Job Discussion Forums

nawlinsgurl · Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2005 9:03 pm Post subject: good, reliable travel agents

hi, me again. wondering if anyone has used a good reliable trabel agent here in japan. i want to plan a 3 day trip to okinawa and am looking for cheap, but good quality deals. if i have to pay extra to insure nice hotel (no roaches, dirty sheets) good comfortable flight and decent package it's ok. but mainly looking for a good company for japan and abroad flights. thanks everyone!

G Cthulhu · Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2005 10:24 pm Post subject: Re: good, reliable travel agents

JTB really can do decent package deals. Visit them, or ask them to visit you at work and see what packages they have on sale ATM. Aside from them, I've always found STA Ikebukuro to be very good.

Mike L. · Joined: 28 Feb 2003 Posts: 519

http://www.no1-travel.com/

This place is really good for international travel. Now since they're owned, I think, by HIS which does both international and domestic deals they should be able to help you out.

BTW my travel agent of 5 years is Makita san. She's really good and so is her English. Give her a call and mention my name. I've sent her lots of business over the years.

melirae · Joined: 26 Feb 2004 Posts: 145 Location: Korea

I have only purchased a flight through these guys, but they were great- very prompt and I was able to pay through a bank transfer- never had to even go to their office!
http://www.iace.co.jp/english/

As for other package deals in Japan, I have used NTB- I know, I know it belongs to NOVA! But, the rates were awesome and the hotels they put us in were really nice and always centrally located within 5 minutes of a train station. I have paid on average 20,000 for my packages and the hotel room alone had a rate of 20,000 according to info on the net and at the hotel. The packages usually have airfare and a couple of nights hotel stay.

They frequently send sheets with all sorts of deals to the MM Center and the Osaka branches, so maybe you could check with someone at your branch and see if they have special sheets of deals for the Tokyo area.

sethness · Joined: 28 Feb 2005 Posts: 209 Location: Hiroshima, Japan

I wouldn't trust a Japanese tour agency to tie my shoelaces.

I worked in the tourist industry on several pacific islands, and can say firmly that the Japanese tour agents are out to take your money and insulate you from the real island experience, not to make sure you have a good time. Hell, no.

Mostly, they are interested in convincing you that you need them... especially to sign up for optional tours. They will quite often shuttle you directly from your plane directly to an option-tour sign up event (no stop-off at the hotel for rest and shower) where you get high-presure sales pitches.

(Option-tours are things like parasailing, jungle tours, bus tours, scuba diving, and so on that you can arrange to do while you're on vacation.)

Consider these facts. A tour agent often charges $60 for parasailing, and pockets 20 to 40 of those dollars, handing the rest to the folks who actually take you parasailing. Now, imagine that you book the tour directly with the parasailing company. Even if you get charged the same $60, imagine how much better they're going to treat you because they're making so much more profit ! And, they'll be far more willing to cut you a discount because there's more "excess" that they can afford to give back to you. In another example, I used to take people SCUBA diving for $40 a piece. Tour agents would charge twice and 3x that, but still give me only $40. They'd tell the customers that the price was high, but I was the "best, safest scuba instructor on the island." I was not. Far from it. I just gave the best kickbacks to the tour agents. Customers didn't know any better, and I couldn't afford to tell them the truth.

NOw, I can.

Also, Hotels are not THAT much fun, because basically you're alooooone in your hotel room, surrounded by menus, minibars, and a phone-- all of which cost money to use. And staff that is under orders not to fraternize too much, and to steer you toward spending money in the hotel. Like, at the hotel's restaurant and in the hotel's option-tour office.

Instead, strongly consider being an "F.I.T.", a "free and independent traveller". Book your own plane ticket. And, instead of a hotel, stay at a HOSTEL ! These are relatively inexpensive (not always the cleanest, but certainly the most friendly and honest) and they're great places to meet skilled travellers and make new friends. Staying in a hotel's lonely, and a bit like standing at the edge of quicksand, trying to scurry out. Staying in a hostel is an experience in ride-sharing, trading hints, and greeting fellow travellers.

Hotels are out to trick you. So are tour agents. Hostels are genuinely fun, and genuinely there to save you money and make sure you have a good time. No, they're not the cleanest...but definitely the most fun.

melirae · Joined: 26 Feb 2004 Posts: 145 Location: Korea

I was smart enough to research the costs of the trips I took if I booked everything myself and I found that the evil travel agency Twisted Evil

was actually giving me a good deal- I could not have purchased the flight and hotel on my own at such a good price. While the hotels I stayed in were nice, none had a mini-bar in the room. Even if there had been, I am a smart enough traveler to know what a rip-off those things are- go to a convenie and pick up snacks for your room. And anyway, who is sitting in their hotel room long enough to be tempted by the mini-bar when you are on a sightseeing trip?! I basically slept and showered in mine! And what sort of hotel are you staying at that you would be trying to pick up the staff anyway?! Most hotels everywhere prefer that you don't lure the employees on duty into your room I'm sure...

As for tours in the areas I have traveled, I am also smart enough to visit the tourist office in Osaka which provides a plethora of information, in English, on the areas I visited. Along with my Lonely Planet guide and word of mouth, I was able to put together a nice tour of the area myself. In addition I checked with the local touris offices in each area I visited, but alas they didn't offer any tours in English.

Unless you have a really good grasp of Japanese, it's a wise idea to go with a travel agency because there are so many things that can go wrong with bookings. Best to have someone who is a professional help you out with it!

JimDunlop2 · Joined: 31 Jan 2003 Posts: 2286 Location: Japan

I got a good flight ticket price from STA travel. There are ads in the English daily newspapers quite often (I subscribe to the Yomiuri)...

As for JTB, I have no good things to say about them. Their prices aren't stellar, there service (in my city) was awful -- slow and unprofessional when I dealt with them, and my friend who recently booked his flight through them found out that he doesn't actually receive his ticket -- he must pick it up at a special counter at the airport... He's not happy about that, as it's just another extra step to go through before departure.

Those are just some things to consider...

I also agree about researching one's own deals and activities, and also not staying in hotels. Hostels are fine, but be sure you check out whether or not they have a curfew or other rules to cope with. Important stuff if you want a "night out on the town" or something but have to be in by 10...

As for Okinawa, some JET friends of mine went -- and they camped. Apparantly there's an inexpensive campground you can stay at....