Job Discussion Forums

[matador]

...dont people complain? I moved to Hong Kong last year from Japan. Flights in this area to Bali, Vietnam, Malaysia, etc are very cheap.

My flight from Osaka to Tokyo is more than my flight from HK to Osaka!

Does the fabled Japanese customer service account for the price difference...?

[azarashi sushi]

Just curious... How much exactly did you pay?

[markle]

There's this thing called economics it explains alot about things like money and prices and such.

Now one of the first things you learn in economics is the law of supply and demand it says that prices are determined by the ... of supply and demand. In a nutshell, if people are happy to pay (demand) a price then then that is what the price will be. Pretty simple really.

[Nabby Adams]

Markle you're forgetting that there are also such things as imperfect markets which the airline business is in Japan. Prices are much higher here because the industry hasn't been deregualted like it has in the US or Europe. Airlines here can't just fly where they want. This artificially reduces the supply or rather the competition which keeps prices higher.

[Dipso]

I would think that Hong Kong is much more of a regional hub for airlines than either Kansai or Narita. When I lived in HK there were several direct flight options available to me when I wanted to fly home to Britain. I could pick and choose according to my needs. When I lived in Japan there was only one direct flight from Osaka to London - and my, was it expensive! And as for wait lists...

It was also considerably easier to book flights online from HK, which can also lower the price.

*Dipso, flying via Seoul*

[originaloli]

Could it be because the Japanese have a truly world-class rail network set up? Why on earth would you want to fly, need to fly or deserve to fly over such a short distance?

[Apsara]

If you are talking about domestic flights, that kind of thing is not limited to Japan. In New Zealand, due to a lack of competition, it is usually cheaper to fly to Australia or Fiji than it is to fly from the North Island to the South Island.

Flights from Osaka to Tokyo wouldn't be that popular as most people here would take the shinkansen, hence lack of complaints about prices. For places that people do fly, like Okinawa, you can get some really reasonable flight and hotel packages.

As for international flights, I don't find it that expensive, or I didn't until they started whacking those enormous fuel surcharges on top, but that's happened everywhere.

[azarashi sushi]

I've actually always found the opposite. Whenever I've traveled within Japan, the flight/hotel packages have always been very cheap... At least compared to taking the train.

[Apsara]

Ah, true. But it's the packages that are cheap, like the ones to Okinawa that I mentioned. If you are just after a flight, it can be expensive. Still not that bad though.

[khusam]

I've only taken one internal flight (Haneda-Hiroshima) and it was cheaper than the shinkansen. I booked pretty far in advance, though. The bus into town was included in the price.

If you want to cry about internal airfare prices, try getting around in BC. My mom just paid 800 bucks for a Terrace-Kamloops flight.

[flyer]

I don't know how much you paid and how much is expensive for you,
but I book my flights on-line (through JAL) and if I book early I get flights for just over 12,000 (Sapporo - Tokyo)
which is not too bad for Japan and considering it is all so simple I am very happy

[Pilot82]

Hmm, well I wonder if Flights from China to Japan are chaep. I will be in Xi'an City but will go to Japan.