Cheap airfares to Japan
Having family in Japan, I regularly search the internet for cheap fares to the Land of the Rising Sun. Qantas, Japan Airlines (JAL) and Jetstar are the obvious choices for the most direct route.
Having decided to head to Japan over the October school holidays, the best deal I could find for two adults and one child (must be aged two to 11 on the day of departure) flying Sydney-Tokyo-Osaka return was $3839 on JAL.
To fly the same days with Qantas (and exactly the same domestic sectors within Japan on JAL), the return fare for all three was $6028.
Both are full-service airlines that include inflight entertainment, catering and generous checked baggage allowance, so we are comparing apples with apples.
What I did find staggering was the Jetstar fare, particularly since it was a "sale" fare on a "low-cost airline".
Flying on the same days (with a stopover in Cairns on the way up and going via Melbourne on the way back), with the addition of the "plus bundle", which does not include checked baggage, it came to $3470.
Add entertainment and a 20kg checked allowance each and we're up to $3689. With a difference of only $150, JAL wins hands down on this occasion.
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