Hi, Gang...
Every two years, I take a long vacation in September/October. In 2004, I took a 2-week vacation....went to NYC, Las Vegas (HS class reunion), Portland, Oregon (sis) and Hawaii (mom). Being a bad procrastinator, I didn't book my air tickets until about one month prior to departure. Was able to book a seat on United using Across Travel Bureau. I forgot how much I paid (couldn't find the itenerary / receipt) but I do remember that Across charged me an extra 50,000 yen for booking one more destination than allowed.
(that's how I understood the agent's explanation to me).
Anyway, this coming September,I'm going to take another 2-week vacation. Going to NYC, Washington DC, Portland and Hawaii. I really want to avoid any extra cost or fee and keep my ticket cost as low as possible.
I figure some of you here have more experience that I have regarding Japanese travel agencies. There are two things that I've read recently (whether they're true or not....I don't know)
#1, using an English-speaking travel agent is more expensive than a Japanese travel agent. The reason is that the English-speaking agent is paid higher than the Japanese agent. (I'm still scratching my head on this one).
#2, travel agencies usually offer good discounts if the trip is 10 days or less. Price goes up if the trip is longer than ten days.
If #1 is true, then booking with a Japanese agent won't be much a problem for me. If #2 is true....yikes....I guess I have to stomach the cost.
Another option I'm thinking about it is booking my airline tickets via an on-line ticketing agent (in the US) and having the tickets mailed to me. I know that there are lots of ticketing agents on the 'net. But I'm really not sure if this is a good idea. Have any of you tried this?
And one more thing.....is there a difference (price-wise) between booking the tickets soon (March/April) vs later (June/July)?
Thanks in advance for any replies.
Every two years, I take a long vacation in September/October. In 2004, I took a 2-week vacation....went to NYC, Las Vegas (HS class reunion), Portland, Oregon (sis) and Hawaii (mom). Being a bad procrastinator, I didn't book my air tickets until about one month prior to departure. Was able to book a seat on United using Across Travel Bureau. I forgot how much I paid (couldn't find the itenerary / receipt) but I do remember that Across charged me an extra 50,000 yen for booking one more destination than allowed.
(that's how I understood the agent's explanation to me). Anyway, this coming September,I'm going to take another 2-week vacation. Going to NYC, Washington DC, Portland and Hawaii. I really want to avoid any extra cost or fee and keep my ticket cost as low as possible.
I figure some of you here have more experience that I have regarding Japanese travel agencies. There are two things that I've read recently (whether they're true or not....I don't know)
#1, using an English-speaking travel agent is more expensive than a Japanese travel agent. The reason is that the English-speaking agent is paid higher than the Japanese agent. (I'm still scratching my head on this one).
#2, travel agencies usually offer good discounts if the trip is 10 days or less. Price goes up if the trip is longer than ten days.
If #1 is true, then booking with a Japanese agent won't be much a problem for me. If #2 is true....yikes....I guess I have to stomach the cost.
Another option I'm thinking about it is booking my airline tickets via an on-line ticketing agent (in the US) and having the tickets mailed to me. I know that there are lots of ticketing agents on the 'net. But I'm really not sure if this is a good idea. Have any of you tried this?
And one more thing.....is there a difference (price-wise) between booking the tickets soon (March/April) vs later (June/July)?
Thanks in advance for any replies.
