price for a short visit?

[Atomic645]

Hello all. Just looking for a little advice, for a future gaijin. Tickets to Tokyo, from the US, are roughly around 600-700, for round trip, so I was curious as to how much I could expect to spend, while in Japan, if I were to be thrifty?

I do have the option of staying with family there, but I was also curious how much I could expect to spend (in USD), if I didn't stay with them, as well. I've heard it's quite expensive, so I was hoping for some thrifty, inside-gaijin information.

Thank you!

[Mulboyne]

How long are you staying and are you planning to travel around?

[Atomic645]

Probubly about a week, and I probubly wouldn't travel too much, except within tokyo, if thats what you mean.

[AssKissinger]

per day estimates

lodging 7,000
food 6,000
beer 2,000
transportation 3,000 (much more if going from town to town)

you know the saying about twice the money half the luggage?
try four times the money

It's not really true but think of 1,000 yen as ten dollars but plan to spend 1,000 yen notes like one dollar bills.

[Atomic645]

per day estimates

lodging 7,000
food 6,000
beer 2,000
transportation 3,000 (much more if going from town to town)

you know the saying about twice the money half the luggage?
try four times the money

It's not really true but think of 1,000 yen as ten dollars but plan to spend 1,000 yen notes like one dollar bills.

Thats decent. Not quite cheap, but not quite $500 a day. Very do-able.

And how does transportation work, there? Is it all subway, or are taxi's reasonable, like in NYC?

[AssKissinger]

Cabs are expensive. Especially if you're alone. I think in Japan cabbies don't usually up the charges for extra passengers like they do in the states.

[maninjapan]

Don't forget stuff like omiyage presents as well! They can easily bump the cost up - my sister brought over 450pounds and spent it all - even though she was staying with my - however we did do lots of travelling to places ie Nikko, Hakone, Enoshima, Kamakura and Tokyo which, in total, was about 150 pounds on travel fares alone.

[Atomic645]

Don't forget stuff like omiyage presents as well! They can easily bump the cost up - my sister brought over 450pounds and spent it all - even though she was staying with my - however we did do lots of travelling to places ie Nikko, Hakone, Enoshima, Kamakura and Tokyo which, in total, was about 150 pounds on travel fares alone.

aww. I'm sure my fellow gaijins hosting me won't mind. I'll have to play the "unknown gaijin", though. hehe.

[IkemenTommy]

Hello all. Just looking for a little advice, for a future gaijin. Tickets to Tokyo, from the US, are roughly around 600-700, for round trip, so I was curious as to how much I could expect to spend, while in Japan, if I were to be thrifty?

Have you checked out JTB USA? I saw some decent Y tickets at around 500 dollars during non-peak season if you want to cut cost. Though, they were with shitty United and AA tickets but you will be paying more for the better ANA or JAL.

[Atomic645]

Have you checked out JTB USA? I saw some decent Y tickets at around 500 dollars during non-peak season if you want to cut cost. Though, they were with shitty United and AA tickets but you will be paying more for the better ANA or JAL.

But theres lotsa tax, and other fees involved, so a ticket thats advertised at 500 ends up being 600-700.

[Greji]

per day estimates

lodging 7,000
food 6,000
beer 2,000
transportation 3,000 (much more if going from town to town)

you know the saying about twice the money half the luggage?
try four times the money

It's not really true but think of 1,000 yen as ten dollars but plan to spend 1,000 yen notes like one dollar bills.

Reasonable estimate AK, but I think you were out in the countryside too long before you left, to only allow two grand in your budget for suds!

[AssKissinger]

Yeah, it got to the point where going out for a beer meant walking down to the store for a sixer of 7% chu-his and chugging it by the river with my Walkman. Come to think of it, fuck the city, man.

[bruce_a]

But theres lotsa tax, and other fees involved, so a ticket thats advertised at 500 ends up being 600-700.

I wish they'd be honest and up front about it. JTB lists a $130 "fuel surcharge" for a couple flights. Just tell me the final cost. Don't try to lure me in with vain hopes of getting to Japan for less than it cost me to fly to Chicago for Christmas.

[kamome]

I wish they'd be honest and up front about it. JTB lists a $130 "fuel surcharge" for a couple flights. Just tell me the final cost. Don't try to lure me in with vain hopes of getting to Japan for less than it cost me to fly to Chicago for Christmas.

Don't you love them travel agents? Yeah, they always hide the costs. Whatever price you see on a website or in an advertisement, normally won't include taxes, fuel charges, and other "service fees".

Oh yeah, they also tend to showcase the price for off-peak, mid-week, or inconvenient flight times (like a Wednesday 5:30AM departure) or will show a price that is blacked out for most of the times you would be likely to travel. Other nice tricks include showing a good fare but not indicating that it's on Aeroflot or some other shitty airline. Or advertising a great fare for a flight that requires one or more loooooong layovers for a total of 36 hours of travel time.

[Charles]

Oh yeah, they also tend to showcase the price for off-peak, mid-week, or inconvenient flight times (like a Wednesday 5:30AM departure) or will show a price that is blacked out for most of the times you would be likely to travel. Other nice tricks include showing a good fare but not indicating that it's on Aeroflot or some other shitty airline. Or advertising a great fare for a flight that requires one or more loooooong layovers for a total of 36 hours of travel time.

Could be worse. When I first went to Japan for school, I got a cheap standby ticket from ORD to DFW to NRT. I got bumped in DFW, I got stuck there for 3 days, and almost no chance of standby seats opening up. I ended up buying a full-fare ticket. That cost more than a regular round trip flight.
When I got to my school in Japan, I only found one person who had a worse experience: she flew Aeroflot.

[Kuang_Grade]

But then again, sometimes there are some good deals from the airlines themselves...for several weeks in Jan, American was selling $600 RT (and that includes taxes and fees) to KIX and NRT...yeah, its midweek but still that was a fantasic price given the current level of fuel prices...I actually have enough miles for 2 RT tickets to Japan but I opted pay cash for a ticket at those prices.