Has anyone here flown to Japan with Air China? There's a really cheap deal on yvrdeals.

Online reviews and on reddit have some horror stories...

Would not fly anywhere with any China airline.

My wife and I fly to Tokyo with ANA last month. No complaints with the flight. We paid about $670 direct. My buddy and his wife on the other hand also flew to Tokyo a few days after us on Xiamen air, but had to layover in Xiamen, China for several hours in a shitty airport. They paid around the same price as us. Nothing but complaints from them about their flights.

Pay up to fly with a Japanese carrier or at least a Oneworld or Star Alliance carrier with a layover at a good airport. It's inconsistent, but they will drop prices down to 900 per person round trip with taxes in every couple of months.

Yep, you get what you pay for. Air China, China Southern, Xiamen Airlines, China Eastern... basically all mainland Chinese carriers have an indifferent attitude regarding service standards. More importantly, think of the other passengers you'll be sitting next to for 10+ hours. In general, would you rather sit in a confined tube with majority Japanese, or Mainland Chinese. I know what my answer would be.

I flew from Tokyo to HK via Beijing on a china airline and it was fine, except Beijing was fucking disgusting. Couldn't see 5 feet in front of you outside, and the air smelled like acid. I couldn't stand to be there even walking from the plane to the terminal. Then when you go to the terminal pretty much everywhere is considered a smoking area.

The flight itself was fine, albeit much shorter than going all the way from Vancouver... If you can limit your exposure to china itself, it should be OK

Any specific recommendations for a pocket wifi provider for just my gf and I? Checked around and hard choosing say Docomo over Softbank etc. Staying in the major cities, Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Hakone. Would like at least 350mb a day but more is better.

They are all very similar. Can't go wrong with either network as they are big networks. If staying at an Airbnb in those cities, see if pocket WiFi is included, as some Airbnb listing have them for free or for a small fee.

I've been going local and using Ketaiya for awhile. If you have easy access to downtown, then it's a great option. You have it right from the get go with one less thing to worry about when you land. Pretty sure they would price match most competitors.

They have Softbank's 501HW which are relatively newer units that last anywhere from 10-12 hours with good range. Softbank has been solid for Tokyo, Hakone, and all the way to Okayama. Cell phone coverage is probably the least of your concerns in Japan.

Used Japan-wireless on our trip. Most of the providers work out to be around the same price, but what sold me on our choice was the unlimited usage (no throttling after X-mb used). Was on Softbank network and had no reception issues in Tokyo, Hakone, Osaka, and Kyoto.

Haha I just reserved mine last night through them. Have to get to Haneda International to Domestic though to pick it up. Hopefully its not too bad without data

What time are you arriving? The domestic terminal shop is only open from 10-6pm or something. I really like the portable wifi, it's kind of a pain the device only last 8 hours

bring a portable charging pack. the one i brought with me was 20k mAh

Japan-wireless includes a small power bank with the rental fee. Most people have their own nowadays already but nice to have another one anyways.

air b&b in tokyo or hotel? suggestions?

flying ot osaka for 4 days with gf and then 4 days in tokyo, deciding what I shoudl do.
didn't even think about pocket wifi,....

Anyone volunteering for 2020 Tokyo Olympics? Sign up just opened... Also on a side note, has anyone volunteered for an Olympic event? If so how was your experience?

We stayed in airbnb for all the places we went to in Japan. It all depends what you guys are doing too, we went mostly to temples, sightseeing and shopping. We took the Shinkansen mostly from one city to the other.

Airbnb right in Dotonbori was perfect cus everything was walking distance and if anything, it's a train or two away.

Shibuya was more like home to my gf and I, while some of my friends stayed in Shinjuku. Shibuya was in the middle enough that if we wanted to go to Harajuku/Omote Sando or Shinjuku, it was a train station away.

Pocket wifi you have to book in advance, Pupuru wifi worked for us but some people I know used Japan wifi.


Just got back on monday and I miss it already T_T

Heading to Tokyo and Osaka in 3 weeks, so I'm doing some research on places to eat. I'll check out this thread. If anyone has recently gone to some great places, please post them!

