Japan becoming expensive

[gotoPzero]

I know Japan threads have been quite popular the last couple of years so just a heads up for anyone planning a trip in the near term, prices are on the up.
My last visit was Spring 2023 and I found the value to be excellent. Hire car was c.£30 day. Now its over £60. Hotels we averaged £90 a night.

I am just finishing booking hotels for a trip this spring and its costing quite a bit more than my last trip - not much to be had for sub £100 a night unless you want to stay in a very small 12m2 room. Even capsules are over £50 a night in some areas. Good 4* hotels with larger than average rooms are getting on for £200+ a night. I think our nightly average is going to be close to £150.

And thats with a 10-15% better exchange rate too.

Weirdly my flights are cheaper though, which I suspect is lower demand for the China>Japan route at present.

The traditional tax free regime stops this year too along with possibility of dual pricing for tourists from 2027.

[s111dpc]

Helpful thanks, we’re of to Japan on the 25th March for a couple of weeks.

[Hippea]

Yeah I noticed accommodation has risen, but I think this might be down to demand as a lot is booked up.

Once out there it’s still cheaper than here, especially food and drink which is fantastic quality and value

[gotoPzero]

Hippea said:

Yeah I noticed accommodation has risen, but I think this might be down to demand as a lot is booked up.

Yep. I think part of the problem is trip / agoda offer 100% refunds to within a few days of check in. So people just book as far in advance as possible and then see what happens as they know they can change any time and get a refund. One hotel I was looking at was £500 for 3 nights about 2 weeks ago and yesterday I had a quick look and its £2000 now for the same dates.

Some places offer a small discount for no cancellation option - but its not worth it talking a few quid per night difference.

I have one more hotel to book for our trip - the last 2 nights and I will probably book that in the next couple of days.

We are doing the north this time and I was expecting it to be easier to get hotels as its a less popular tourist route but this seems not to be the case!

[//j17]

gotoPzero said:

Hippea said:

Yeah I noticed accommodation has risen, but I think this might be down to demand as a lot is booked up.

Yep. I think part of the problem is trip / agoda offer 100% refunds to within a few days of check in. So people just book as far in advance as possible and then see what happens as they know they can change any time and get a refund.

On the flip side that can mean it's worth checking/swapping while you travel.

Due to an 8 year old falling off a low wall and ending up in plaster from wrist to shoulder so half the group cancelling their trip/the planned accomodation some friends found themselves having to book accomodation in a ski resort just 2 months out and on arrival...weren't impressed (though much of that was translation issues - if I was translating 'bath in room' into Japanese without speaking Japanese it might end up 'hot tub in room' too). A quick check online got them a room in one of the best hotels in town for something like £100/night though as someone had clearly booked the room/done a free cancellation. Oh, and despite being under no obligation to the first place did the very Japanese thing and still refunded their unused nights!

Edited by //j17 on Monday 23 February 10:08