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Peak season:
The peak times of the year are during the Japanese holidays, New Years and the Obon Festival in August. You can normally find rather cheap flights to Japan too as a lot of the locals are on holiday. The busiest times of the year are during the school holidays and festivals. You’ll find flight tickets are more expensive so make sure to book your flights to Japan in advance to secure a deal. Spring time is a beautiful time to visit and cheap flights to Japan are easier to come by and hotel accommodation is still affordable.
Off season:
The off season in Japan depends on how you perceive things, Spring and Autumn are classed as off season although they are very busy times of the year in regards to local celebrations, the Hanami celebration in Spring for example sees the parks bustling with people. January to April offers the cheapest flights to Japan as well as low tourism so can be a good time of year to find a reasonably priced escape.
In order to find the cheapest flights to Japan you’ll need to book your flight tickets well in advance. Aim for at least 3 months in advance or even earlier if you are visiting during an event or festival as they will see the price of your flight tickets increase substantially. Mid-August offers a nice window to find cheap flights to Japan whilst most of the local Japanese are away on their own holidays. You’ll find some services might be unavailable due to this but you’ll also find cheaper hotel deals and cheaper flight tickets. If you are flexible with your dates and your location in Japan then you’ll find the cheapest flights to Japan just by searching around and comparing different months.
Flights from London to Tokyo, Japan: 11 hours 50 minutes.
Flights from Manchester to Osaka, Japan: 13 hours 45 minutes.
Flights from Birmingham to Tokyo, Japan: 13 hours 45 minutes.
Flights from Glasgow to Osaka, Japan: 13 hours 55 minutes.
Ryanair, easyJet and British Airways provide cheap flights to Japan and all have their own benefits and cons. Ryanair and easyJet will by far offer the cheapest flights to Japan but at the sacrifice of comfort. You also need to be careful when booking your flight tickets during the Summer as you might notice the price of checked in baggage increase dramatically (sometimes more than the price of the flight ticket). British Airways aren’t the cheapest airline but they are comfortable to fly with, and you can get free snacks and drinks throughout your flights to Japan which is an added bonus. Once you’ve decided where you want to travel to in Japan you can start researching and comparing the different airlines to find yourself the best flight tickets.
Tokyo:
Due to traffic jams and rush hour you may find the journey takes around 1 or 2 hours to get you to your hotel, however during quiet times of the day this will be a lot quicker. The airport has a train station you can jump onto to get to the city and it is relatively cheap to do so. The other option is a limousine bus which operates like a door to door drop off service. They aren’t as quick as the train but you can get practically to the door of your hotel with one. Lastly you could opt for a taxi, however the price of these can be 10 times the price of the bus, especially during traffic jams and rush hour where you are paying the driver to wait in the queue.
Osaka:
You can get a bus from outside the terminal 1 building. If you land at terminal 2 you can still buy your bus tickets but it’s best to jump on the free shuttle bus to terminal 1. From there simply purchase your tickets and hop onto the bus. It’ll take you to the bus station in the centre of Tokyo where you can get off to go searching for you hotel. Once you’ve booked your flights to Japan though it’s worth seeing if any hotels will provide you with airport transfers in with the price of your flight tickets as this will save you time and money. You can also get a train from the airport straight into Osaka centre so this is an option to if you’re not keen on the idea of a bus. Lastly you can get a taxi from outside of the arrivals Terminal. These are cheap compared to UK prices but still expensive when you compare it with the bus transport options. However if you are in a rush or have a lot of luggage they can be quite useful. You can cut the cost with a friend too which makes a taxi more worthwhile.
(prices quoted are from London)