Skip Bangkok and stay in Japan??
 

We have free first class flights to Tokyo :)and we are able to pay for flights to Bangkok, and visit Chang Mai; however we only have 7 days there and then end up back in Narita morning of Jan1 and leave evening of Jan 3. Alot of running around!
I was just wondering (since we already have done Tokyo and Kyoto) if maybe we should just stay in Japan and do the countryside. Would you skip Bangkok? Any comments.
If we stay in Japan we are there Dec24-Jan3
We were looking foward to the Bangkok experience. Confused......please help

It really depends on what you are interested in. In addition, as I'm sure you know, Thailand is MUCH cheaper than Japan.

Bangkok is my favorite Asian city. If you've never been there, there is much to see and do and shopping galore. I'm not especially fond of Chaing Mai (those some people are). So if you've only got 7 days, you may want to spend all of them in Bangkok.

Are the tickets on frequent flyer awards?

Thank you for your replys. Yes, the tickets are on frequent flyer miles. Kathy, would you go to Angkor Wat instead of Chang Mai? Or south to the beaches and islands? I donot want to stay in Bangkok for 7 days I don't think.....I am a bit concerned about the traffic, pollution, city etc. I live in that every day!

Absolutely I'd recommend Angkor over Chaing Mai. And I'd recommend Angkor over the beaches. Yes, the beaches are nice, but they are just beaches, without much cultural interest.

You would be able to visit both Tokyo and Bangkok on the same award. You don't have to pay to go to Bangkok.

Award availability between BKK and Tokyo is horrible...next to nothing. Awards between the US and Tokyo are quite easy to get, though, so I'm guessing that you took the award to Tokyo and planned to purchase the NRT-BKK leg seperately.

The flight to BKK is about 6 hours...not short. Bangkok will be warm. Tokyo will be cold. Thailand is cheaper than Japan, but you can just as easily spend a lot in Thailand as you can spend a reasonable amount in Japan.

Staying in Japan may be easier in terms of travel...after you factor in the time spent getting to Bangkok and the price of the ticket between BKK and NRT, you might be even on the money you spend. Tickets within Asia from Japan aren't as cheap as from other Asian hubs. It's peak season from Dec 24 - Jan 9...if you haven't already gotten tix to BKK you may find you have to pay even full fare because discount fares are sold out. That might make your decision for you right there.

There is so much more to Japan than Tokyo and Kyoto. If you were so inclined, you could easily enjoy the holiday season in Japan...the mountain areas are gorgeous. I'll plug my own city a bit here...Kanazawa is a great place to spend a few days. The Japanese New Year is a lovely time.

Don't get me wrong...I love Thailand! I love Bangkok. But if it turns out that you stay in Japan, it'll be an equally great trip I think...just not warm (unless you go to Okinawa :)

Kathy, you have been such a great source, thank you. I have flights to Bangkok that are expensive but not too crazy. I am more concerned with the flying time and the fact that I need to come back to Tokyo on Jan 1 (no Jan 3 flights out of Bangkok available) It just seems like ALOT of traveling but maybe worth it since we already did Tokyo and Kyoto one New Years. And yet....I know there is so much more to see and do in Japan!

what airline did ya get for the bkk-NRT leg and about how much did ya pay?

maybe ther is still a way of flying on jan 6.. many travel agents especially those that are not consolidaters don't bother checking up on ALL the airlines that go here and there..

for instance air india and Biman bangladeshi fly direct BKK-NRT

I have another suggestion, that helped us when we visited India.

We were also on FF miles, and could only fly into Delhi. We then needed to be in Calcutta for a wedding 6 days later. So, like you, we were time-constrained. Rather than deciding where to spend the 6 days from a guide book we turned our research on its head and started by checking where we could fly to and when from Delhi. Amazingly, this really narrowed the choices unless you fancied spending lots of time waiting for flights. Then we did the same for flights from our 'shortlist' onwards to Calcutta. In India, all flights are relatively expensive so on that occasion we did not then start comparing costs as closely as we usually do.

It was only at this stage that we started digging in guidebooks and the web to research our shortlist.

The result of this 'strange' research was 5 days in Gujarat. We only saw 6 Europeans the whole time, and not another single tourist! And we enjoyed a part of India we would not have thought of visiting otherwise.

It just may help you make the most of your time, as well as perhaps taking you to somewhere you would never otherwise have thought of.

Whatever you decide, have a great time.

centeno, you could call the FF program and see what changes are available. I agree with KimJapan. The additional cost of flying to Bangkok offsets the lower prices there. And, there is much more to Japan than Tokyo and Kyoto. You ought to be booking your lodging now for your Jan 1-3 stay.

It took me a couple of tries to get the FF award that I finally booked for the end of the month (actually bought a phone headset since I knew it would take several calls and waits on hold). It's is a first class award to Bangkok with a stopover in Tokyo on the return. After three or four tries, I got a more creative agent who routed me through Beijing to Bangkok (Dec 26-27). The Thai leg from BKK to NRT was easy to get on the day I wanted (Jan 8). This was a USAir/Star Alliance award on United, Thai, and ANA.

Anyway, you potentially still have options on travel dates and/or destinations and stopovers.

Thank you SueJ I will try that approach. And Mrwunfl I will try again, holding on the phone to see if I can get that flight direct to Bangkok. I am on Delta miles.

I wouldn't spend 7 days in Bangkok. We just got back and it did nothing for us although there are regulars on this site who love it, sorry, just another opinion. We didn't find a city of 12 million people with caotic traffic so appealing, and historically it's only around 250 years old. We did enjoy the rest of our time in Thailand.
Ankor wat is certainly a facinating destination.

Oh Randig tell me more...this is exactly what I am concerned about. What did you like? What should we not do? I am concerned I will hate the traffic, pollution etc but the culture should be interesting. What did you do and where did you stay?

Personally...I'd head straight to Bangkok! Happy Travels!