One on my list is ??????(??????) | ????128????????? - 130 year old Tempura restaurant, tokyo

???????????? Hinoya curry Kreygasm

Also have an update on the SIM situation, since I did some research. Most are data only, in the range of $10 USD per week of service (time limits range from 3 days to 21 days. A 30 day card is rare to find) with about 1-3GB of data available in total (so a 1 week card usually only has 1GB, and a 3 week card would have 3-5GB and cost $30). Some offer more data, like 5GB for $50, but still the same time limit.

Best deal I found for longer trips (>10 days) was Docomo. You get the sim for as long as you like, and just buy data as needed.

The card itself is $10. You could actually just buy this and have unlimited basic 128 kbps service for 2 weeks. This is the very cheapest way to do it just to have some sort of data connection.

From there you buy a package of data - 600mb for $7, 1.2GB for $12

And that's it.. just buy more data if you need it.

After you sign up, you can add to your data by playing commercials. I got 360MB by doing all the things while watching football.

You can get another 300MB by using the coupon code found here. Or if you're going before Oct 23, please consider using my code 4QPQSXF3 so we both get some free data ;)

That's it. Kind of complicated (because Japan) but I think it's the best deal (for a longer trip anyway) SeemsGood

Looking through this thread, I noticed a lot of people taking the bullet train between Tokyo and Osaka. IMO this isn't the best way to travel. It costs about 140,000 JPY and takes a couple hours.

I used to take the bus - 2000 yen for overnight, or 3500-5000 yen for daytime

Of course there are domestic flights. Most cheaper airlines fly from Narita, and cost about 5000 yen to Osaka. Budget airlines like Peach and Jetstar. Problem is, getting to Narita from central Tokyo adds a decent amount of time and price. Haneda is much closer to central Tokyo, where most people will be staying.

Three airlines have a route from Haneda. JAL, ANA, and StarFlyer. The benefit for tourists is that they all offer special rates for us. Forget JAL as their flat rate 100,000, while cheaper than bullet train, is still higher than ANA and StarFlyer. They cost about 7000 yen each for Haneda > Osaka.

IMO this is probably the best way to go. Although if you've never been on the Shinkansen, it is a tourist experience in itself. So maybe check that out once, or for one direction of the trip.

JR Pass is hardly worth it if Tokyo <> Osaka is your only main bullet train trip. If you are doing others, then this will have some benefit on top of the cost of the JR Pass. May still be more expensive than flying though, so be sure to compare. I've seen people directly answer "what is the best way to go from Tokyo to Osaka" with "bullet train" and IMO that's just bad advice if not qualified with other things like "if you want the train experience"

i got it when i went because i was doing Tokyo-Kyoto-Osaka.

ended up using it to do tokyo->kyoto, kyoto->osaka, osaka->himeji, himeji->osaka, osaka->tokyo

which was roughly like 40,000￥
so it was worth it in my case, plus it was partly that i'd never been on it before so there was the tourist aspect of it too haha.

https://tabelog.com/en/tokyo/A1307/A130701/13061640/

Not michelin rated but I've had two star michelin sushi before and this was just as good if not better. Cost us about $90 per person for the lunch omakase a few months ago. I did get my hotel concierge to reserve in advance.

Looks good.. I'd like to find something decent for a lower budget though. I'm planning on eating out a lot, and am reluctant to drop like $100 on a meal. Maybe one or two for the whole trip though :considered:

If this is strictly a one way trip then a JR pass is never worth it. If you are doing a round trip then its pretty close to breaking even. People just need to determine if they can make it worth their while. But I would prefer the train and avoid security and checked baggage. Also consider all the train stations brings you right to the city center. Last time I took the train from KIX to Osaka must have taken at least 40 minutes.

I do agree for one way travel. I would take a flight if it was significantly cheaper, and only from HND.

^ ANA offers a ~$100 domestic flight as long as you fulfill 3 requirements:
1. You do not reside in Japan
2. You hold a foreign passport
3. You hold a return ticket from outside of Japan (on any airline)

https://www.ana.co.jp/en/ca/promotio...experience_jp/

https://tabelog.com/en/tokyo/A1323/A132301/13136231/

Michelin rated ramen, it is a wait and not exactly central Tokyo but I swear it is worth it. Typically you want to go before they open and grab a ticket with a time slot. Price is like any other ramen joint.

A more accessible ramen joint I would suggest is AFURI, they have a number of locations, shinjuku and the harujuku locations being the most ideal. They specialize in yuzu flavored broth.