I've never shopped around for these fares, but am looking to travel there coming up soon. Probably planning for late March/early April.

I feel like I've seen some super cheap stuff down around $500-600, but what I see now is $920.

What sort of fares can I expect?

Thanks!

Look in the L.A. Times travel section on Sunday for little ads in the back for ethnic travel agencies. Or, go down to Olympic and Sawtelle and visit a couple of the Japanese oriented travel agents there. I often see fliers in the area for trips to to Tokyo in the $450 and up region. But, you may have to pay more in the Summer.

Right now is the summer peak travel season so the tickets are going to be expensive. Around $1000 sounds about average.

I agree that Japan-oriented travel agents is a good place to check. For example, JTB USA (http://www.jtbusa.com/enhome/).

I believe that the lowest economy fares in March-April of this year were running about $550 including taxes and fees for LAX-NRT RT. I booked a last minute ticket at the end of April for about $600 all-in. I decided to buy at that time because I saw that the fares were going to start increasing in early May.

My routing was LAX-HNL-NRT-HNL-SEA-LAX. I had just under 24 hours in HNL on the way out, and about 12 hours in HNL on the way back. I routed through HNL to do some shopping, get a plate lunch, and have dinner with a friend who lives in HNL. I threw SEA in just to get some extra miles. There were plenty of direct LAX-NRT-LAX flights available at that time for about $560 all-in.

If you're really penny-pinching you might also want to check SQ's non-mileage-accruing discount fares through their website. They fly LAX-NRT nonstop and are occasionally cheaper than the lowest published fares.

Hey, sorry to necromance, but I'm new to these forums, and I'm looking for this same flight, but in February.

What is SQ, and where can I find their "non-mileage-accruing discount fares through their website"?

This will be my first time traveling abroad, and though I've been told February is the best (most economical) time of year to go to Japan, I can't find any fares for under $750 a seat all-in, which is admittedly far greater than I had expected for "the best time of year."

Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated! In the mean time, I'll continue to poke around here, and see what I can find -- This place is awesome.

SQ = Singapore Airlines.

Where to find their non-mileage-accruing discount fares through their website = Through their website.

SQ = Singapore Airlines.

Where to find their non-mileage-accruing discount fares through their website = Through their website.

Joe...that wasn't very nice. :-p But I might be looking you up in March or April, planning a visit to the old haunts (and possibly trying to get interviews).

BTW - I often check JTB USA, or the other Japanese Travel Agencies that operate in the US to find flights. You can also try looking at Japanese or foreign versions of Expedia, Travelocity, and such - they often have lower flight costs than the US versions (just one of the tricks of the trade, I guess).

Joe...that wasn't very nice. :-p

What wasn't nice about it? :confused:
The fact that he didn't say "Welcome to FT?"

BTW - Welcome to FT, mieyo.

BTW - Welcome to FT, mieyo.

Ditto.

Thanks, everyone! Also, I've checked JTB, and they're still a little beyond my price range. Are there any others besides it and HIS?

mieyo - The problem with checking those sites now is that we're more than 120 days out. It has been my experience that JTB and HIS don't even begin to show "special" fares until about 90 days before you'd be looking. I'd expect the March/April specials to come out in Jan./Feb.

My friends flew out last June, and the specials weren't available until about early May.

Also, note that most of the fares you'll see on those sites don't include the fuel surcharge or taxes or fees. So be careful!

I did notice that, but thanks for the heads up - I saw on HIS they have one fare posted for my dates for $65 on UA, which'll still come to about $755 after fuel, taxes and fees. Again, thank you though, for telling me to wait. I was getting nervous, and didn't know how soon was too soon to book international travel, and was reading on these very forums how a lot of people only saw fares go up after booking. I'll book no sooner than 90 days out, but no later than 45. I guess that's plenty of slack in each direction, right?

mieyo - YMMV, of course. There's two ways to look at it. You can book now, and you're basically guaranteed whatever you pay now. Or you can wait, but you can't be sure what the prices will be then - you could get a huge deal, or you could get a bum deal.

I'd also keep an eye on www.airfarewatchdog.com and farecompare to see if they suddenly show a "sale fare."

Also - American Express's entre program, at least for CitiBank Platinum AmEx cardholders, has 20% discounts on the lowest published fare as a benefit. You may want to check to see if you have something similar. And don't forget to check STA Travel as well.