Japan Tour Costs and Itinerary Notes

Above, the Saikai Bridge. It is better seen during the day. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

I did a quick check on airfares for the dates of G-Tour II to and from Narita International Airport from Los Angeles International Airport. I checked prices through GatewayLAX (my preferred ticket source) and Travelocity. The prices below are the lowest and the highest of each agency. Here's what I found:

Korean Air: Adult: $1,287.00 + tax and fuel surcharge (Source: Travelocity)
Continental Airlines: Adult: $2,153.00 + tax and fuel surcharge (Source: Travelocity)

China Eastern: Adult: $865.00 + tax and fuel surcharge (Source: GatewayLAX)
Adult: Continental Airlines: Adult: $2,882.00 + tax + service fee (Source: GatewayLAX)

Keep in mind that these prices are what's available now for the main travel season. Prices for airfares will likely skyrocket as time goes on. (That's one of the reasons I usually go to Japan during the off-season, airfares are much cheaper and I don't have to deal with Japan summer's heat and humidity.)

These prices are in addition to the stated cost of the tour:

¥248,500 (Japanese yen) per person (approximatey $2,644.00-$2,958.00 USD based on average exchange rates over the past year: 84-94 yen to 1 USD).

Also, discount ticket agencies have strict policies on cancellations and refunds. Unless there is some sort of emergency or dire situation, it is nearly impossible to cancel and obtain a refund. Read each agency's cancellation and refund policy before buying. What would you do if the tour is cancelled (for whatever reason) and you've already bought your airline tickets? (Well, you can get The Monster Movie Fan's Guide To Japan and go anyway on your own.)

I took a perusal of the intinerary for G-Tour II and, generally, it is a good one. But it could use some tweaking here and there to make it better. For example, I noted that it is planned to go to Mount Aso Volcano National Park from Fukuoka:

Travel from Fukuoka to Mt. Aso, then to Sasebo to see the Saikai Bridge, then back to Fukuoka.

It doesn't say if this will be by bus (I'm assuming it is) or by train. That is one long day covering a lot of miles! Some of those miles involve mountain roads. Back in 2007, I went to Kyushu and stayed in Kumamoto, which is the gateway to Mt. Aso and visited it from there. From Kumamoto, I then proceeded to Nakasaki (to visit their museum and Peace Park) via train along the shoreline of the Ariake Sea. From Nakasaki, I then took a train to Sasebo City to see the Saikai Bridge and from there to Fukuoka. Each of these required an overnight stay in each city.

Why drag folks all the way to Kyushu and not visit Nagasaki (especially since they're asking people to pay roughly $4,000 per person (tour cost and airfare))? The tour would be wasting a lot of valuable time by traveling (in one day) from Fukuoka to Mt. Aso to Sasebo City and then back to Fukuoka. The stops at each location will amount to a little more than Chevy Chase's view of the Grand Canyon in National Lampoon's Vacation. Seeing the volcano(s) at Mt. Aso and the museum will be time-consuming along with the travel time. This may mean the tour could possibly arrive at the Saikai Bridge at dusk.

It is noted in the itinerary that it is "subject to change." Including Nakasaki would make it better, but something else would have to be eliminated. One way to do it is to stay either in Nagasaki or Sasebo City one night. It would be better to re-work the tour so that the Kyushu portion won't be so rushed and people would be able to see things kaiju-related and of historical importance instead of some garden or shrine elsewhere.