TRAVELS: Planning Trip to Japan+

     The other day I was talking with Emily about bucket lists etc. She still has Belgium at the top of her list. I have Japan on the top of mine; however, Leanne says she doesn't have enough interest, and she has concerns about food, so NG. Japan is appealing to Emily however, so I told her that she and I would go as her graduation from high school present. Now I've got the planning bug and am looking for ways to make it affordable - we might be spending a lot of time on a bus - but we'll make it work.

there are several options- if I plan/do it myself

**Checking on "celebrating service award" for my work 25th anniversary- looks like flights and some hotel $$, (IIRC american airlines/ Marriott would be covered :)--(update 2020) ok my employer is weak sauce for this. 25th anniversary award is crap.

** HGVC just opened a property in Odawara! (Hakone area) maybe can leverage that as well

• Either fly standby on American Airlines, or get 130,000 AA miles or
• Find relatively inexpensive plane tickets - least expensive I am seeing so far have a layover either in Shanghai or Seoul - I can make this a feature instead of a bug. If we do a layover - I'll book a tour with Viator.com or similar - I'll need to watch logistics closely- if I need a Visa this may not be cost effective/viable--
• Purchase a rail pass, about $250-275, this pays for itself about twice over as it includes airport to downtown transportation as well as the Shinkansen.
• Book hotel in Tokyo.
• Book activities in Tokyo/daytrips from Tokyo. (Viator.com or Japanican.com)
• Either book hotel in Kyoto or book hotel/activity package (compare rates with or w/o rail)
• If not in package, book activities for Kyoto area
• work out logistics for to/from airport(s)

Most of all that would be included in a package, I've seen some w/ and w/o air : tentative itinerary

• Day 1: Arrive Tokyo, free time depending on time of day
• Day 2: AM tour  Meiji Shrine, Senso-ji Temple and Ginza Shopping District ( then lunch) Akihabara tour/Maid Cafe, Owl Cafe * (AM included in tour/ would need to book pm)
• Day 3: Day trip to Nikko, Edo Historical park *(would need to cancel this day if booking tour)
• Day 4: Tour of Mt.Fuji area, Shinkansen train to Kyoto
• Day 5: Kyoto temples and shrines, Half day trip to Nara 
• Day 6: Inari temple, Sake Brewery, Evening kaiseki dinner in Gion *("free day" on tour would need to book on my own either way)
• Day 7: Transfer to Osaka airport/fly home 

I found a combo package from Japanican.com, "6 Day Combo Package" includes 2 nights in Tokyo, the AM tour (day 2) above, 3 nights in Kyoto and activities listed days 4 and 5 above + train/bus (lose day 3) for about $1200 per person, I would still need to pay for Day 2 activities (after lunch) and Day 6 activities in Kyoto/Inari- will have to check finances/budget/timing to see if I can make either work


"do it yourself" combo tour

• Day 1: (Friday): Depart Chicago (Round Trip covered by CDW- check into points for upgrade)
• Day 2: (Saturday) Arrive Tokyo (typically afternoon, 13 hr flight, sleep Tokyo) 
• Day 3: (Sunday) Tour Tokyo w/ free guide(same as day 2 above but free, sleep Tokyo)
• Day 4: (Monday) tour/stay Hakone area (sleep Hakone, set plan $150)
• Day 5: (Tuesday)Hakone area, Train to Nagoya (sleep Nagoya)
• Day 6: (Wednesday) Train to Takayama (sleep Takayama, part of package $350)
• Day 7: (Thursday) Takayama-->Kanazawa tour (sleep Kanazawa)
• Day 8: (Friday) train to Kyoto, Kyoto free guides (sleep Kyoto)
• Day 9: (Saturday) Kyoto/Fushima/ Nara (sleep Kyoto)
• Day 10:(Sunday) Shinkansen day tour ($260) return to Tokyo (sleep Tokyo)
• Day 11: fly home

rail pass $275
40,000 HH points (night day 2, night day 10)
1 night tokyo, 2 nights Kyoto approx $250/person
tours: approx $750 person




super cheap do-it-yourself:

• Day 1: fly ORD->NRT (need 35K miles per leg or about $500/leg)
• Day 2: Arrive Narita (Stay Hilton Narita, 20K HH points) 
• Day 3: Tokyo Free Guide tour - sleep hotel/hostel is Tokyo (approx $100/night, maybe $50 for guide)
• Day 4: Tokyo stuff on our own (TBD) sleep hotel/hostel is Tokyo (approx $100)
• Day 5: Disneyland, overnight bus to Kyoto after ($160 for disney, $120 for the bus)
• Day 6: Kyoto Free Guide  (approx $100/night, maybe $50 for guide) maybe splurge on Ryokan
• Day 7: Kyoto/Nara on our own, hotel in Kyoto (approx $100)
• Day 8: train to KIX, fly home

