Air Canada connecting in Toronto (YYZ) (you do not have to pass through customs) for $3400. Depart 11/15, return 11/23. The YYZ to NRT segment is on a 777 with lie flat single seat sleeping pods (similar to Virgin Atlantic) all with direct aisle access and 2 to 3 windows per seat. This ticket is usually 7 to 9K on US carriers. YYZ is less congested than many east coast hubs and this flight leaves on time greater than 90% of the time.

I checked and this non-advertised fare is also available from other US cities without nonstop service to NRT such as Boston and Miami. Air Canada's coach fares are around $900 RT (similar to US carriers) so there is less advantage.

Another alternative for those who love flying on Singapore airlines is this carrier's nonstop LAX to NRT service on a 747-400. I priced the business class seat for this itinerary and it is $4200. Getting to LAX would be an additional charge.

Another BIG plus about both of these fares....they are REFUNDABLE (less $200 admin fee). This is the biggest difference between discounted business class on US carriers and Asian/Canadian carriers. And, the refund is back to your credit card, not a credit for a future flight of the same value.

You will be spending over 15 hours in that seat, not counting your connecting flight. If you can upgrade to a business class seat with miles or can splurge just this once, I would highly recommend it.

Wei-Shen

 

[RSO 34]

I wasn't able to book first/business class on our flights unfortunately but am keeping an eye out for any upgrades that might become available later. I used my miles for free travel but they didn't have anything other than coach when I booked.

In terms of those who have the miles in their accounts, depending upon days traveling a round trip coach ticket for non-stop between Newark and Tokyo was between 60,000 - 90,000 miles.

 

[thedon67]

I would love to fly business class but that is just out of my price range. Carla and I paid roughly $900 RT each from Newark to Narita non-stop. I'll be honest, I'm a little leary about a 14hr flight especially since I'm 6'. But I can buy a lot of Ambien for the price difference. FYI: According to SeatGuru, the back half of the bus on Continental's plane has 1" additional leg room more than the first half of the back of the bus.

 

[nsxtasy]

I booked Chicago-Narita non-stop in steerage... I mean coach, on American Airlines for 50,000 AAdvantage miles. Seatguru showed me which seats have power ports so I don't run out of juice for the audiobooks on my Sansa Clip+.

 

[Ponyboy]

Booked American using miles. Flight is Tulsa-DFW-Narita. The best rate I could find at the time, several weeks ago, was $1800 for a coach seat. However, I splurged on the First Class seats. Plane is a Boeing 777-200. If at all possible, for a long flight like this, I recommend first or business class seats.

 

[nsxtasy]

Booked American using miles. Flight is Tulsa-DFW-Narita. The best rate I could find at the time, several weeks ago, was $1800 for a coach seat. However, I splurged on the First Class seats. Plane is a Boeing 777-200. If at all possible, for a long flight like this, I recommend first or business class seats.

FWIW, on American from Chicago, economy class is 50K miles round trip, business class 100K miles, and first class 125K miles.

 

[nsx20014me]

For those of you that haven't booked your flight yet check out travelocity.com for combination airfare/hotel deals. I plan on staying a few days after Fiesta and flying back on Thanksgiving day. My total booked hotel stay in Tokyo will be 9 nights. Even though I won't in Tokyo three of those nights this travelocity deal was much better if I had booked airfare and hotel separately. My travelocity deal is $1433/person which includes airfare and 9 night hotel at: http://www.princehotels.com/en/shinagawa/. I could stay at the http://www.princehotels.com/en/takanawa/ for $277 more person. I checked United.com for airfare and it was a little over $1500/person. So with travelocity it is like getting my hotel for free. I've booked trips through travelocity before and so far have not had a problem with them.
Tom

 

[DocL]

Even though I'm not going to this event, here's a good deal on airfare.

http://www.fly.com/FlyWidgets/LowFa...SD&utm_source=tzoo&utm_medium=nf&utm_campaign

 

[ediddynsx]

Thanks for the info guys! So far I have about 75,000 miles since last sept, but this is not flying on the same airlines. I flew on Delta, NWA, and KLM which are grouped together. I flown on EVA and Dragon Airlines when I was in Asia, but I just found out that China Airlines is connected with Delta so next time I am flying them so I can get my miles linked up.

I recently flew Southwest which their service sucks and I flew Midwest Airlines.

Thanks for the tips.....I want to upgrade to business class if it was a better price. I just can't see myself spending 4k on a ticket and its 100k miles before you get a free international ticket on Delta.

 

[Ms. Purple!!]

Dave & I booked our coach class direct non-stop San Francisco-SFO to Tokyo-NRT 9 hr flights in early April on United w/a combination of miles & $. One of our itineraries was 65K miles & the other one was 30K miles + $500. We leave on Nov 13 & return on Nov 23. Personally, I prefer saving miles/$ by flying coach rather than business/first class as that means more trips in the future!