Good evening,
I was wondering if the next Jetstar birthday sale would have flights around October or November to Japan for this year since it seems like there weren't any during last year's sale. I'm planning on staying there for 2 months and I should be fine with school holidays as I can work around them.
Is hoping and waiting another month better, or should I bite the bullet and pay ~$1000 better? If the second option should I instead go for JAL?
Thanks :)
How are they in comparison?
Much x n times BETTER compares to JQ
I suggested because they're a full service airline at currently reasonably good prices. JAL is also excellent but costing more than Cathay at the moment (from my recent checks)
If u just want the cheapest price, then u can't beat scoot/Jetstar etc I guess
wow 2 months! so jealous how do you plan to fund yourself for that long (expenses etc) as you indicate that you are still in school ?
Don't know if I made it clear but I'm in uni haha so funding it through working when I'm not studying. I have family and friends there which helps a lot with accommodation costs and I've been on another 2 month trip in Japan before where my budget was ~$3500, so I'd like to think I've got a bit of experience.
"I have family and friend"
thats amazing!
This doesn't answer your question, but you mentioned possibly flying JAL - I would highly recommend this option (or other full-service airlines) if the price difference isn't too much.
Given the amount of time you are away, I assume you would like a checked in bag. Once you add that, plus seat select if that's important to you, Jetstar sometimes ends up being very close to the same price as a full-service airline.
A Japanese airline is far superior in all aspects (at least in my opinion) than a local/low-cost airline.
Another consideration is sometimes Jetstar will fly to Japan but with a stop somewhere, this depends on where you are traveling from. Paying a little extra for the convenience of a direct flight is another consideration and something you might be willing to pay extra for with another airline.
As to the Jetstar birthday sale, it's hard to predict and definitely a gamble. If you choose to lock it in and book now, do yourself a favour and stop looking up fares. There's nothing worse than buying now and finding the same route on sale later on. Good luck!
Thanks for your response, my thought process was to save the money on flights to have a bit more spending money when I'm there but if the price difference isn't that big it probably is better to just go with a better airline.
yep same if me i will fly as cheap as possible the purpose is to enjoy japan not the flight. i mean the food will never taste good on the sky anyway.
unless you fly business, economy on full service or budget are preety much the same even if the diff. just $300 i will take budget
The threshold on low-cost versus full service is difficult to put a price on.
I figure some local airlines have had such negative wrap in the media lately (Qantas mostly, Jetstar seems to have improved recently) that I'd be open to paying ~$500 more to not fly with them. Of course, it depends on some other factors too - is accommodation at my destination affordable, how about ground transport/rental car etc.
OP's thinking is a good one - the less you spend on flights, the more you can spend in Japan.
It's definitely a gamble.
However, I ended up paying $900 or so last year to fly direct with Jetstar - so if you can fly for around $1000 it's probably worthwhile as you're not going to save much and you'll likely have a much better experience.
Try buying some Qantas FF points in the forums? They work for Jetstar… but not always available if you're not flexible with your dates.
its borderline illegal so…. well up to you
It's against their Terms and Conditions, but nowhere near illegal.
Where would you be flying to and from?
We had our third trip to Japan in December 23-Jan 24 - prices had certainly increased for accommodation and food.
What was a comfortable budget on earlier trips certainly didn't stretch as far on the most recent trip..
Ended up biting the bullet and going with JAL. It was great to experience a website that didn't constantly try to upsell me hahaha
My family go to Tokyo this October as well.We fly with Singapore airlines.
Apart from JAL you can also check out Cathay
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/836132