How to book a cheap trip to Japan

Good morning from Sapporo, home of snow… and beer… and other things, I’m sure.

A couple of days ago, I asked if you wanted tips on traveling to Japan on the cheap, and you overwhelmingly responded, “Hell yeah.”

So to oblige, here is a breakdown of my tips for booking a cheap-ass trip to Japan:

• 🇯🇵 Part 1: Getting to Japan

• ✈️ Part 2: Getting around Japan

• 🏨 Part 3: Hotels in Japan

🇯🇵 Part 1: Getting to Japan

If you read the little blurb at the top of this email, you know that Japan is the most popular tourist destination in the world.

As a result of every human in the world wanting to come here, it’s easy to look at prices and be discouraged by how expensive it is.

But fear not—Japan can be surprisingly cheap if you are smart about it.

Japan is far away from the U.S. but extremely well-connected to just about every major city.

And while everyone is busy trying to find great award flights to Japan, I’d recommend the simple, often overlooked option:

Super cheap cash flights, of which there are many.

If you can just get yourself to the West Coast, you can book some crazy cheap flights on airlines like Zip Air.

Why spend 50,000 miles and $150 in taxes and fees when you can just spend $200 and zero points?

If you did want to use points, I’d recommend using American Airlines miles to fly from most U.S. cities for just 35,000 miles one-way.

Since you can’t transfer points from any bank to AA, another great option is to transfer points to Aeroplan, position to Vancouver, and fly on ANA to Tokyo for just 35,000 Aeroplan points.

U.S. programs like Delta, United, and Alaska also occasionally have award sales to get to places like Japan, so keep reading Daily Drop every day to make sure you’re in the loop when opportunities like that pop up. 😉

✈️ Getting Around Japan

Once you get to Japan, getting around is quite easy.

I highly recommend taking the subway or bus around Japanese cities. Where an Uber will cost you $30-$40, a subway or bus ride will cost you $1-2. And it’s faster.

Boom, you can use your phone to get around with ease right after you land in Japan.

Of course, to get between cities, you also have plenty of options… aviation in Japan is just… *chef’s kiss*

Not only is flying here super comfortable, but you can also use points and miles to book cheap flights around the country.

I just flew from Osaka to Sapporo today on ANA for 5,000 United Miles and $5 in taxes and fees. 😎

Another fun sweet spot in Japan is using British Airways Avios to book domestic flights on JAL (Japan Airlines).

Not many people know this, but when you use Avios in Japan, you don’t pay any taxes or fees.

That’s right, $0.00 plus some miles.

Since there’s a current 30% transfer bonus from UR Points to British Airways, this is a great option if you can’t find any availability with United miles.

🏨 Hotels in Japan

Now, the part of traveling to Japan that is most problematic for people is, of course, hotels…

It can be rough sometimes...

Right now, hotel prices are ridiculously inflated, but I still managed to spend two weeks here while barely spending any money.

When I first arrived in Osaka, I stayed at this Hyatt Category 1 hotel, which costs as few as 3,500 Hyatt points per night (and is a new brand to help earn a free night award through Hyatt’s bingo game). 👇

Even in Kyoto (the most popular destination in Japan), there is a Hyatt Place for as few as 6,500 points per night and has a maximum points price of 9,500 per night.

During my four-night stay, I spent 32,000 points on a stay that would have cost me over $1,200, and even found award availability at the last minute.

If you signed up for the card I referenced earlier and wanted to travel to Osaka and Kyoto, you’d be all set between these two hotels.

But finding award availability with Hyatt hotels can be tough… because everyone and their uncle has a stash of Hyatt points (I take partial responsibility for this 😅).

But do you know which program nobody uses?

Choice Hotels. And, as you might be expecting, they have some excellent sweet spots in Japan that only cost 8,000 Choice points per night.

Since you can transfer ThankYou Points to Choice at a 1:2 ratio, you can book hotels across the country for just 4,000 ThankYou Points per night.

This is also an excellent option if you have a family and need to book more than one room without breaking the bank.

But remember that card I mentioned earlier…?

The fun part about that card is that it lets you book hotels through the bank’s portal at a rate of 1.25 cents per point.

So you can also just book super cheap independent hotels at excellent rates:

Hotels in Japan are always super clean, cozy, and comfortable… so if there was any country where you could book dirt-cheap properties at a rate of 1.25 cents per point, it’s here.

The other underrated accommodation option is just staying in a capsule hotel. Japanese capsule hotels are like 5-star versions of hostels, are super cheap, and are quite comfortable and private in many cases.

So even if you don’t have ANY points or miles or credit cards, you can simply book cheap flights (like I showed you earlier) and stay in cheap (but nice) capsule hostels and not break the bank.

I could drone on about Japan travel tips all day long… Honestly, there are many other ways to save money here. But this is a 5-minute newsletter, so that’s all you get for now. 😇

Given how many of you asked for it, I hope you enjoyed today's tips for booking a cheap trip to Japan.

If there’s any other super popular destination you’d want a similar newsletter about, feel free to reach out anytime and let me know!

Cheers,

43.0618° N, 141.3545° E