JAL Japan Explorer Pass June 2023
Mar 29th, 2023, 12:59 PM
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JAL Japan Explorer Pass June 2023
HI, Fodorites.
Wondering if anyone's had luck this year booking a JAL explorer pass ticket? Am currently o hold with JAL, but it's been 40 minutes.
I was trying to book a multi-city: Osaka to Okinawa, Okinawa to Tokyo, but got an error message that said if I was looking for dates beyond 5/12, then I should attempt 1-way or RT only. So tried 1-way, but the advertised fare is not there.
Also, I tried dummy dates for pre-May 12 to see if a multi-city works, but the fares are "not combinable." Maybe it's a matter of lack of supply, but was curious if anyone's had success.
(Also, looked at ANA Discover Japan, which is bookable at this time, but fares are more expensive, and the same as JAL (non-promotional) fares. Was also interested in asking customer service about the Welcome to Japan fare that is advertised for foreign travelers, with slightly better change options on the return/2nd flight, but there's no way to book online.)
Guess JAL has plenty of tourists willing to pay full price. Was wonderful pre-covid, but fares are up everywhere. Glad Japan is doing well on the tourism front.
Next, I'm going to look at the low-cost airlines like Peach or Jetstar, but wondering what all their baggage fees will be. May be worthwhile if they seem safe enough.
Wondering if anyone's had luck this year booking a JAL explorer pass ticket? Am currently o hold with JAL, but it's been 40 minutes.
I was trying to book a multi-city: Osaka to Okinawa, Okinawa to Tokyo, but got an error message that said if I was looking for dates beyond 5/12, then I should attempt 1-way or RT only. So tried 1-way, but the advertised fare is not there.
Also, I tried dummy dates for pre-May 12 to see if a multi-city works, but the fares are "not combinable." Maybe it's a matter of lack of supply, but was curious if anyone's had success.
(Also, looked at ANA Discover Japan, which is bookable at this time, but fares are more expensive, and the same as JAL (non-promotional) fares. Was also interested in asking customer service about the Welcome to Japan fare that is advertised for foreign travelers, with slightly better change options on the return/2nd flight, but there's no way to book online.)
Guess JAL has plenty of tourists willing to pay full price. Was wonderful pre-covid, but fares are up everywhere. Glad Japan is doing well on the tourism front.
Next, I'm going to look at the low-cost airlines like Peach or Jetstar, but wondering what all their baggage fees will be. May be worthwhile if they seem safe enough.
Mar 29th, 2023, 08:03 PM
#2
you are wanting to get the 11,000 explorer fare and finding fares of 13,260?
Those 13000 fares are certainly not full price. I tried the explorer search page for a one-way OSA-OKA and got a fare of US $104.50
For a cheap far, try Jetstar Japan | Jetstar
Those 13000 fares are certainly not full price. I tried the explorer search page for a one-way OSA-OKA and got a fare of US $104.50
For a cheap far, try Jetstar Japan | Jetstar
Mar 30th, 2023, 05:46 AM
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The explorer fare for me this a.m. is $113 or 15,000 JPY. The advertised promotional fare is 11,000 JPY, which is approx. $83 or so, so my question was if anyone was able to get that fare successfully? Maybe the airline is tacking on taxes and fees afterwards.
Lots of forum posters mention the Explorer pass, yokoso fare, Welcome to Japan fare, ANA's discover Japan fare, etc., but the promotional rates don't seem available, and many of those tourist fares are suspended/gone. Only ANA Discover Japan and the Explorer Pass seem active.
Pre-covid, I never had issues buying the Yokoso fare multiple times, but I think the demand is great this year, so maybe airlines aren't making as many seats available. I'll post back if receive new info.
Lots of forum posters mention the Explorer pass, yokoso fare, Welcome to Japan fare, ANA's discover Japan fare, etc., but the promotional rates don't seem available, and many of those tourist fares are suspended/gone. Only ANA Discover Japan and the Explorer Pass seem active.
Pre-covid, I never had issues buying the Yokoso fare multiple times, but I think the demand is great this year, so maybe airlines aren't making as many seats available. I'll post back if receive new info.
Last edited by ChgoGal; Mar 30th, 2023 at 05:52 AM. Reason: clarity
Mar 30th, 2023, 10:55 AM
#4
I started a thread about how I was able to beat the visitor fares last fall by simply going to the JAL site and choosing Tokyo and English. The website says that their fare schemes change on April 12.
The ANA Discover fare for HND-OKA is "from JPY 14,637". Their website showed a lower price. Same for the OSA-OKA fare. Visit Japan fare is 28,260 for two flights. The Experience offer would be 11000 if you can find it
Special Fares | Promotions | Plan | Plan and Book | ANA
Jetstar Japan would be a good bet for a cheap fare. Did you try booking? They do have different levels of fares and options.
But you can get a fare of 4350 + 680 tax for OSA to OKA allowing 7 kg carry on. The website automatically selects one checked bag at additional cost so you have to click on 0 checked bags. Same thing for seats - it assigns you a seat for a charge and you have to deselect it to skip seats and take what they give. So you can stick with the no frills 5030 ticket price. At least I got as far as the pax info page.
The ANA Discover fare for HND-OKA is "from JPY 14,637". Their website showed a lower price. Same for the OSA-OKA fare. Visit Japan fare is 28,260 for two flights. The Experience offer would be 11000 if you can find it
Special Fares | Promotions | Plan | Plan and Book | ANA
Jetstar Japan would be a good bet for a cheap fare. Did you try booking? They do have different levels of fares and options.
But you can get a fare of 4350 + 680 tax for OSA to OKA allowing 7 kg carry on. The website automatically selects one checked bag at additional cost so you have to click on 0 checked bags. Same thing for seats - it assigns you a seat for a charge and you have to deselect it to skip seats and take what they give. So you can stick with the no frills 5030 ticket price. At least I got as far as the pax info page.
Mar 30th, 2023, 02:10 PM
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So appreciate your taking the time to reply, @mrwunrfl. I did look at Jetstar as you mentioned, and would be about $40 cheaper total, once I selected the level for our luggage. Since I'm booking for 6, trying to keep costs down where I can. I expect I'll end up just booking JAL on the Experience fare as I haven't flown low cost carriers before so a little distrustful. I'll have to do some research. It's just a bummer I'm not seeing the route for 11,000 JPY as advertised, no matter what dummy date I put in. Thanks again for the advice!
Apr 13th, 2023, 11:59 AM
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So appreciate your taking the time to reply, @mrwunrfl. I did look at Jetstar as you mentioned, and would be about $40 cheaper total, once I selected the level for our luggage. Since I'm booking for 6, trying to keep costs down where I can. I expect I'll end up just booking JAL on the Experience fare as I haven't flown low cost carriers before so a little distrustful. I'll have to do some research. It's just a bummer I'm not seeing the route for 11,000 JPY as advertised, no matter what dummy date I put in. Thanks again for the advice!
