keba 0 Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 Originally Posted By: Rag-Doll yeah but you get the cultural experience in Niseko!! Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 Yes, SIng and HK are in recession. But we're hardly a blip on the skiing in Japan market. Skiers and boarders in Hong Kong are not grass roots level workers. For them, a recession means 1 holiday in the snow as opposed to 2. Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 there's been layoofs all around. One case made me chuckle. A colleague has been here 20 years. She resigned in June 'cos she was OVERLY SSSTTTRESSSSED. But her boss begged her to stay on to help out for a few more months. Obviously she volunteered for this round of layoffs. A nice little package of 14 month's salary. Had she left in June, there wouldn't have been a package. Bit of a win that. Link to post Share on other sites
Rag-Doll 0 Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 Originally Posted By: Go Native Aussies still get to land in Japan on the same day with little if any jet-lag unlike travel to Nth America. This is a big plus. GN, with the demise of the direct Qantas flights I think those coming from Aust will probably need to get an overnight flight and then still faff around with transfers at Narita (although Osaka might be easier). Even if they go to Nagano or Niigata it is still a good 4+hrs after landing at Narita. In most cases it will be an over night trip, no jet lag, but still close to 24 hrs on the road between leaving home and checking in. Zero chance of leaving Aust and arriving in Niseko on the same day I would reckon. Link to post Share on other sites
gerard 6 Posted December 3, 2008 Share Posted December 3, 2008 Originally Posted By: Rag-Doll Originally Posted By: Go Native Aussies still get to land in Japan on the same day with little if any jet-lag unlike travel to Nth America. This is a big plus. GN, with the demise of the direct Qantas flights I think those coming from Aust will probably need to get an overnight flight and then still faff around with transfers at Narita (although Osaka might be easier). Even if they go to Nagano or Niigata it is still a good 4+hrs after landing at Narita. In most cases it will be an over night trip, no jet lag, but still close to 24 hrs on the road between leaving home and checking in. Zero chance of leaving Aust and arriving in Niseko on the same day I would reckon. Besides which, 1 good day of skiing = one big night of sleep = no jet lag anyway. Link to post Share on other sites
macmeh 0 Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 GoNative makes a good point! We ski Japan because it's only 1 day of travel to get there, no overnighting... North America is just too far! QANTAS and JAL do a codeshare flight out of Brisbane that gets in to Narita in time to make the 1 connecting flight per day up to Sapporo and onwards. It means we can walk out of the house first thing in the morning, and be in Niseko having a beer before midnight... can't complain about that! Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted December 4, 2008 Share Posted December 4, 2008 have you tried getting a flight from Narita to Shin Chitose? Link to post Share on other sites
keba 0 Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 You mean like, how difficult it is? We booked flights about amonth ago, from Kansai to Shin Chitose, and the only flights JAL had left were in business. It's costing us more to get from Osaka to Sapporo that it is from Oz to Osaka! Link to post Share on other sites
Rag-Doll 0 Posted December 5, 2008 Share Posted December 5, 2008 Originally Posted By: macmeh GoNative makes a good point! We ski Japan because it's only 1 day of travel to get there, no overnighting... North America is just too far! QANTAS and JAL do a codeshare flight out of Brisbane that gets in to Narita in time to make the 1 connecting flight per day up to Sapporo and onwards. It means we can walk out of the house first thing in the morning, and be in Niseko having a beer before midnight... can't complain about that! That's pretty slick, how tight a schedule is it? Waking up in Brizzie and going to sleep in Niseko is a neat trick. Link to post Share on other sites
foreversnow 5 Posted December 6, 2008 Share Posted December 6, 2008 Yep we leave Brisbane 8pm 30oC and go to sleep at Midnight in Niseko and wake up in POW heaven rested and ready to go. TO EASY!!! Link to post Share on other sites
Rag-Doll 0 Posted December 6, 2008 Share Posted December 6, 2008 Hang-on, that isn't same day, that is a crappy 28 hours drag with a shitty night spent on a plane. In 28 hours you could be anywhere on the planet. Link to post Share on other sites
keba 0 Posted December 6, 2008 Share Posted December 6, 2008 That's just about right, took me 36 hours to get to Zermatt, Switzerland from Brisbane (including a shitty night spent on a plane). QANTAS/JAL haven't really gone out of their way to make it easy to get to Niseko, a direct flight to Shin Chitose would rock. I think Australian Airlines used to do it from the Gold Coast, with a refuelling stop in Cairns, before they folded up. Link to post Share on other sites
