Japan Airlines is giving away free domestic flights to international tourists
If you've been to Tokyo recently, you'll know how overly crowded it is, with record-breaking numbers of international visitors flying into Japan and making the city their first tourist destination. Meanwhile, in the Japanese countryside, however, peaceful, quiet communities with dwindling populations are crying out for tourists, and Japan Airlines (JAL) plans to get them there, by giving away free domestic plane tickets to overseas visitors.
It's a win-win for international tourists, who get to snag a free plane ticket to any of JAL's 64 domestic destinations, and cities outside of Tokyo that might otherwise be overlooked or deemed too difficult to get to. Far-flung destinations like Sapporo on the northern island of Hokkaido, for instance, or Naha on the southern islands of Okinawa, are now more easily accessible, putting them on the radar for visitors who may have never thought to travel there before.
▼ Okinawa's tropical climate and white-sand beaches now look even more enticing.
In order to take advantage of the offer, travellers must book their international flight to Japan with JAL and make the booking for the free domestic leg with the same reservation. The deal is currently available to visitors from the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Thailand, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam, Indonesia, India, China, Taiwan, and the Philippines.
Travellers are encouraged to head straight from the international airport to the domestic one, with a stopover fee of US$100 for arrivals from the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, and a fee of CNY 300 for China arrivals, if their stay in the initial arrival city exceeds 24 hours. Other countries get an even better deal as they are exempt from this fee so they can head to their domestic destination whenever they like during their stay, free of charge.
The complementary flight covers one segment of the domestic journey, which means you can arrive in Tokyo, hop on a plane to Osaka and then leisurely explore the area and surrounding sites like Kyoto by train before travelling back to Tokyo by Shinkansen for your flight home. This would ultimately save you around 13,870 yen (US$94.62), which is the approximate cost of travelling one-way from Tokyo to Osaka by Shinkansen.
More intrepid explorers might want to follow the same mode of travel, only to more off-the-beaten path destinations like Kagoshima, where you can visit a convenience store at an active volcano.
▼ The beauty of Kagoshima awaits.
If the free trip has you preferring to fly back to Tokyo domestically, you can do that at a special discount by taking advantage of these little-known special offers from JAL and ANA, which are also exclusively available to overseas residents.
These offers open up a whole new way of travelling for visitors who previously only thought to solely use the train after arriving in Japan. With the Japan Rail Pass not as good a deal as it was before the massive price hike, travelling by plane is now an option that's definitely worth considering, and with no end-date announced for the free flight offer, there's never been a better time to start dreaming of those unexplored rural places you've always had on your bucket list and start making them a reality.
Source: Japan Airlines
Top image: Pakutaso
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