JAL Mileage Bank - PEK-NRT pricing

I priced out a one way pek-nrt flight (a relatively short flight) on 21 July, and the cheapest fare is US$1,279.37. Is it normal to be that high? NW has a $500 fare (and I thought that was high!).

Usually the PEK-NRT flight is about $500--discounted economy--whether on NW or Air China (CA). Japanese carriers sometimes approach this but often are higher. Sometimes NW runs good promos by purchasing online from the nwa.com/cn site--but this works only if you have a Chinese address and credit card issued in China.

Travel agents in China usually can get this a bit cheaper. Some of the reputable online agents can deal with foreigners purchasing in advance from outside China, with foreign credit card. Note that there may be a surcharge for using a foreign card, and you may have to fax image of card to them to complete the purchase (policy varies with agent). Try:

www.ctrip.com
www.elong.net
www.travelzen.com

Elong is showing one-way on this date for under $440 (Air China nonstop), or even lower, about $250 on MU (China Eastern) if you are willing to prolong the trip and route through Shanghai on a brief stopover.

I flew this route and office paid over EUR 1,200 for a one way PEK-NRT with JAL this month. Apparently one-way fares for this route are high.

Rgs,

I found prices to be crazy also for my Sept trip but I eventually incorporated the flight into a OW award.

Heres something that ( Which I almost did since I have tons of NW miles and) could easily work for you.

If you can get a hold of NWA ( i suppose CO and DL miles would work too) there is NWA award availibilty for the 855 AM flight on 7/21 which could be as low as 40K miles R/T (depending on the return you select and since you are most certainly going to toss the return ....then it shouldnt more than the 40k:D)
You can get cheaper mile awards if you fly through ICN on Korean.

Sounds like a great deal for your situation if you ask me:)

mike

Like Blumie, I have also found similarly extraordinary prices between PVG and NRT for the day after the eclipse (July 23). Despite repeated attempts for months, AA has had no AAward tickets in either class (Y/J) for PVG-NRT flights on JAL around the time of the eclipse. Are that many people really going there to see it? Well, I am, so I guess there are others.

When I checked last week, the Northwest flight had zero seats available in coach. FWIW, Orbitz reveals some mixed-carrier fares for about 1/3 the price...by using a China Eastern flight between PVG and ICN.

In the spirit of saving money,I have also used 25k DL miles for NRT-ICN-PEK,with stopover in ICN. Have found good availability on KE,but you have to call.