Flights and Cheap Tokyo Hotels
 

My trip will be mid-May 2012 (2 weeks) and I have never really been anywhere by myself so I've never had experience booking flights and what-not. I've been searching for a while now and the cheapest I'm finding for the flight is $1300 round trip (most common $1800). I'm flying out of Canada (Halifax, NS), into Osaka (KIX) and it doesn't really matter which airport I fly out of in Tokyo. Should I book now or is there better times/months to book where the price might be cheaper? Suggestions for sites to use?

Also, I have a hotel in mind for Tokyo but I thought I'd check to see what you guys think. The place I'm looking into now is a stop away from Shinjuku station and will cost around $90 (Canadian) a night. It's more of a hostel with private rooms. Any places you guys can think of around this price or possibly cheaper? Not looking for anything fancy...I'll only be there to sleep. Don't want to stay in a hostel where everyone is put n the same room though...that creeps me out. Ahaha!

1300 is probably as cheap as you can get, so I think you should book now..... Hotel you can get do better, 90 a night you can easily get a business hotel. I usually would recommend people to stay away from hostel

You can keep checking, I think the prices may drop after the holidays. It may be unlikely, though. May is far away also. It's not common for one to book a flight and hotel 6 months in advance, which is probably why the prices are so high.
& if you're going into Tokyo, wouldn't it be better to fly into Haneda Airport or Narita Airport? One can then take a limousine bus or the train into the city from there.
You can check on expedia.com for hotels. I know in Shinjuku it is congested with business hotels, you can easily find one for under 90. I wouldn't recommend staying in a hostel. Its your vacation, you should be able to enjoy it.

Thanks for the quick replies!

I'll definitely start looking into business hotels in the area, especially if they're cheaper! Since I'll only be there to sleep and get ready in the mornings I'd rather go with whatever is cheapest (and of course clean). Any suggestions for a specific place?

And sweetokyo, it's easier to fly into Osaka because that's where I'm starting my tour from. :) I'll eventually end up in Tokyo by the end of it and will fly out from there. I only need hotels in Tokyo because I'll be with a tour group before I end up in Tokyo so everything will be taken care of up until then.

As for the flights, I was also thinking they might go down after the holidays but at the same time, as godwine mentioned, I'm worried that may be the best it's going to get and I don't want to miss out. Decisions decisions XD

For flight:

If you're going to Japan in May, I would wait until January to really consider buying a ticket. Unless you prefer not to wait, but I don't see the point in looking before 6 months until your expected departure date. Prices go up and down constantly.

I went to Tokyo in October 2009 and never really looked into buying my plane ticket until May-June. I enlisted the help of a travel agent who looked for flights from Ottawa, Ontario to Tokyo, Japan on a daily basis and she would report back to me.

One day, she called saying there was a 24 hours sale on a plane ticket to Narita for 950$ (+ taxes). I had to pay within 24 hours, otherwise I would lose on the sale and seats.

So if you feel comfortable getting the help from a travel agent, I definitely recommend it. They know what they are doing and if you tell them you're serious, they will be serious in their search to help you. Mind you, since you're leaving from Halifax, I don't know if you'll be able to get something as cheap as mine, since I was leaving from Ottawa which is further west of the country, so I didn't have as far as you to go.

I had a connection in Toronto, then direct to Narita. 12 hours flight practically killed me, so if you can have a stop in Vancouver I would highly recommend it.


For hotel, I highly recommend:

Tokyo hostel| Sakura Hostel Asakusa, Japan | Online booking

One of my friend used these guys to find a cheap place to stay in Tokyo and she was very satisfied. I'm not sure if they all work the same, but I've noticed a lot of them include a fridge, tv and internet in your room (if you pick a private room). There are shared rooms and all that too. Their website offers a lot of good deals year round, so just keep an eye out. I wish I'd known of this website when I was in Japan!

I've already found my hotel for my next stay in Tokyo, it's in Ikebukuro and is around 6,800Y (70$) a night for a private room.

Hope this helps!

Thanks, I'll wait. It's not that I'm in a hurry I'm just excited and since I've never booked a trip before I don't want to miss out on what's going to be the best price I can get. I think I will look into travel agents....that could be a good idea,

These guys are actually who I was referring to in my original post! Although when I checked online it says 6,800Y is about $90CND with the current exchange rate. Hopefully it changes by the time I book (which I'm not looking to do for a few months yet because I want to look around first). Glad to hear your friend had a good experience though. It's nice to know of others experience when looking into a place. :)

Flights and Hotels
 

Godline, SweetTokyo and Neffiline gave you great tips and I do agree with most of them.

One thing that you also should keep in mind that the Yen is super strong now... and no matter what the government tries, the Holidays won't change that.

In my opinion, you should definitely wait till the end of January and see how things change. You won't get a cheaper flight - 1300CAD sounds great by the way - but have a good chance to get more yen for your dollars.

Decided already on how and where you'll travel within the country?

Good Luck,

Japean

I agree with others that prices goes up and down, but I fly to Japan frequent enough from Tronto to tell you that 1300 is a good price.

In most cases, you won't find a flight cheaper than 1100 to fly to Tokyo, the price may fluctuate between 699-999, but they screw you on the tax, so on an average, you will be spending between 1100-1400 to fly in to Tokyo.

While flying in to Osaka will cost another 300-600, so if you can find a flight that fly you to Osaka for 1300 tax in, take it.....

In terms of hotel my recommendations:

Osaka: Dotonbori Hotel (5 minutes walk from Namba), or the Family Inn Fifity's
Kyoto: The Granvia (it will be pricey, but should fit within your budget if you are willing to spend 90 p/p/n
Yokohama: Super Hotel Shin Yokohama
Tokyo: Hotel Sun Targas (Ueno)

There are others, but these will probably fit in your range, and it will be business hotel (some comes with daily breakfast) with your own washroom and bath, far better than a hostel...

Might want to check this out: Tokyo Weekly Hotel provides the best, most affordable, rooms in Tokyo cheap hotel in Tokyo/

I've been checking out the hotels you guys have been suggesting and some look pretty good so thanks for that.

Hopefully there's still people looking at this thread because I'm having trouble with my flight. It dropped again so now I can get my flight for $1200. I want to book it but I'm a bit confused with the time difference. As mentioned, I'm in Halifax, Canada and I need to arrive in Japan on May 16th. I typed that into the flight search and it told me I'd leave Halifax around 8am on the 15th and would arrive in Osaka by 6pm on the 16th. That sounds really wrong to be though. If I were to leave on the 15th wouldn't I arrive on the 17th since they are already a day ahead? :S