Why will you NOT visit Japan for your next snow holiday

[ausi ski bum 1]

Yep Okushiga it is, The prince is great but just to expensive that particular week.

 

Now all I need is a nice hotel in Tokyo for two nights, near the Nagano Asama Shink line perhaps so near Tokyo or Ueno, not sure which is the best area to stay.

 

I have stayed at the Shiba Park hotel a number of times so looking for somewhere different.

 

Any Ideas, Oh my son tells me there is a huge market in Tokyo we havent found yet, any isea what he is talking about

[Tubby Beaver 209]

A fish market? Its got a love-hate relationship with tourists, they sometimes close it off to tourists as some play silly buggers with the fish and during the auction, one of the biggest in the world

[seemore 66]

Hi Guy's

 

Has anyone from Perth found any decent flight options.

Someone was telling me about a new airline flying cheap out of Singapore.

 

Or if anyone has any contacts with quantas are we getting our direct cheap flights back.

 

Seemore

[surfarthur 22]

My understanding is that Quantas has cancelled the direct perth-tokyo flight permanently. We are flying with cathay pacific to sapporo through hong kong in january, though it is about $200 AUD more expensive pp.

[seemore 66]

Cheers sa

 

I will look into that one.

 

Seemore

[panhead_pete 27]

Originally Posted By: surfarthur

My understanding is that Quantas has cancelled the direct perth-tokyo flight permanently. We are flying with cathay pacific to sapporo through hong kong in january, though it is about $200 AUD more expensive pp.

Worth every cent for the better service!

[foreversnow 5]

We are also looking at flying with Cathy this year as well. Like the idea of direct to Sapporo from Hong Kong.

[seemore 66]

SH

 

Don't you have direct flights from Qld?

 

Seemore

[surfarthur 22]

TBH, after the service we got from Quantas, there was no way we were going to use them again. We would have paid the extra anyway just to avoid them, so when they cancelled the Perth-Tokyo route it made the decision easy. Looking forward to getting good service from Cathay, just wish we could afford a stopover in HK, would be great to have a look around there.

[muikabochi 208]

What was so bad about them surfarthur?

[panhead_pete 27]

Not sure about Surfathur Muik but I feel the same way. The level of service, attitude of staff both in the air and groubd services, food, entertainment etc on Qantas runs a long way from the rest of the airlines I flew with last year. If I had a choice I'd never fly with them again internationally. Within Australia I dont fly with anyone else.

[surfarthur 22]

Where to begin? Well, first of all, the plane was late taking off. We were sitting at the terminal waiting for the plane to arrive, and so were the quantas staff, peering out the window wondering where the plane is. I realise that sometimes planes are late, but there was no information about what was happening5 minutes after we were due to be in the air, the plane finally arrives. The worst plane in the Quantas fleet. So we finally all board the plane. Then taxi out to the runway. Then the captain informs us that we have to go back to the terminal to collect some important safety documents that someone forgot. Way to convince your passengers that Quantas is a safe airline!. The in flight entertainment consisted of 1 big screen at the front of the plane playing some crappy movie. They did not have the drinks that we wanted which were clearly on their menu, not just on the way to Tokyo, but also on the way back (here's a hint Quantas, if you are not going to stock it, take it off your menu!) Add in extra time in the air due to a volcanic eruption, and many of the people on the flight missed their connections due to arriving 2.5 hrs late. Fortunately we had 5 days in Tokyo so this did not affect our holiday much. To the credit of JAL, they had staff waiting as soon as everyone got off the plane and they helped everyone that missed their connections.

 

What I object to is not being informed of what is going on, incompetence by Quantas staff, and paying for a quality airline and getting budget airline service.

 

Ok, gripe over, had an awesome holiday and can't wait to be back in Japan in January.

[Tubby Beaver 209]

other than being the dumping ground for old air hostesses, I thought they were ok. In comparison to BA (which must be the dumping ground for old disaffected air-hostesses), I thought Quantas were middle of the road....not great but certainly not bad

[panhead_pete 27]

Having flown with a multitude of airlines I would rate Qantas in the bottom 25% for service on international legs. That's based on recent flights with: BA, Cathay, Austrian, Singapore, Thai Air, Air Pacific, Qantas, Dragon Air plus some others that escape me at the moment.

[Tubby Beaver 209]

Granted I've only flew with them twice, from Hawaii to Sydney and then a year later from Sydney to Singapore but I thought they were ok....run of the mill for sure, but better than BA

[seemore 66]

I thought Quantas were ok.

 

The 1st flight over the gay hostie that my kids were talking to at the airport gave me and my wife 3 drinks before the trolleys were even bought out (We were sitting up the back).

 

I thought the service was really good and would fly with them again.

 

But this Cathay Flight looks just as good.

 

I get to fly with emirates in October so I will have something to compare with as all our international have been Bali or Quantas.

 

Seemore

[Slippery Jim 65]

You guys crack me up!

Try 14 hours on a UA flight sometime; you'll be begging for a Qantas boarding pass.

[Crunky 0]

Seemore and Mamabear are flying out of Perth (like I've done).

