Hello Barginers,
Just looking at organising a trip to Japan for the family leaving March next year. Seems like the only decent flights are with JetStar. Does anyone have any thoughts or experience around flying to Japan with JetStar?
Also…whilst in Japan, we plan to take the Bullet Train from Kyoto to Tokyo. Any tips and ideas?
Cheers
Brant
Jetstar is fine, but keep in mind the quoted fares are without baggage or meals. Often it's the fastest trip to Japan now which IMO is better than a less direct but nicer flight via Singapore or something - depending where you are flying from.
Tokyo to Kyoto on a bullet train is a short trip relatively speaking. It's unlikely you'll need a JR pass if that's your one main trip, but there are online JR pass calculators that will help you figure out the $$ of it.
Japan is about as easy as it gets for travelling as a tourist so don't stress, do a bit of reading and enjoy.
Jetstar to Japan is fine.
Buy a Shinkansen ticket at one of the JR stations when you get there. JR pass won’t be worth it for one return trip to Kyoto.
Buy your Shinkansen ticket via an online seller before you go when they have a sale on (Viator, Klook, Japanican and others) to save money, often 20 to 30% off - just read the redemption steps clearly so you know exactly how to exchange your voucher for a ticket.
You could consider getting a JR pass and going to Hiroshima.
Tokyo to Kyoto to Hiroshima and back is not worth it the price under the new pricing.
What's the new pricing?
I went to Hiroshima because I could and it didn't cost me extra back in the day.
JR Pass is increasing by about 70%
I used Jetstar for trips to Japan, NZ, Bali, Phuket and no problem. Remember you pay to choose seat, check-in luggage, inflight entertainment and food, blankets etc
I've flied jetstar and they've been fine. They also sell cheaper checked luggage (purchase online first though) which is great for trips to Japan. Of course I haven't flown for a while so not sure about prices.
And you didn't say where you're flying out of? They never had direct flights out of Brisbane and I hated their Cairns stop-overs so promised myself to pay extra next time and fly Qantas. I think they're introducing direct flights next month though, but I already booked my Dec flight with Qantas.
JR Pass depends on where you're going. I'm assuming you're flying into Osaka and flying out Tokyo? Or are you going Tokyo-Kyoto-Tokyo? One way Kyoto-Tokyo is ~¥15'000 or ¥30'000 round trip. Cheapest JR Pass will be ¥50'000.
An alternative is the Hokuriku Arch Pass which is ¥24'500 with unlimited travel between Osaka and Tokyo (including Kyoto) but through Kanazawa https://www.westjr.co.jp/global/en/ticket/hokuriku-arch-pass… Not the fastest route, but saves a bit of money and get to see Western Japan. Stretch your legs at Kanazawa and get seafood lunch, stop at Nagano and take a short trip to see the snow monkeys or take a look at Matsumoto Castle, etc.
I've flown with Jetstar a few times to Japan - they're good. However, on my last trip I flew with Japan Airlines which was even better (!)
Not sure if it's still the case but all my Jetstar flights from Melbourne would stop-over at Cairns, where Japan Airlines was direct Melbourne to Tokyo.
Now that I have a family, I'd fly with Japan Airlines as (at the time) all their direct flights were also at midnight such that I like the notion of getting on the plane, putting kids to sleep and then waking up at 7am at Tokyo airport (9 hour direct flight with 2 hour time difference) - no holiday 'days' lost and can hit the ground running.
Hotel didn't allow early check-in but could leave bags there - we were having brunch at a sushi bar in the heart of Tokyo less than 12 hours after departing.
Please note of JR Pass big price increase (around 69%), starting October 2023.
https://www.jrailpass.com/blog/japan-rail-pass-prices-increa…
Ouch….. They don't really want tourists to come back!
Nice
Check the point-to-point prices on HyperDia https://www.hyperdia.com
Likely will be cheaper than the now expensive JR Pass.
I have flown multiple times to Japan with Jetstar and only had one delay that was their fault. This was before Covid and the comments after Covid seem to be really negative about them.
This was before Covid
We never had issues with them before covid too, but since then, our last holiday flight was cancelled three times.
Does anyone have any thoughts or experience around flying to Japan with JetStar?
Its Jetstar, so as long as you understand it is a BUDGET airline, even flying internationally, you'll be ok. So don't go expecting entertainment, food, booze for free!
Yep, BYO food and you're golden. Best is cup of noodles and get them to fill with boiling water, instant meal. From memory they have that on the menu for a stupid price, so don't take no for an answer (I remember reading someone saying this happened to them).
I get why people say Jetstar is fine but think it helps to be more specific. It depends if stopping at one airport, picking up all your luggage, walking it over to a seperate terminal, waiting in line and checking in again then waiting a few hours to leave is a problem then you might want to reconsider. Especially with young kids. It wasn't fun but depends on your priorities. That was my experience last time i connected through Cairns.
What flight was that on? Typically they check your luggage the whole way through don't they?
Be aware that bullet train prices are very expensive.
We (7) flew in Dec with Jetstar, OOL>CNS>NRT; NRT>OOL. No dramas, great prices. Narita was slow.
We stayed in Tokyo (airbnb) then hired a car and drove through the mountains to Kyoto over 5 days (highly recommend). Then bullet train back to Tokyo - one swap, left Kyoto apartment at 10am and had plenty of time to catch the 9.30pm ish flight.
It was a fantastic holiday - everything went to our comfortably loose plan. Thanks Japan.
On a re-read, this sounds like straight bragging - but, yeah, it was great.
Does anyone have any thoughts or experience around flying to Japan with JetStar?
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If you haven't booked yet, some very reasonable prices have come up since e.g. Singapore Airlines, JAL, ANA and Qantas all have pretty reasonable fares to Japan around March. Check this one out https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/796990
Jetstar is hated with a passion here. I've used them a handful of times SYD <-> MEL and haven't had any issues with them, but plenty appear to have last minute cancelled flights and a myriad of other issues, so it's luck of the draw.
Calculate your intended use of bullet trains to determine if a one-off/return ticket or JR Pass is more economical for you.