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Edited July 27, 2023
at 10:48 AM
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have PTO and a valid passport, will travel.....
Zipair, a Japanese low-cost airline headquartered at NRT, wholly owned subsidiary of Japan Airlines, have round trip airfares travelling from Los Angeles (LAX) to Narita Tokyo (NRT) for $550, nonstop. ZIPAIR Tokyo offers six flights from LAX to NRT every week. You may earn ZIPAIR points or exchange JAL (Japan Air Lines) points. ZIPAIR has Boeing 787 Dreamliners in their fleet.
Travel Availability:
Departs LAX: Sept 4-6, 10-15, 19-21, 23
Returns: Sept 11-13, 17-30
To book this deal, use dates and book it directly with
ZIPAIR [zipair.net].
Want to see more travel deals? Click here or here.
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Pro:
1. free wifi - good enough for email / chat apps. video streaming can only probably support 240/360p (I tried youtube)
2. inflight shopping for food and drinks are relatively "cheap" - love the Japanese selections
3. if you travel with kids, 6yr and under are almost free. You only pay taxes which is about 10% of the adult ticket. They also get a seat and free seat selections if you sit with your kids. A very affordable way for a family to visit Japan.
Con:
1. absolutely no changes after 24hrs. no changes, no refund, not even if you want to pay for the changes. (If you cancel your flight, u could get a refund on the taxes)
2. Everything has a fee, even water. ($2 a bottle)
3. flight delays. both of my flights had about 20-30mins of delay for departure.
4. no entertainment screen, you gotta bring your own ipads/phones
Others:
They weight all of your carry-on together. So if you have 4 people, your total allowance for free carry-on would be 60lbs. (you dont have to seperate them into like 4 x 15lbs)
They sometimes add your backpack into the weight though. (depends on the person)
That one includes two check in bags and one carry on.
ZipAir has a really really minimal carry on and personal bag allowed and you have to pay extra to be able to check in and carry more weight into the cabin. That Singapore Airline deal also included a meal. ZipAir does not.
I took this deal to fly to Japan the 2nd half of February and it ended up being a shopping trip that I paid for a check in bag on the way back (bought a medium luggage in Don Quixote). The in flight cost of each thing you buy for food is actually really decently priced, but the extra luggage fees will get you. I ended up probably spending as much or more than the Singapore deal, so that is the way to go if people are not traveling light.
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Our experience on the flight:
- Plane is an 787 and was clean and new(ish).
- In-flight food service was pretty reasonably priced and the tasted great (for plane food). On the flight home from Japan, we still bought a bunch of food at the 7-11 in the terminal (past security) because that was still cheaper and better (note, 7-11 in Japan is nothing like US 7-11).
- In-flight entertainment isn't really much to speak of. We just had tablets with downloaded movies/TV shows, so it wasn't an issue.
- Flight attends were all very friendly and nice (Japanese standards for customer service)
On luggage:- They have restriction by size, count, and weight. Pay close attention.
- For the flight from US to Japan, they didn't weigh our carry-ons, but for our flight from Japan to US, they did.
- We were a family of 5 and they weighed all the carry-ons together, so for us it was 7kg x 5 = 35kg total. That meant an individual carry-on could be more than 7kg as long as the total was under 35kg.
- They weigh the carry-on at the ticketing counter, and then tag your bags. We were going to be over the limit, so I just put on a sweatshirt and jacket (even though it was a hot day) and stuffed my pockets with smaller, heavier things. After I left the ticketing area, I threw everything back in my carry-on bags.
- Since they only weigh at the ticketing counter, we were able to buy stuff after security (aforementioned snacks at 7-11, for example) and that's not a problem.
- Personal musing: Japan is a country where you will travel by public transportation a lot. Even if it wasn't for this luggage restriction, it's a place where you really don't want to travel with a ton of huge suitcases anyway. Dealing with the strict weight restrictions were a bit annoying, but it didn't impact the cost very much since we just checked one big suit case for the whole family + carry-ons for a 3 week trip.
I would definitely fly with them again. Given the very limited direct flights from the Bay Area, I can't imagine using any other service.I strongly disagree on "limited flights from the Bay Area" statement now that Zipair flies SJC and SFO-NRT plus ANA, United and JAL with options to both NRT and HND. There is also a seasonal SFO-Osaka.
Absolutely agree on traveling light, if you don't travel light on the plane you'll just be inconvenienced everywhere else. Trains require oversized luggage to have reserved spots.
Agreed, this is my hangup with that Singapore airlines deal that includes 2 check bags. There was definitely value in that, but it's not practical at all for someone traveling and exploring Japan.
Yes you have to bring your own media device (no screens).
Pre-purchase food or bring your own. We did both and it was actually very good food.
Yes they weigh EVERYTHING and are very strict. Buy a small portable luggage scale. Travel light.
NRT is about 90 mins away from Tokyo so take the train into the city is easy but factor in time and cost.
I still think it's worth it for $550, Tokyo is one of the best cities I've ever been to.
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If you insist on not packing light, sure use this service, bring as much as you want, pay to ship it around and arrange it. If you can do just airplane carry on you can bring it on a train. I got hotels with laundry machines, one even in the room, problem solved.
3. flight delays. both of my flights had about 20-30mins of delay for departure.
This is something that only the departing/destination ATC can control. Sometimes they don't let you leave too early because the jetstream is too weak/strong, and will make your plane arrive too early and you'd be left without a gate when you land.
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