Preference for Japan: early June or early September?
 

Hello Japan travelers,

I'm considering a tour that includes Tokyo and Kyoto with day trips from Kyoto.
Considering weather and air fares, would early June or early September be preferable?

I'd be flying from Atlanta or NYC.

Thanks for a any advice.

Farewise there is very little difference in the price. Weather is a few degrees hotter in September but it is normally wetter (June = 165 mm, Sept 234 mm.) About the same number of people about too.

Another thing to find out about (and I think KimJapan will jump in on this) is are there any school holidays during those periods. This is a bigger deal than you'd think, depending on what your plans are. Some temples, museums, and areas of Japan can get swamped w/schoolkids on what seems to be endless field trips, and it is nice to avoid that if it is school breka time. But if it is school break time, then places like popular resorts, amusement parks/Disney, etc., will be swamped w/families while kids are out of school.

Another consideration is that September, along with October, is a typhoon month and your travel plans may be disrupted.

I would pick June, as the weather should be nicer...more sun and lower temperatures. There aren't kids' school holidays in either June or September...but universities are on summer break for August and September. That should not have any effect on travel plans though.

Sumo tournament in Tokyo in September. It starts on the 9th. No tournament in June.

June is sooner.

Baseball in either month.

Thank you all. I think I'll skip typhoon month, so June it will be.

Do any of you have recommendations for flight routes? Airlines? I'll be flying from Florida, probably through Atlanta into Osaka and return from Tokyo.

A quick look and USAirways was charging over $1300 for Florida to Osaka return. Tokyo was about the same. Probably cheaper about.

One point. If you fly in one airport and out another, it can add a fair bit to an airfare. It may be better to spend a few hours on a train and return to your original place of arrival.

> If you fly in one airport and out another, it can add a fair bit to an airfare

kaneda (does it come from Akira?), on this board, or maybe on Europe board, general consensus is open-jaw does not cost or only a bit if it does. I have no personal experience though.

We use open jaw tickets regularly on NWA and Continental between Japan and the US, and Thai and NWA within Asia. In my experience, the fare for an open jaw ticket has not been more than a 2 city simple round trip. In August, it was less expensive for us to fly Komatsu - NRT - EWR - TPA (Tampa) - NRT - Komatsu than it was for Komatsu - NRT - EWR - NRT - Komatsu...but usually the fare is the same, not cheaper for open jaw, we got lucky in August by it being cheaper I think.

Most fare classes allow a single open jaw for free and simply charge 1/2 of the round trip price for each leg of your trip. If the round trip is higher from one of your cities than the other, then your total will be higher. But in Japan, NRT, KIX and NGO are pretty much interchangable and and open jaw will not change your round trip fare.

Kim, thanks for confirming my thought.

Hi,

I travelled in Japan in April 05 and the weather was very good.It was Cherry blossom season.Though in Tokyo it was a little late for the flowers,down south in Kyoyo it was full bloom.A splendid sight indeed.

What airport in Florida?

USAirways doesn't fly to Asia, but their codeshare partners do.

I've priced open jaw tickets to Japan (KIX, NGO, NRT) and have seen that an open jaw with KIX and NRT could cost $100 more than a roundtrip to NRT or $100 less than a roundtrip to NRT. A return trip to NRT from Kyoto would cost about $130 and 4 hours.

"What airport in Florida?"

I'd prefer Gainesville but could fly from Jacksonville, Orlando or Tampa but those cities involve a couple of hours driving.

Delta/Korean (through Atlanta) is $1479, not much, if any, difference in open jaw. I'd like to fly business but don't have enough FF miles so it will be coach. Any airlines better than others in coach?

I could also fly to NY if there are better options from there.

Are prices likely to fall before May?

I wonder if Delta will be US Air by then.

Thanks for all your help. It feels good to know when to go.

I have always found SFO /LAX to NRT round trip to be about $100-$150 less than flying into Osaka. Nagoya may be another matter as I have seen some specials there.