Sydney - Tokyo - Hokkaido ?

[acpowman 0]

Best recomendation is to contact a Japan ski specialist as they are the ones that deal with nothing but Japan ski travel and are the most Knowledgeable.

 

Some breaking news, just got an email from Qantas......

They are increasing their airfares from 1st October - 7 DAYS NOTICE !

This is simply because JAL annouced a month ago that their taxes would be increasing from 1st October and now Qantas can increase their fares substantialy so they are $10 cheaper....dog act !

I now have to contact hundreds of people booked to let them know they have 7 days to pay for their flights, FANTASTIC thanks Qantas.

To add to my misery we are still without proper phone/fax/internet thanks to the contractor that cut through the phone lines in Sydney over a week ago !

[biri 0]

a bit touchy pow , spoken like a man who would never accept a bribe oops commission .

 

i think you will find alx preposed travel dates are late feb. 2010 .

 

if you cannot get on the narita / chitose then fly haneda / chitose .

 

maybe the skiers using jetstar are not going to niseko , ever heard of nagano prefecture , maybe more major ski resorts there then the entire hokkaido prefecture ?

the real reason why travel agents hate jetstar is the small commission or no com . at all . dont believe me read the news acticles relating to flight centre and jetstar .

 

since 9/11 the airline industry has been reeling from one crises to another eg - sars , swine flu , bird flu , terror threats . most asian airlines are in financial trouble , some are in real deep especially the carriers with big fleets . are prices comming down YES .check jal prices from feb 2008 to feb 2010 . what about the sakitoku fare ?

 

i see you have been employee in the travel industry , show a bit grunt and become an employer for a change .

 

i have never been to niseko .

 

ps pow can u get me details on that skifield on sakhalin island , its the island above hokkaido ' use to be part of japan till 45 ? oh yes they do have a skifield .

[acpowman 0]

Actually biri I don't earn commision, happily on salary only.

Late Feb after Chinese New Year (13 - 20 Feb)is not a problem for the narita to sapporo flights.

Yes regular travel agents like flight centre are on commision and dislike Jeststar but it has no impact on me whatsoever.

I have no problem with people using Jetstar - it's actually a lot easier for me to do land only or add on an airpasss anyway.

Problem is most people are not aware of the catches and added expenses with Jetstar - having to stay overnight ect, unless you get a very cheap flight with them it's usually not worth the hassle.

Hakuba numbers are definately up on previous years even though they had a crap season last year, Furano is struggling big time though.

I have been to most major (and many minor) resorts on Hokkaido and Honshu, i don't have blinkers on.

I'm quite happy as an employee thanks, i get paid to spend 4 months of the year in Niseko every winter - wouldn't be doing that if i was an employer !

[HelperElfMissy 42]

I couldnt get a connecting flight MONTHS ago from Perth (the Narita-Sapporo)...just lucky it suited us to shop in Tokyo and stimulate the economy a little prior to heading up for our family pow-fest.

[deanrobi 2]

Acpowman, When you say there are no seats available for Narita to Sapporo on these dates do you mean Narita & Heneda or are you refering to flying directly from Narita as when I was looking into this there were only a limited amount of flights from Narita per day but a heap more flights per day from Heneda.

 

I have a friend who is still undecided on these dates, sounds as if he may have missed his chane

[acpowman 0]

16th Dec to 20th Jan Narita to Sapporo booked out in economy class.

There are only 2 flights a day from Narita, 1 in the morning and 1 at night, flights roughly every 45 mins from haneda.

This is only a problem if your flying from Brisbane, or with JAL from Sydney/Melb as you cannot make the last flight from Haneda or last bus to Niseko so are forced into staying overnight in Tokyo - not the end of the world, $100 pp at the airport.

From Sydney or Melb if you fly with Qantas it's an overnight flight so no problem with the connections, just need to go to haneda.

There are always other options uch as Cathay, Korean, China, Continental - they may not be the cheapest or most convenient but you can always get there for a price.

[biri 0]

true , but if my children were not in school here i would have a home in furano and spend the entire ski season there , i still own a business here on the coast but i let it work for me .

