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Air China: Tokyo, Japan Return via Beijing from Melbourne from $601, Sydney from $629 [Feb-Jul] @ Beat That Flight

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Price War! With yesterday's China Southern deal, Air China is also in on the mix with flights via Beijing (vs via Guangzhou with China Southern) with some of the stopover times arguably better as well. Dates also cover Easter and Cherry Blossom season:

Including much of the sakura season, as well as Easter 2024!

The cherry blossom or sakura is never perfectly predictable, but some early predictions are below:

A friend has a video series on the 10 Best Cherry Blossom Sakura Spots in Japan - Tokyo, Yamanashi! [4K] (CC)

Destination First bloom Full bloom
Kochi March 17 March 25
Kumamoto March 19 March 28
Hiroshima March 26 April 3
Kyoto March 26 April 4
Nagoya March 24 April 1
Kanazawa March 31 April 6
Tokyo March 19 March 26
Matsumoto April 2 April 11
Fuji Five Lakes April 2 April 10
Sendai March 31 April 6
Hirosaki April 20 April 26
Hakodate April 26 May 3

As such, I've compiled dates before and after Easter in 2024.

I also have an article on the top 5 most popular hotels in Tokyo for under $120.

Summary:
Melbourne to Tokyo (13 Feb - 2 Jul) from $601
Sydney to Tokyo (13 Feb - 2 Jul) from $629

Melbourne to Tokyo on Air China

Dates: 13 Feb 24 - 02 Jul 24

Sydney to Tokyo on Air China

Dates: 25 Feb 24 - 02 Jul 24

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closed Comments

  • +2

    i just need syd to china on promotion… are there any?

  • My wife needs medication from Japan - can you go over for say 2 days?

    • Yes, I've done 20 hours before.

      EDIT: This is assuming you have an Australian passport, if not you'll have to research.

    • Which medications are cheaper in Japan?

      • Radicava - not available in Australia till hopefully this year so need to go back every three months.

  • Is China Air any good?

    • +8

      Air China, not China Air and they're… Fine. On par with China Eastern and China Southern.

      They're easily confused with China Air, who are a Taiwanese carrier and better than all of the above mentioned airlines.

      • +4

        I am sure you mean China Airlines. Their aircraft were old and outdated, but their service was better than the most of US & European airlines I flew with in the past. Perhaps, not as amazing as Middle Eastern airlines such as Etihad/Emirates/Qatar, but they were far above the average.

        On the other hand, my experiencd with Air China/China Southern Airlines/China Eastern Airlines wasn't so great. Let's say they were worse than Vietnam Airlines.

        However, at this price, you can't really complain if you need a full-service international flight ticket from OZ to Japan.

        • +4

          China Airlines you really need to get on the new aircrafts, not their old A330.
          Their A350 and the new neos are all very good.

        • +3

          I am sure you mean China Airlines. Their aircraft were old and outdated

          When was they last time you fly China Airlines? Can't say for other routes but from Sydney to Taipei and Taipei to Tokyo are all new planes.

      • China Airlines?

          • @syswong:

            carbine crew

            Err… I enjoyed all the air raid bunkers dotted about the place when I visited Taiwan, but this is next level.

        • -1

          That is a total different airline from total different country……

          Great to fly with even if you are not looking for a stop over in Taiwan. Many new planes, good food and good cabin crew services.

      • Semantics lol

        China Southern is cheaper on the few flights I have selected even up to $100, so maybe this thread should be updated. FYI Air China $678 first week of June, yet China Southern $601.

      • +5

        lol Hong Kong refugees don’t take planes, they take boats.

        • -5

          You know I keep saying thank you to you because you kept reminding everyone the wrong done in Hong Kong, only then the word Hong Kong refugees is used.

          As for boat / planes, its 2024 mate. wake up!! Didn't you hear PRCs now get into America through Mexico border too, how do yo think they get there?

    • +2

      I just flew China eastern yesterday, it was the worst airline I've ever flown by a large margin.
      In flight entertainment had about 3 old French movies and a bunch of Chinese ones, staff spoke little to no english, staff were rude and bossy, takeoff and landing was 1h before and after takeoff so no laptops (wtf!), USB chargers in seats are super low voltage so could charge phone but no power banks aren't allowed (wtf!!), alcohol was warm tsingtao or some Chinese wine, transfer in Shanghai was horrible, like going into prison with 1km+ walking, seats were like a ill fitting wooden bench, the approach in Shanghai was super slow, the last 200km took about 1hour for some reason.

