Airline Tickets in Japan Advice

Yet again I had to buy airline tickets to travel internationally starting and ending in Japan. Faced with two main options, JTB and H.I.S., again, I gave both of them a chance for my business. I’ll tell my story here, then end with some advice I’d like to give people about buying airline tickets in Japan.

I first went to a local H.I.S. shop where I had bought tickets before. I asked about travel from japan to my city of choice, and gave a list of dates… well, actually I gave a range. Anytime from August 16th until the end of August. The woman behind the counter smiled curtly, and said, I’m sorry but this may take some time. She then proceeded to ask my preferred airline if any, and whether I minded non-Japanese, non-American carriers. I said that I didn’t and she quietly returned to her desk.

After some time she came back with two dates that were the cheapest with open seats. I thanked her and told her I’d get in touch the next day.

That evening I went to JTB. The woman behind the counter came over to help us. I gave her my range of dates and told her upfront that I didn’t mind which carrier. She thought for a moment, walked over to her computer terminal, sat down, hit a few buttons, then came back to me. She said that she wasn’t able to put in a range of dates and asked if I could specify one date.

I asked her to check the two dates for which H.I.S. had given me reasonable prices.

She came back with unreasonable prices of about US$2,800 per ticket.

The next day I returned to H.I.S. to hear that the tickets I’d originally wanted had been sold over the weekend. I asked her if she wouldn’t mind checking a later range of dates until she found a cheap ticket I could use. She asked me for my cell phone number so that I wouldn’t have to stand right there waiting while she checked.

She worked her way through my dates and finally found a good price (albeit with a hectic travel schedule), for a reasonable date. The process took about fifteen minutes, but she found new tickets in the same price range as the previous tickets.

I bought the tickets there, and paid for them all in cash (this is a good thing for people who don’t like debt, a tough thing for people who don’t want to drop thousands of dollars on one purchase all at once).

So here is my brief advice for dealing with H.I.S. an JTB:

• Don’t be shy about giving a range of dates. As the agent at JTB was quick to point out, they can’t search a range of dates for cheap available airline tickets, but as the HIS clerk demonstrated, if they want your business they can do the necessary legwork to satisfy their customers.
• State upfront that you do not necessarily need a Japanese or American airline for your trip. Sometimes China Airlines or other asian carriers are offering the best deals.
• Try to go to the shop in person, if possible, when business is slow, but not around lunchtime. It is nice to be the only customer at the counter because your agent can also easily ask the advice of other agents.
• Try different shops. You may get bad service at one JTB and good service at another. It often depends on the agent you get and how willing that agent is to work for your business.
• Ask about things such as the fuel surcharge. This will vary by carrier and could really affect the total price of your flight. (A quick note: fuel surcharges are zero for the months of August and September! No telling if this deal will extend into October or if the fuel surcharge will return with a vengeance.)
• Ask about your seats, meals, and anything else you might be concerned with. One of the benefits of using a travel agent is having someone who is accountable to help you figure things out.
• If you can, travel during the Japanese off-season. Ticket prices could be really cheap when planes are not full of families traveling during the summer vacation and obon, or during the winter.