ChgoGal

Hi, Fodorites.

Does anyone have any suggestions how I might save on a domestic flight in Japan? I must book my mother on Japan Airlines, from Okinawa to Haneda/Tokyo in June.

JAL offers a RT fare of 26,980 yen (or approx. $263) with their 'Super Sakitoku' advanced purchase fare.

Anyone know of any other discounts?

someotherguy

Does it have to be JAL? There are several low-cost airlines in Japan and Okinawa is one of their specialties. I listed them in this thread:

http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...r-extended.cfm

Kavey

If your mother is also travelling from outside Japan into Japan on a oneworld airline, you could look at the Yokoso fare.

http://www.jal.co.jp/yokosojapan/

We booked flights from Fukuoka to Tokyo for just 10,000 Yen plus GBP£10 booking fee last October.

ChgoGal

Thanks very much someotherguy and Kavey. Good information. My mother very much wants to travel on the same JAL flight as her niece, but perhaps if I find a different airline with around the same departure time from Haneda, that might work, too. (She's not a very experienced traveler, and a senior, so I am hoping to keep her with her niece and nephew.)

And thank you for the link to the yokoso fares. My mother is flying a oneworld airline, so this might work.

I'll post back with results.

Many thanks, again!

ChgoGal

Okay. Cool. The Yokoso fare WILL offer a cheaper, domestic fare for those flying a oneworld airline.

The link was great, Kavey--thank you.
But that link tells you to call Japan Airlines for more information--which I did so I could inquire if possible to book the Yokoso fare online.

This link will allow you to book online... but you must have your international (oneworld alliance airline) ticket numbers handy.

Go to this link (the American Region site for JAL) and scroll down till you see the banner on the right that reads 'oneworld Yokoso/Visit Japan Fare Available Online.'
http://www.ar.jal.com/arl/en/

Then you read all the terms and conditions, click accept, and then proceed to ticketing.

Saved me about $60 on the Super Sakitoku fare.

Kavey

That's great. I couldn't work out the online booking but the JAL representative I spoke to was amazingly helpful and sorted everything for me on the phone - I even changed my mind suddenly during the call, on whether we should pick the 9 am or 10 am flight, and he didn't bat an eyelid, encouraged me to change if that suited me better and continued making the booking. He also checked my luggage allowance for me, made sure I had all the info.

Hope your mother has a good journey.

ChgoGal

Thanks again for the Yokoso mention, Kavey! My mother kept mentioning a $200 domestic RT ticket and I just couldn't find it. (And I'm really cheap, so I was thrilled to save the money.)

Yes, I hope she has a nice time. She's from the Ryukyu Islands and wants to take mini trip to Tokyo in the middle of her long vacation to see family. It'll be a nice change from Illinois (especially after this winter).

Thanks again!

Kavey

You are welcome.
I got so much advice here from more experienced Japan hands before my two trips, I'm thrilled to be able to pass it forward myself.

ChgoGal

Noticed the banner ad was gone. Here's the link for the online purchase:
http://www.jal.co.jp/yokosojapan/online/ar/