GVA

Unfortunately, I am flying into Japan on a SkyTeam airline, which means I have access to neither JAL or ANA's airpasses.

Additionally, I am in the need of only one flight for my entire two week stay in Japan (HND-FUK).

I have a 7 day rail pass which I had planned to start up a day after my arrival in Hakata, although my final trip in the end will be between Kyoto and Nagoya. The trip from Tokyo to Hakata takes about 6 hours using Hikari trains.

I was told here in Europe to try buying that flight once in Japan, does anyone know how much they would charge if I buy it 4-5 days prior to departure and if there are any good travel agents at Shinjuku or Nagoya Airport who could sell me this flight without having to pay 35K Yen which is what the Y fare costs.

AlexS

Try the ANA Japan site:
http://www.ana.co.jp/eng/index.html

If you can book a month in advance, you should be able to get a "tabiwari" for about Y13,000.

JAL is similarly priced, but last I checked, their site didn't have an English booking engine for these discounted domestic tickets.

GVA

Thanks AlexS,

I've seen that link before but I noticed this link: http://www.ana.co.jp/eng/dms/others/read/index.html

More particularly:

This reservation and purchase service, you will be able to reserve domestic flights in Japan for ANA and IBEX Airlines. The services are for Japan residents only.

Is this likely to cause problems and what could they do?

jpatokal

You'll probably need to fake a Japanese address for the online reservation form, but nobody else will check or care.

GVA

Thanks for that.

I've also found: http://www.ai-ticket.com/english/index.html

Has anyone used them or know if they are at all reliable?

silencery

The 13,000JPY fare works for foreigners too. They have four different promotional fares specific to promoting foreign travelers. This page outlines the difference between all of them and how to book them:

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2364.html

To summarize the page, both carriers (NH and JL) have special rates restricted to their alliance partners. However, they both also have special rates for foreign travelers regardless of inbound airline.

IMHO, it may be a better value to extend your railpass to 14 days if you're going to be spending time in a metropolitan area where JR is dominant (i.e. Tokyo). You can use the pass for a lot of local trains. However, if you spend a lot of time in Kyoto and Fukuoka, local subways are more prevalent, so your rail pass won't work as well there. The railpass is also much more flexible since you can hop on a different train in case you need to change your schedule; the volume of available space is much higher on trains than by air.

The six hour Hikari ride is quite long, but considering transit times to and from the airports combined with the 2 hour flight, the time difference is more trivial. Realistically, i think it could be considered more like a 6 hour (train) vs. 4 hour (plane) trip, depending on where you're going. The extra comfort on trains also helps make the trip feel shorter as well

hamburgler

Yep, and you won't have any trouble using the NH online booking site in English directly. It doesn't ask for your address at all in fact, and I used a foreign card with it a few years ago. If you input the number on the back of your card, you can also use the NH "Skip" service if you have no bags (ie check in at security). If you do this, make sure to have them add your *A number at the lounge or the gate, as you can only register NH FFP numbers online.

While I'd agree with this for Hiroshima (the train and plane are almost a wash there once you count the 50 minute bus to the station on the HIJ side), Fukuoka is one place where the majority of travelers still go by air. The transit times to HND and FUK are both quite decent -- HND is 15 minutes from Shinagawa via the rapid train and FUK is about 15 minutes from the city center by Subway. If you do the Japanese thing and arrive at HND 30 minutes before your flight, you'll save a lot more than two hours. And the Shinkansens aren't *that* comfortable in standard class. (Note if you do have to travel Hikari that you should grab a Hikari RailStar from Shin-Osaka south -- these trains, designed to try to increase revenue on that underperforming section, are 2x2 in standard class instead of 2x3, provided you book a reserved seat).

Q Shoe Guy

Did you try the fares on Skymark.....before I left they were advertising an 11,000 Yen fare on the route (advanced purchase). NH and JL will be marginally higher. You can also book on JL for 1000 Yen extra a nicer seat(not F seat). On NH you can pay 8,000 Yen more on your fare at check-in for Premium Class (if there is space available). There is also F on JL and Premium on NH which are full fare.

With regards to the SKIP service, it is wonderful. Use it if you can, not that the lines are that long anyway........

The times by subway(which is located in the basement of the domestic terminals at FUK ) is about 8 minutes to JR Hakata station (which the building no longer exists)and 15 minutes to Tenjin the major shopping area and also where the Nishitetsu train line begins for points south in Fukuoka Prefecture.