How I Flew Direct to Tokyo for $680 Total

November 3, 2010 at 9:57 AM | by JetSetCD | Comments (0)

There is something so delicious about voicing the words, "I'm going to Tokyo." When you mention it to friends, family, co-workers, random people at a deli...Tokyo still holds such an exotic mystique that the idea that you will soon be on the other side of the world, in it, is a thought that generates curiosity from all corners. When this was me, holding the secret that my tickets were booked and I was Tokyo-bound, the days passed seemingly filled with sparkling sakura dancing above my head and yet my biggest (and sweetest) secret was how little I had paid for the roundtrip flights.

I'd lean in closer and lower my voice to tell people this secret, although that barely disguised my excitement.

"Guess how much I paid?" -- I'd ask, practically bursting with the thrill of what I knew would follow.

"Oh, I don't know. How much did you pay?" -- They'd blithely reply, maybe with their attention slowly drifting.

"Oh, just $680! That's direct, on Delta, JFK to Tokyo including taxes!" -- This exclamation would usually be accompanied by my doing a little happy hopping in place, while staring intently at them, waiting for the shocked reply that always followed:

"What?! How'd you manage that?!"

Indeed, how did I manage that? It's not a complicated story and it doesn't involve any frequent flyer miles wheeling and dealing or sacrificing of anything except plain old regular money (or rather, credit card). Way, way back on the 1st or 2nd of April of this year, @Travelzoo tweeted a deal so good I couldn't believe my Twitter feed. If you could fly that weekend, you could have Delta's direct flight to Tokyo from JFK roundtrip for a total of $425. My mind reeled. Could I do it? But no, I have this thing called work.

But alas, if you booked the flights for October, you could do it for only $680, taxes and everything included. Could I do that? Heck yes! I hadn't been to Tokyo before and the prep time of many months would be well worth paying the extra $260. And Tokyo in autumn? I was clicking the "Confirm Itinerary" button before I had even had my coffee.

And now you ask—as did my friends—wait, how come I didn't know about this? Ah, but it's not like I kept it to myself. I retweeted it, I emailed my contacts with the deal, and as previously mentioned, I told random people at delis. One of my friends, who just happens to be Japanese, took both deals. She flew to visit her grandmother that weekend for $425, and returned last month with her husband for some Mt. Fuji hiking at the sweet price of $680 round-trip for each of them.

And what have I learned from this, and what should you learn from this? Twitter can be a life-enriching thing, if you play on it correctly. Follow the accounts that relate to your goals, and as always, give @Jaunted a follow, because you never know what awesomeness we'll be tweeting and retweeting. ;)

If you're curious to see what meals we were served on the ensuing 14-hour flights, check that out here and here.

[Photo: arriving to Tokyo-Narita at dusk, Jaunted]

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