 

the beauty of jetstar is star class on the return journey , we will do that in january . plus for families do a stopover in tokyo and go to disneyland / sea , the adults and kids will love it .

 

in 2008 we did the bris / narita / chitose / furano run , never ever ever again

yes scott [ at new furano prince ] told me last year bookings were down 70 percent , the financial crises ?

there were a lot of aussie families staying at the cheaper hotels , pensions down at kitanomine , mostly ex niseko skiers / boarders , judging by the gossip in the snowdomes . well i think you know what they were all saying about niseko ??????

 

anyway we are booked into niseko hirafu , late feb early march , its only fair for me to give my impressions of niseko after that visit .

 

furano is town that just happens to have 2 ski fields behind it , the north country history and lavender fields bring in more tourists then the winter events .

[biri 0]

hell cancel niseko , go native just wrote in the chat room that bookings are up 49 percent on last year ?

you know what happened to pinocchio ? go native !!!!!

 

on a racecourse this is called urging , stockmarket has another name for it ?

[acpowman 0]

Yep scotty has his work cut out at the Prince.

The winter market at Furano has slumped as a whole, it started gaining momentum when people couldn't get a room in Niseko or wanted to try something different but Hakuba has taken over that mantle now.

Yes Niseko is slandered for many reasons, some of them are very true, but it will always be the king in Japan for it's snow, multitude of western accommodation, access to off piste and great village.

People will try different resorts but 9 out of 10 always end up heading back to Niseko.

[biri 0]

we are really looking forward to our trip there in late feb early march , would like it longer but the kids have to go to school so its only a week .

[greg 4]

I think there is getting to be a "too cool for school" crowd with respect to Niseko. People who haven't been to Japan before go there the first time or so because it is easy then try somewhere else. When asked where they go or have been they bag Niseko as if it makes them more hardcore or travel savvy.

 

I think it is great people are trying different resorts and exploring more of Japan but I think some people overly criticise Niseko for little reason to try and impress others.

 

Flaming anyone?

[HelperElfMissy 42]

Hush now Gtrain!

 

Personally I would love to try the other places, but the beckoning call of Niseko is too loud! I love it there.

[Sciclone 2]

I haven't been to Niseko, so I don't bag it out. I have been to Furano and this coming season will be my second trip to Shiga Kogen, and if anyone asked me I'd recommend them in a heartbeat. I might get up to Niseko one day, but I love the ability of finding places close to Tokyo, which keeps the costs down..

[foreversnow 5]

Oh yes Gtrain I am way to cool for school that is why I got o niseko NOT.

 

I like going there because you can also be guaranteed good snow - on off days you can head to Otaru, Sapporo and local grocery shopping of Kutchan.

 

And for your information this is our 4th year. Yes it is getting more commercialised now and 2011 we are looking at going to Furano of Ashikawa but I still love Niseko.

 

You know what I book through a travel agent - Have direct flights same day right through Brisbane - Narita - Chitose - get picked up at the airport dropped to my accomodation door at midnight. On return all transfers again picked up at my hotel and dropped off at the airport all I have to worry about while I am there is my food. HELL YEAH Book through a travel agent took us all of 1 hour to organise.

[thursday 1]

Lazy

[alexx_c 0]

acpowman .. don't even know where to start looking for a ski wholesaler in SYD?

Unfortunately the experiences with the 'normal' agents have made me lose some confidence in their advise.

 

I imagine, I can't get the $1215 Syd - Obihiro?.. only to Sapporo?

What's your recommendation for getting from Sapporo to Sahoro with least effort/max comfort (due to young children)?

 

Actually, my plan is to do the TokyoDisneyland before heading north, so the cheaper Jetstar fares are appealing. Then JAL told me today that they will do 13000 yen (tourists only) to Obihiro. Not too worried about this leg. (As you know, with a JAL ticket, they then sell me the 9000 yen going north.)

 

The return leg is more critical, will require me to catch a domestic flight out of Obihiro, then make sure I don't miss the evening Jetstar leaving Narita on Sat night.

What's your recommendation for the time buffer? Allow morning arrival from Hokkaido, then hang around the airport area till evening?.. Hmm... not sure how the kids will handle that though?