update as of 02/2021: let's check some things off the bucket-list

• Day 1: fly standby ORD->CDG (Paris) approx $200 pp
• Day 2: Arrive Paris, do Parisian stuff, sleep near Gare Nord (Train station)
• Day 3: Train from Paris to Brussels (approx $35 pp) do Belgian stuff, sleep near Centraal (Train Station).
• Day 4: AM/Lunch in Brussels, afternoon flight to Helsinki (Miles! $0.00*) sleep near airport
• Day 5: Do Finnish stuff, Evening flight to Tokyo (miles)
• Day 6: Arrive Tokyo
• Day 7: Do Japanese stuff in Tokyo (Tabanata festival?)
• Day 8: same as day 7
• Day 9: Day trip to Hakone
• Day 10: use Train Pass to Nagano/Matsumoto, bus to Takayama (sleep)
• Day 11: Explore Takayama, afternoon bus to Shirakawago then to Kanazawa (sleep)
• Day 12: Explore Kanazawa, train to Kyoto (sleep Kyoto)
• Day 13: Explore Kyoto (Gion Festival)
• Day 14: Repeat
• Day 15: Train to Fushima Inari, then Nara, then Osaka (sleep Osaka)
• Day 16: AM Osaka Castle, Lunch in Dontonbori, then train to KIX (fly home)
• Day16 or 17 (international date line??) arrive ORD

relies on:

standby ticket to CDG (or LHR if not available)

train (one way) from either Paris or London to Brussels

Fly on miles one way BRU->TYO (w/ layover in Helsinki) = 35K pp

3 day subway pass in Tokyo

"arch"pass Tokyo to Osaka (and stops along the way) checked, individual tix less $$

"3 star"  bus pass, Matsumoto to Kanazawa (and stops along the way)

mooch 'buddy pass' KIX->ORD (Free)

we would fly on AA, Finnair, JAL, ANA, and United airlines!

trains: Paris Metro, Eurostar to Brussels, local train in Brussels, Tokyo Metro, Shinkansen, Limited express (Shinano, Thunderbird, Haruka), Kyoto Metro and Kansai regional 

Update 06/2022

The trip has been booked! due to ongoing military activity in Ukraine, I don't have access to Russian airspace- so circumnavigation is problematic, also due to Japan's COVID response (restrictions on tourist VISAs etc.) we've moved the trip from summer to autumn. I'm using mile to get us to Naha, Okinawa (Japan airlines) and booked a flight to Hiroshima on ANA. The remainder of intercity travel will be covered on the JR RailPass. Hotels were booked on a combination of Hilton points/ Alaska airline points (that I forgot I had!) and cash (overall exceedingly cheap!) 

A small, pleasant surprise- the exchange rate. In 2018 it was about 100 JPY to the US Dollar, now it is 130 or so. the train pass will be $235 vs $275 and my 'spending money' will go that much further- it's like the whole country is on sale! 30% off! 

Also, no overnight bus needed with the new itinerary:

• Day 1 (Thanksgiving day, 11/24): ORD->OKA via HND (overnight)
• Day 2: Arrive Okinawa (hotel on Hilton Points = $0.00)
• Day 3: Okinawa, SCUBA dive
• Day 4: Okinawa
• Day 5: Afternoon flight OKA->HIJ (Hiroshima)
• Day 6: Hiroshima/Miyajima island (Hotel on Alaska points/cash = cheap)
• Day 7: Shinkansen to Himeji then Kyoto
• Day 8: ('goodwill guide') sites in Kyoto/Fushima Inari etc.
• Day 9: ('goodwill guide') sites in Nara etc.
• Day 10: Osaka
• Day 11: Shinkansen to Tokyo, sites in Tokyo (Again on Hilton= $0.00)
• Day 12:  Disney Sea theme park (Tokyo)
• Day 13: Sites in Tokyo (guide TBD)
• Day 14: flight home 

Update 07/2023:

    So, we went, and are back. I've journaled/scrapbooked the experience and took like 1000 photos. We followed the new itinerary pretty closely, and used a spreadsheet (my Japlanner) to keep track of reservations and budget (under $4200 all in). Here are a few takeaways (to take into account for next time!) :

• keep an eye on exchange rate - as getting JPY in USA is relatively easy and seems to be more expensive once in Japan (although not too bad in Okinawa- at a currency exchange ATM) 
• this trip was pretty packed, although we had a 'free day' in Okinawa, and one in Tokyo- we were going at full tilt pretty much the rest of the time - factor in some (more) slow days next time 
• The 'goodwill guides' are awesome - they know where to go and how to get there, and flexible enough to change based on weather (or my tardiness) - we certainly wouldn't have been able to navigate the bus/trains etc as well without them - and would've missed out on several 'hidden gems'- like a free/private sake brewery tour in Hiroshima- or tea ceremony in Kyoto, or the retro-futuristic water taxi in Tokyo. Reach out to similar guides in future trips!
• the 'Japlanner' was invaluable, as were printouts of hotel reservations, tickets etc. and a folder to keep them in (which as needed I'd fill with ephemera for the scrapbook)- that being said - double check MAPS of where those hotels are - some of them have more than 1 location and google maps might bring you to the wrong one! 
• take a good look at what is being packed - 'extra stuff' will just be lugged around do I need to bring an umbrella? a 'travel' towel? an extensive first aid kit? what problems can be solved with (a little) money if the arise? more space = less weight (and more room for stuff to bring back)
• make a wish list of what to bring back/look for - this trip it was my Goshuin-cho (pilgrimage stamp book) next time?
• in 2028(?) I'd like to return to Okinawa - see the restored Shuri Castle Main Hall, there are also plenty still to see in Kyoto/Tokyo but maybe also see some other part of Japan that is less touristed? Maybe also visit another destination in East Asia (Seoul? Busan? Taipei? -- fights from either to Naha are like $100- maybe finagle a stop over on miles)
• take a look at flights - ORD to TPE currently 37.5K AA points, HNL to SFO/LAX (for early December 2023) under $200- maybe stopover on way back in Hawaii?
• Railpass $$ is going up (by a lot!) look at alternates or regional passes
• leverage timeshare (Okinawa or Hakone?)