Originally Posted by Boraxo

It's pretty simple. Japan has been hot since the country re-opened in 2022-23. There are many factors including the exchange rate, the extended closure (people want what they can't have) the continued bad news about China which used to be a huge draw for Americans (nobody going there now), and ramp up of biz travel (Japan has good O/D on both biz and leisure). Finally people are sitting on thousands of miles so they don't blink at cashing in for biz class seats and similarly upper-middle class leisure travelers are now forking out for biz class. So the demand side is blowing out.

I expect you will see discounting in economy as carriers need to fill those seats but I bet they wish they could reconfigure to sell even more biz class at these prices.



SQ has an excellent product but I personally felt it was never "all that". Most of the competition has caught up in terms of seat comfort and in some ways less hassle without mattresses etc. If good food is a high priority then of course you won't be flying a US carrier but for 5-10 grand I suspect people care mostly about the seat, then accumulating miles/status, with food and lounges and swell service not the deciding factor. It would be nice if UA would serve something halfway edible but apparently there are many like me who rank other factors higher.