Hello. I am a permanent wheelchair user looking to fly to Japan from Australia with my family for three weeks from mid December to early January. Flying Premium Economy with Qantas – for myself and my husband – seems the best deal we can find, but it’s still very expensive ($8000). And this is before we look for flights for our adult children.
We’ve been told accommodation over this period in Japan can be expensive, and we’re worried our budget could blow out.
We’re planning a week in Tokyo and a week in Koyoto for a family of four adults, but we don’t know if this is within the ballpark of US$3000, US$5000 or US$10,000.
I’d be very grateful if someone could give me some guidance on how much a stay could cost us. We all really want to come to Japan, we just need to drill down on the details.
Thanks in advance!
Josh Grisdale4 Comments-
Hi, great you’re looking at going to Japan. It’s a lovely country place to visit. I would suggest looking at business class seats as they can sometimes be cheaper than premium economy. You also need to be careful with Premium Economy seats as they are often in the exit row.
The other thing is that you can sometimes book economy & then request an upgrade to business class if you have enough points. I did that and got a business class upgrade. It was great!
Instead of staying in Tokyo I would suggest staying in Yokohama which is a bit cheaper than Tokyo and not far on the train to Tokyo. There are less people too. Stay near Yokohama station where there are lots of shops and food options.
I haven’t advertised on my website yet but after my recent visit to Japan I’m expanding my business services to include helping people planning holidays to Japan.
There’s also now a great variety of accommodation in Japan. I’m happy to have a chat to you. I’m from Australia too & live in Melbourne.
Food can be reasonable if you avoid eating in hotels and buy food from supermarkets and the basement of department stores.
Also make sure you have good travel insurance before leaving Australia. I’d suggest avoiding Covermore. -
Hi!
In addition to the advice about Yokohama, you may want to look at Toyoko Inn as an option for accommodation as the rates are fairly low and don’t fluctuate as much since they are a “business hotel”. They are all over the country and the rooms are standardized so, you will have no surprises.
You may want to consider adding your question as a new discussion topic in the “Discussions” tab of the group. Posts in the activity feed don’t have the same notification settings, so some people replying to you may not see it etc.
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Some other thoughts.
The reason accommodation is so expensive is that it’s a peak time to travel to Japan with many Japanese people returning to Japan. It will be very crowded in Tokyo & Kyoto, especially at popular tourist spots.
Another option is to stay in some Youth Hostels which are a pretty high standard in Japan. I’ve previously done that before.
It’s also a pretty cold time of year and will be cold in Kyoto.
If you can I’d be travelling at low season when it’s cheaper. Flights will be cheaper in the low season as well.-
Hello! Thanks Josh and AsiaMarketMakers for replying to my post. Much appreciated, and apologies for only replying now. We have booked our flights and I’m sure I’ll be dipping into the wisdom in this blog. Thanks again.
