I certainly do not fell into the category of a risk taker, but welp here I am, buying plane tickets to Japan 6 months before departure, when my company's HR have not yet approved of my annual leave (Note: being in MT program, I need to strictly follow the schedule). If the schedule for annual leave suddenly changes, then I have to accept that I am not destined to go on this trip (discounted plane tickets are non-refundable). However, being a rather optimist, I put aside the thought and only think about how exciting this trip is going to be.
This will be my vey first self-funded overseas trip. I'm going with my mom, so she has a lot to say on the accommodation, but she gave me quite a lot of freedom to structure the itinerary.
By the way, I bought the tickets from Kompas Travel Fair, simply because they offer a high amount of cashback by using a certain Credit Card (up to Rp 2 mio). I arrived a little earlier, about 1.5 hours before the travel fair opens, knowing there will be quotas for the cashbacks. The queue was already quite long. It was 8 a.m on September and the sun already burnt our skins. Our legs were already tired of standing even before we 'battle' each other to find the best promo. What was more eye-catching was the sight of an old lady on a wheelchair, queuing diligently. Oh the sacrifices we made for us so-called travelers!
My mom, being an extrovert, easily made friends with women of her age who were keen to seek cheap tickets. They shared some tips on going to Japan for first timers (I will share the tips below). At first, I was more interested in South Korea, but the stories and advice from those women changed my mind. We exchanged numbers and one of them even shared me her itinerary for her last year's trip to Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto.
Long story short, my mom and I finally bought the tickets from one of the travel agent. All in/return flight for 6.5 mio with Cathay Pacific (cashback 1.5 mio with my mom's CC). So I only paid 5 mio for return ticket, including 32 kg baggage!
The route is as follows:
Jakarta (CGK) --> Tokyo (Narita)
Osaka (Kansai) --> Jakarta (CGK)
Each 1x transit in Hongkong
Tips:
This will be my vey first self-funded overseas trip. I'm going with my mom, so she has a lot to say on the accommodation, but she gave me quite a lot of freedom to structure the itinerary.
By the way, I bought the tickets from Kompas Travel Fair, simply because they offer a high amount of cashback by using a certain Credit Card (up to Rp 2 mio). I arrived a little earlier, about 1.5 hours before the travel fair opens, knowing there will be quotas for the cashbacks. The queue was already quite long. It was 8 a.m on September and the sun already burnt our skins. Our legs were already tired of standing even before we 'battle' each other to find the best promo. What was more eye-catching was the sight of an old lady on a wheelchair, queuing diligently. Oh the sacrifices we made for us so-called travelers!
My mom, being an extrovert, easily made friends with women of her age who were keen to seek cheap tickets. They shared some tips on going to Japan for first timers (I will share the tips below). At first, I was more interested in South Korea, but the stories and advice from those women changed my mind. We exchanged numbers and one of them even shared me her itinerary for her last year's trip to Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto.
Long story short, my mom and I finally bought the tickets from one of the travel agent. All in/return flight for 6.5 mio with Cathay Pacific (cashback 1.5 mio with my mom's CC). So I only paid 5 mio for return ticket, including 32 kg baggage!
The route is as follows:
Jakarta (CGK) --> Tokyo (Narita)
Osaka (Kansai) --> Jakarta (CGK)
Each 1x transit in Hongkong
Tips:
- Choose flight from Jakarta to Haneda. Haneda is closer to Tokyo than Narita, which means you can save more time and cost of transportation from the airport to the center of the city. I did not choose Haneda in this trip because the flight schedule to Haneda is not in my favour, but trust me you will save more time and cost if you choose Haneda.
- If you plan to only go to Tokyo-Kyoto-Osaka (like first-timers usually do), choose arrival in Tokyo and departure from Osaka, so you don't have to go back and forth to Tokyo with Shinkansen (again, saving time and money
- If you're on budget, really calculate the cost of transportation (e.g. train, metro, bus, shinkansen) and decide yourself whether you need JR Pass or not. (Note: I did not purchase JR Pass and only buy 1 way shinkansen train ticket from Tokyo to Osaka. I will share more details on transportation tips later in my next posts)