[alexx_c 0]

btw, now looking at the possibility of Jan 25th Monday morning departure with JAL.. for two weeks.

[foreversnow 5]

Originally Posted By: Alx

acpowman .. don't even know where to start looking for a ski wholesaler in SYD?

Our ski agent is actually based in Melbourne. They are very very good your PM isn't available yet but when it is I can PM you there details.

[biri 0]

hi alx

very easy to find an agent alx , just go along paramatta road , most use to work as used car salesman before becomming ski/ travel agents .

 

jal itself is a a ski / board travel agent . call themselves jtb travel or somethink like that . check out the ski section .

 

mate old pows an agent , he is in sales , not info .

 

chitose to shintoku [for sahoro ]

land at chitose , go to the jr rail station [ at chitose airport ] buy a ticket to shintoku . jump on the train to minami chitose [called sapporo to chitose line ] change there at minami chitose for a train to shintoku [ called sapporo to kushiro line]. get out at shintoku , if staying at sahoro resort hotel , a free shuttle bus will pick u up , let them know your comming of course . if staying at club med , i think they will pick u up but try and charge u ? shuttle takes 15 mins to sahoro .

 

obirhiro to haneda tokyo

jal flight 1152 lands haneda about 12 midday . limo bus to narita .

 

personally i would do disney land and sea on the return .

 

good luck

[biri 0]

t............n

[alexx_c 0]

thanks biri ... as usual ... i think I saw somewhere else that you're doing the disneyland thing too?

My thoughts on tokyo to start with is mostly due to finishing up skiing (more physical) then heading straight home.

 

After I finalising the flights - need to look/research the disneyland options + Kyoto (more cultural sites?)

 

Your comments about used car salesman then travel agent gave me a good laugh. :-)

[alexx_c 0]

Getting close now ... latest quote .. though still can't beat the $1215 mentioned by acpowman...

 

$1340 JAL - SYD to Sapporo (with the ability to stopover in Tokyo - no need to buy separate domestic tickets etc) ... now the challenge is getting to Sahoro!

 

ClubMed will charge me $900 just to transfer the four of us... so maybe it's worth going with the public train system from Sapporo to Shintoku station? - do they have English signage? .. I imagine it's less than in Tokyo?

[biri 0]

hi alx

 

good price with the tokyo stopover . if going straight thru to chitose from syd , there is a hotel in the chitose terminal for an overnight stopover . i have stayed here myself .

chitose station has good english signage , remember hokkaido gets many millions of tourists per year .

[acpowman 0]

Hi alx,

Sorry for slow reply got hammered all day at work....Niseko is going to b busy this year !

We sell package airfares which would be $1230 per adult syd - sapporo for the dates you mentioned, but they have to be sold with a minimum of $400 land arrangements per person to allow us to sell them.

Need to do the Tokyo stopover first, you wouldn't be able to get to Sahoro same day.

Also there are no seats available from Narita to Sapporo on the 25th Jan anyway.

If you wanted to fly to Obihiro or just about any other Japan port it would be a couple of hundred dollars extra.

JAL don't charge for a stopover this year, your actually allowed a free stopover in both directions if you want.

If your just looking for the airfares on their own $1340 is about as good as it gets.

[ausi ski bum 1]

The majority of flights to Chitose are from Heneda not Narita, most people will find they get a stop over, having flown JAL a few times to Chitose I have always had a stop over, but this is at their expense in one of their hotels. In the busier times JAL will arrange a bus to Heneda from the Narita hotel but at your expense, its not to expensive.

 

Generally on the way home you don't need the stop over.

 

With all respect acpowman, your not being exactly truthful, the March exclusion period for example starts 12 March (not early march).

 

Ski wholesalers are OK but I have always done far better researching and organising everthing myself, it just takes a little time, but thats half the fun.

 

An example of this was the tower hotels at Tomamu, I was able to save hundreds through a Japanese site on the best deal available in Australia.

 

I am flying Jetstar this trip as I bought Star Class tickets, two for the price of one. Two months prior to my trip I will try and get the Chitose section with FF Points, I have been told this should not be to difficult.