Came back recently from a short weekend trip to Tokyo. I’ve been there a few times so didn’t do many touristy things, except for two. The Yebisu Beer Factory and bike riding around the Imperial Palace. The Yebisu Beer Factory tour is located at Ebisu, duh. But actually, it’s not a factory, it’s a museum. I thought it was subpar and my ... Read More »
I needed to book a ticket from Sapporo CTS to Tokyo HND one way on specifically Japan Airlines. I wanted to see which program would cost the least for an award ticket. Asia Miles won’t even allow a one-way ticket with JL, so it would cost 15,000 roundtrip. American Airlines charges 7,500 AAdvantage miles, not too bad. United charges 6,000 miles one way, ... Read More »
Japan Airlines (JAL) has a tool to check availability on their own operated flights. Just note you’ll need to sign up for the JAL Mileage Bank program and login before you can access it. For HKG based travelers JAL is a great partner for Asia Miles and Oneworld. You can fly not only to Japan, but if you don’t mind ... Read More »
Stayed at the Hilton Niseko Village hotel for 4 nights this December on a ski and snowboard trip. Purchased two nights through JTB and two nights using award points booked through the Hilton website. This hotel is REALLY expensive during the winter, so try to use the points + cash option if you can. The hotel is a bit removed ... Read More »
Hokkadio Access Network has a network of buses between Sapporo city & airport to Niseko. I booked a bus + lift ticket package for 5500 yen which included an 8 hour lift ticket for Niseko Village, and bus trip one-way from Chitose Airport to Niseko, and return one-way Niseko to Sapporo. They have other routes and combinations which can be found here. Read More »
迄今為止，我發現最佳的滑雪優惠配套是二世谷優惠配套（除了包含巴士票的滑雪票），即包含所有雪山區域的滑雪通行證。 僅需花費4900元，你就能獲取8小時的全雪山區滑雪票，此外，你也能使用800元賒購在雪山區多數地方消費，諸如滑雪用品店、飲食店、出租店等。僅是滑雪票的正常價格為5200元。 不好之處在于你得在前往二世谷前購買該優惠配套。我在新千歲機場的國際候機樓就已購買它。當你從國際候機樓的行李領取處走出時，在左邊有一家羅森便利店。我詢問出納員才曉得何處能購買它，但基本上你得尋獲售賣代幣券的紅色機器，然后選擇北海道，日本交通公社（JTB），接著選定價值4900元的配套。它有兩種配套，切記選擇第一種配套，它會顯示號碼8，既是8小時，號碼800則是800元，其它的文字是日語。我嘗試使用信用卡，但它不接收，我唯有在注冊時使用現金付款，然后獲取一張收據和代幣券。 兌換的過程相當簡單。我僅是於每早在滑雪票售賣窗口顯示代幣券，就立即獲取通行證，及能使用在山區多數地點的價值800元優惠券（請留意需要付可退還的1000元保證金）。 有一天，我在安努普利山系的寄宿使用代幣券，翌日我則在希爾頓度假村的滑雪道具出租店花費代幣券。 它唯一的弊處是你不能整天整夜滑雪，但老實說每天有多少人12小時在滑雪？8小時就已經是綽綽有余了，無論如何，我不曾在一天內滑雪超過5或6小時。在你經過纜車入口時，它將告知你的通行證何時逾期，這極其便利的。我認為每個人不應付全價購買通行證，因此強烈建議你購買此優惠配套， Read More »
I know a lot of Hong Kong people like to go skiing. Most of the time people think of going to Hokkaido Japan, or more specifically Niseko. The closest major airport is Sapporo Chitose CTS. But cost is usually a huge factor deterring skiers from going. I suggest saving up your award miles for this expensive route. If using Asia Miles, it costs ... Read More »
Getting to Sapporo, or Niseko from Hong Kong during wintertime is never an easy thing to do, especially if you want to use miles. I had some United Miles I wanted to use so I had to fly on a Star Alliance carrier. The natural routing would be to take UA or NH to Tokyo, then change to a NH ... Read More »
Flew JAL recently and saw in their in-flight magazine that they’re rolling out new seating on the Boeing 777-300ER in 2013. The seats will first be available on the NRT – LHR route in January 2013 and then moving to retrofit the 767-300ER in the second half of 2013. The Australian Business Traveller web site has great pictures. Read More »
If you don’t mind a layover en-route to Japan from HKG, you can get some really great fares in economy class, $1090 before taxes and fees, which comes to around $2200 HKD all-in. Additionally, with China’s new visa-free transit rule going into effect January 1, 2013, you can also try to fit in a stopover and visit China for up to 72-hours ... Read More »
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