Qantas has the only direct flight to Japan so they don't have competition. I've been told by several people in the business they put on their oldest crappiest plane on that leg because the lack of competition. Friday night 10pm direct flight with a return Saturday night arriving Sunday morning back in Perth. We've had friends come over for 6 days skiing from Perth and with any other flight schedule that would be hard to do.

 

Also the flight to the Northern Island is included in the price regardless, so the cost to fly to Hakuba or Niseko is basically the same.

 

I think we paid $1800 all up last year and as of two month ago Qantas had not brought on that service. The next best option was Cathay to Sapporo which is good but around $2000 which is expensive for a weeks skiing.

 

Luckily Malaysian Airlines was having a sale, bagged tickets late Jan 2012 for $750 to Narita . Flight to the Northern island not included but we were thinking of checking out Nozowa and Myoko anyway. I've heard a lot of great things about Malaysian airlines economy with it winning industry awards (google it). I'm allowing $150 excess baggage and $100 for hotel in KL. Stop over on the way back at KL overnight but sleeping in the plane was worse on my back than two weeks skiing so I'm actually glad about that.

 

Of the six people that have been going for the last three years, only four are returning. Two cite saving for a house but they have said that the last couple of years so maybe there are other factors influencing their decision.

[HelperElfMissy 42]

Originally Posted By: Crunky

Also the flight to the Northern Island is included in the price regardless, so the cost to fly to Hakuba or Niseko is basically the same.

Umm... never in my memory! I have always booked separate flights.

There is a cost involved with both destinations - Hakuba it is Nex Ticket to Tokyo, Shink to Nagano and transfer to Hakuba (the way we did it anyway); and Niseko Airport Limousine Narita to Haneda, flight to Sapporo, Transfer (whiteliner) to Niseko. Much of a muchness - I would not let the cost or time of either be your deciding factor.

Both Hakuba and Niseko rock!

[Goosie 0]

I will not go to Honshu because of the radioactive contamination.

 

Hokkaido and the extreme south are OK so far, but it'll be a maater of time before the contaminated food and water get there.

[pie-eater 207]

Is that true Goosie?!

 

[grape 0]

I'm having a time convincing my friends to come but they are coming round to the idea.

 

I just think there'll be lots of (very) late bookings this year.

[acpowman 0]

Originally Posted By: Mamabear

Originally Posted By: Crunky

Also the flight to the Northern Island is included in the price regardless, so the cost to fly to Hakuba or Niseko is basically the same.

Umm... never in my memory! I have always booked separate flights.

There is a cost involved with both destinations - Hakuba it is Nex Ticket to Tokyo, Shink to Nagano and transfer to Hakuba (the way we did it anyway); and Niseko Airport Limousine Narita to Haneda, flight to Sapporo, Transfer (whiteliner) to Niseko. Much of a muchness - I would not let the cost or time of either be your deciding factor.

Both Hakuba and Niseko rock!

Yep the connecting Tokyo - Sapporo flights are only an extra $10 or so in taxes if you buy the flights as a package airfare (which should be virtually the same price as buying it direct from Qantas just to Tokyo).
The package airfare price is the same from any OZ city (Adl, Mel, Syd, Bne) to either Tokyo or Sapporo, only the taxes differ.

[HelperElfMissy 42]

Originally Posted By: acpowman

Originally Posted By: Mamabear

Originally Posted By: Crunky

Also the flight to the Northern Island is included in the price regardless, so the cost to fly to Hakuba or Niseko is basically the same.

Umm... never in my memory! I have always booked separate flights.

There is a cost involved with both destinations - Hakuba it is Nex Ticket to Tokyo, Shink to Nagano and transfer to Hakuba (the way we did it anyway); and Niseko Airport Limousine Narita to Haneda, flight to Sapporo, Transfer (whiteliner) to Niseko. Much of a muchness - I would not let the cost or time of either be your deciding factor.

Both Hakuba and Niseko rock!

Yep the connecting Tokyo - Sapporo flights are only an extra $10 or so in taxes if you buy the flights as a package airfare (which should be virtually the same price as buying it direct from Qantas just to Tokyo).
The package airfare price is the same from any OZ city (Adl, Mel, Syd, Bne) to either Tokyo or Sapporo, only the taxes differ.

Ahhh.. yes
The old ANY Oz city (Adl, Mel, Syd, Bne)
Noted that there is no Perth in there.

[smostyn 1]

Hi guys and gals,

My wife and I went to Hakuba in January and loved it. Our Japan experience has really changed us, even now; all we seem to talk about is Japan.

We are keen to go back again next year and for the most part I am quite comfortable about it.

From all that I have read here are on the net else ware, we should be relatively safe by visiting Osaka for a few days, then to Tokyo for a day or two then up to Hakuba for a week or so skiing. By safe, I mean that we shouldn’t be close to the main area of contamination.

My wife has brought up the question on food. All of the places we would eat will cook using fresh ingredients so we are asking is it safe to eat?

 

I am the last one to run scared of the media hype and we really want to support the tourism industry for Japan. But not at the risk of our own health.

 

Can any of you locals please share your thoughts on this?

 

Thanks for your input. I appreciate it.