foreversnow 5 Posted December 6, 2008 Share Posted December 6, 2008 Hey it is not that bad 8 hours to Toyko then direct flight straight away to Chitose and then the bus ride to Niseko. Beats 16 hours flying to Canada and then dealing with Jet lag and getting used to time change for a week. NZ is only 3 hours direct into Queenstown but then you play russian roulette with the snow and a good 45 mins to an hour to get to the snow each day. Give me Japan anytime Link to post Share on other sites
keba 0 Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 Our schedule has us ovenight in Osaka, so we take minimum 26 hours Gold Coast - Kutchan. More if we detour from the airport to Sapporo for ski shopping on the way. Still no jet lag, though. Link to post Share on other sites
sanjo 2 Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 I'm quite surprised that it takes that long. How long is the flight? Link to post Share on other sites
keba 0 Posted December 9, 2008 Share Posted December 9, 2008 Flight from Gold Coast (dep 10:30am) - Osaka ~8 hours, then overnight in Osaka (there's the delay), flight the next morning to Shin Chitose, then drive to Kutchan. Our domesic flight lands at 10:30, so I don't reckon we'll get into Kutchan until ater midday, so ~26 hours. We could do it quicker if we caught a night connector, but I'd prefer to be driving during the daytime. Link to post Share on other sites
keba 0 Posted December 9, 2008 Share Posted December 9, 2008 Ther's a lot of talk about how short the flight to Japan is from Oz, compared to Canada/USA and Europe, but none of the flights actually land you in a ski area. The advanyages are in the quality of the snow, and the lack of jet lag, not actual travel time. Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted December 9, 2008 Share Posted December 9, 2008 you Aussies have it tough. Link to post Share on other sites
keba 0 Posted December 9, 2008 Share Posted December 9, 2008 You live on the other side of the world to everything, you gotta cop it on the chin. Could be worse, could live in new Zealand... Link to post Share on other sites
JA2340 16 Posted December 9, 2008 Share Posted December 9, 2008 Our itinerary this coming January (Hey, that's next month! Woo hoo!) has us ex Goldie at 10.25, landed Osaka 18.45 and then a week tripping around before the slide. Way more civilised than trying to ski after a long(ish) flight and little sleep - who the heck can sleep on a plane? Link to post Share on other sites
HelperElfMissy 42 Posted December 9, 2008 Share Posted December 9, 2008 Making me jealous now fella's. We are in for the LONG haul flight this year instead of the short hop from Oz. However I will be in Europe for over 2 weeks before we get to the snow, so plenty of time to kick the jet lag. Link to post Share on other sites
yoroshiku onegai shimasu 2 Posted December 9, 2008 Share Posted December 9, 2008 Short hop?! Deary, how long is a LONG flight Mamabear?! Link to post Share on other sites
HelperElfMissy 42 Posted December 9, 2008 Share Posted December 9, 2008 Originally Posted By: yoroshiku onegai shimasu Short hop?! Deary, how long is a LONG flight Mamabear?! LOL! That would be departing Perth 10.30am on the 26th of December and arriving Heathrow 8.15am on the 27th of December bearing in mind time differences! We are Perth - HK; HK - CharlesDeGalle Paris; Paris - London Heathrow. I don't mind the changes on little bit coz I get to stand up and walk around. Link to post Share on other sites
thursday 1 Posted December 9, 2008 Share Posted December 9, 2008 how long is your transit in HK? enough time to go shopping? Link to post Share on other sites
macmeh 0 Posted December 9, 2008 Share Posted December 9, 2008 Missed a question a few posts ago about Brisbane to Niseko and the ease of the trip... In short... 6:00am: Leave the house to go to the airport. 8:30am: Flight takes off. 4:45pm: Flight lands in Tokyo 6:30pm: Flight takes off from Tokyo (REALLY short international connection, but most of the flight is trying to make it, so they always delay the domestic flight and wait). 8:30pm: Flight lands in Narita. 9:30pm: Bus leaves the airport. 11:30 - 12:00pm: Bus arrives in Niseko, 50m from the hotel. So it is an 18 hour day... but most of it is spent watching movies and drinking Asahi on the international flight. The only pinch point is the international to domestic connection. First time we did it, we were packing it... customs lines were unbelievable, we thought we were going to miss the flights for sure- but once we got to the check in desks, we noticed that they were picking the connecting passengers out of the lines and sending them towards the gates... so its obviously a regular thing for them. I did have a Qantas pilot tell me last year to do Jetstar in to Osaka, and then wait on a cheap standby to get up to Niseko (something like 10 flights a day)... so that is an option if time isn't critical and you'd like to save some cash (apparently it costs about $500 to do it that way!!!). Apologies for the length there... not the short version at all I note! Link to post Share on other sites
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