      I could go on but I'm getting painful memories

      • +3

        Sounds like you don't fly often.

  • +3

    I think we are ready to see some Thailand deal

  • -1

    Still yet to see anyone from Ozbargain actually give positive feedback on experiences with FlightNetwork, Mytrip.com or Gotogate on these deals. On the contrary a quick google of these scream scam.

    • +3

      I've used all 3, Gotogate used to be the main one I used years ago pre-COVID (probably 4-5 bookings), never had an issue, though never had to change anything or make any special requests.

      • +2

        Same. Also my itineraries are always 100% flexible on the off chance of a delay/cancellation. Never had any issues.

        By which I mean I'm flexible to eat a plane ticket.

    • +1

      I've had issues with mytrip not refunding my flights due to covid restrictions. Had to resort to the bank to get my money back.

    • +2

      Have also used all three being the risk-taker I am, no issues - but again, didn't have modifications or cancellations.

    • +1

      Used Gotogate to book a deal from here a few months ago, didn't have any issues.

      • Thanks, how quickly did you receive booking confirmation with the airline?

        • First time it wasn't ticketed but should be immediate

  • +1

    Amazing prices from Sydney!

  • +3

    It seems China Southern Airlines offers a slight cheaper price. For instance, a return flight between Melb to Tokyo is $576 on the dates between May 27 and Jun 6 instead of $601 that is offered by Air China. Then again, the layover time of some flights is just horrible (14+hr in Guangzhou, China).

    I'd avoid both carriers if it is possible. However, that's just me.

  • +3

    Took a flight recently with China southern. Planes were good (A350, 737-max). However the stopover at Ghuanghzhou was a shit show. Had a long layover 12 ish hours, immigration refused to let me and my partner(US citizen) in. We have never been refused entry, have no criminal convictions , did have a paid hotel booking too.

    Reddit has all kinds of similar stories. So do these flights but don't plan any stopovers.

    • Wouldn’t that b more of a China issue than the airline itself?

      • In China, the airline issue is the country’s issue

        • +1

          Of course, to hong kong people, everything is china's problem

      • Wouldn’t that b more of an issue that US people don't know what a 'visa' is?

        • -1

          All those who go sour about the VISA issue, I finally know where all that came from:

          https://www.henleyglobal.com/passport-index/ranking

          Visa free travel is not a two-way highway, rather many are politically imitated. Hence why Australia can ask everyone to get a Visa and yet Australia citizen can travel Visa free to many countries.

          As for China, 2023 we finally see a deep decline on foreign visitor to China because they CHOOSE not to be politically friendly and that is how foreigners reacts. What the government then do is to control the amount of citizen traveling abroad, try to force them to spend that money locally to made the numbers of foreign tourist.

          • +2

            @syswong: Lol you think China controls the amount of citizens travelling abroad?
            Maybe China should remove the cap so more mainlanders can move to HK :)

            Tourism isn't China's life blood.

    • +1

      China doesn't do automatic temporary visas on arrival. Not really an issue considering that Australia doesn't do it either, and the only other nationality that can enter without a visa is New Zealand.

  • Feels bad that there aren't any connecting flights to GC / Bris for similar price.

  • Watch this youtube before you book 😂

    https://youtu.be/1NDqZy4deDI

    • Show you what happens when a language barrier can potentially turn deadly.

    • This is scary! You'd expect a pilot of an international airlines to have basic English communication skills 😱

    • Some interesting comments:

      Interesting. I’ve happened to know Chinese and browsed several Mainland ATC videos in Chinese ATC fans community including this. From their view, AC981 clearly knows English and was playing dumb, he just wanted to jump into the queue to the ramp before ATC realize it, Air China has a reputation of “Chinese Royal Airlines “ in mainland community for such behavior during domestic flights.

      And

      The pilot exact knew what the controller was saying but he just pretend that he misunderstood , so he could go to the convenient No.4 gate

      So I guess they will save passengers some time in Japan

  • -1

    Just transited through Beijing just before Christmas and last weekend. The worst transiting experience of my life. What normally takes in most airports less than 30 minutes, took 70mins outbound and 2 and a half hours return - all Chinese red tape. There were people everywhere missing their connections. Air China also didn't load our luggage for our connecting flight so we were without our luggage overseas for 6 days.

  • -2

    6 days

    That is shocking!! the Japs and Koreans will have that done in less than 24 hours.

    Another reason why foreign tourist is not returning to China🤣🤣

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