Originally Posted by LapLap

From a Brit's point of view (esp. one who has to pay the flight prices for travel to Japan) 425GBP doesn't seem too bad. I know full well it can go much higher than that.

Perhaps one option is to pay this and get the most popular dates possible (i.e. 21st or 22nd December) and put yourself forward as a candidate for voluntary bumping. I'm sure others here can advice you on the best airline and the best tactics to use if you decide to try and bring the costs down via that route.

It's just that I've never, not once, seen costs dip nearer the winter holidays, only the opposite.