Hi there,
I am going to Kyoto, Japan at the end of this October for a one-week conference from JFK , and need to go back China to obtain a re-entry visa for US. I am looking for cheap airfare for this multi-stop trip and found this great site with a lot of helpful information. As far as now, the best I can get will be flying via JAL with the following itinerary for $962 including tax/fee through a local travel agent.
Oct.26 JFK-NRT
Nov.2 NRT-PVG (Shanghai)
Nov.20 PVG-NRT
Nov.20 NRT-JFK
The better choice will be flying to KIX, though the air fare will be about $200-$300 more and my local agent can only get the HND-KIX not the NRT-ITM. Another concern is the time issue for traveling from NRT to HND to catch the plane, it seems HND-KIX is not recommended. Plus I have two big luggage with me which will be a big problem. So currently I have some plans:
1) Buy this $962 ticket through the agent and call JAL to purchase the $200 two sector oneworld Yokoso/Visit Japan Fare for NRT-ITM. Is this option feasible? Or I have to buy the whole ticket through JAL directly?
JAPAN AIRLINES - oneworld Yokoso/Visit Japan Fare
2) Buy the 7-day JR Pass in advance in US and take the bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto, and spend $100 for the baggage storage at NRT airport. The only concern is about the Japan visa, I heard the application for temp visitor visa is a whole of trouble for people holding China passport in US without US re-entry visa stamp. So I am going to apply for the 15-day transit visa, will that account for "sight seeing" as well? I am little bit confused by the wording here:
JTBUSA -JAPAN RAIL Pass
Any advice about this trip will be appreciated, thanks a lot for reading!