SORA NEWS



 

Fly from Tokyo to Okinawa for less than the price of a fancy Starbucks coffee…but you’ll need to hurry.

Generally, taking the train is the default way for people to travel from Point A to Point B within Japan, since the country has such an efficient rail network. But Japan has domestic flight routes too, and right now (and we mean RIGHT NOW) they’re actually the cheapest way to get around the country.

Low-cost carrier Jetstar is based in Australia but also operates domestic flights in Japan, and as part of its Super Star Sale the airline is offering in-Japan one-way flights for the ridiculously low price of just 500 yen (US$4.70). If you’re flying out of Narita Airport in the Tokyo area, 500 yen lets you fly to Sapporo in Hokkaido, the northernmost prefecture in Japan, or down to Okinawa, at the country’s southern tip. Flights to plenty of cities in between are also available for just 500 yen, including Osaka, Fukuoka, and Nagoya.

500-yen flight listings for Kochi, Nagoya, Miyazaki, Tokyo Narita, Takamatsu, and Fukuoka

You do have to be a member of Jetstar’s Club Jetstar loyalty program, which has an annual fee of 3,980 yen (US$38), but still, that means round-trip you’re still paying less than 5,000 yen, which is an incredible bargain and a fraction of what you’d pay for cross-country train or highway bus tickets.

This deal (which can be found online here) is too good to last for long, though, and the ultra-cheap tickets are only being offered for purchase until 4:49 p.m. September 17, Japan-time, so there’s not much time to mull it over, but this is about as friendly to your wallet as impulse-buy air travel is ever going to be.