Japan 2014/15
| Poll: You goin????? Total Votes: 36 |
|
|---|---|
| Count me in!!!!! | 22  |
| Nah, I’m over the place!!!!! | 1 |
| I’d love to but I’ve already sold one kidney!!!!! | 4 |
| I’m goin elsewhere!!!!! | 9 |
Thanks, Dave. Yeah pretty much talking about avoiding crowds. I’m just fishing for ideas at present.
When you guys go to Niseko do you stay in Hirafu? Not necessarily locked in to Niseko, just want to increase my knowledge. Anyone with experience in Rusutsu? I’m not looking for wild nightlife, but would like somewhere with decent places to eat.
I have stayed in a HT Holidays apartment in Hirafu (upper Village) - the overnight ski/board storage is great!
I also stay in a house in Lower Village.
I have also stayed in the Hilton at the bottom of the Niseko Mountain side. Niseko Village (where you would go to dinner if not eating in Hirafu) is still a short bus ride away from the Hilton (its slightly longer to Hirafu). I would consider the Green Leaf Hotel If I was to going back and looking for my own accom. Although it is out of the way!
If I go this Christmas we will be staying in accom in Hanazono.
I believe Azz & Tambo have stayed in Hanazono before… none of my crew have!
How do you guys book accommodation, through blogs or websites? I’m checking agoda and I can’t get any listing for the date I’m going.
Best snow in mid Jan - mid Feb I’d say! Every time I’ve gone in Jan they’ve got heaps of pow pow every day straight… (I’m talking about Niseko here!)
New Years is busy and they also have a public holiday weekend sometime in mid jan, so that’s busy too… But not too bad. It’s only really painful if it’s too windy on top and the top of the mountain is closed - making lines longer down the bottom… Otherwise it’s ok… Sometimes you have to make reservations to eat for dinner, but there are still places you can just walk in to…
I wouldn’t stay anywhere else but hirafu if I didn’t have a car - there’s just not enough in Niseko village etc for me! Plus you have the night go bus from hirafu-Kutchan if you want to have dinner there. It’s just easier…
Thanks, Billy. Yeah we’d probably not want to bother with a car.
Can I ask about the flights you guys take to get there, eg. what airlines, what route, what cost, do you get some super-special deal? Wife is checking out Niseko flights and it looks really expensive and fairly convoluted to get there.
Our good friend Bel is the Niseko based GM of skijapan, so we tend to go through them… They look after you from start to finish - they have such a strong presence in Niseko too if you need anything… They usually book us JAL flights mel-syd-Tokyo-sapporo in one go… Reasonably priced too I think
Can I ask about the flights you guys take to get there, eg. what airlines, what route, what cost, do you get some super-special deal? Wife is checking out Niseko flights and it looks really expensive and fairly convoluted to get there.
The most popular options are QANTAS, JAL and Jetstar. I’ve also made my way there via Scoot but it was a massive effort. I’ll consider going Cathay next trip simply for a stopover in HK. Yes there are deals that come up, really depends on when you are planning on travelling as they are rare during the peak school holiday period but come up fairly often outside of that as well as dropping significantly mid January as I mentioned earlier.
You can either book a all in one ticket which will get you to Sapporo after a stopover (generally in Narita) or you can organise your own internal flights from mainland Japan to Sapporo via one of the Japanese domestic airlines or Jetstar.
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The best flight deal is what you can only get when you book with a travel agent (and one that knows their stuff!)
every time I do research it seems Jetstar doesn’t work out that cheap to get to Niseko.
JAL have a domestic deal that gets you internal flights for 100,000 yen. It has to be book by a travel agent and in conjuction with an international flight. (try to find a TA who understands this has proven difficult in the past) but you can save $100’s
I believe booking online even with Qantas’s website does not net you the same discounted domestic flight.
I seem to never communicate this well on the forums - happy to have a phone convo to explain it.
Travel from Melbourne doesn’t seem to help you much either.
Going Melbourne to an asian city that then fly’s direct to Sapporo would be ideal.
Ok we’ve been getting some quotes and the prices are approaching more reasonable values. It looks like Qantas and JAL fly via Narita while Cathay goes via HK. I’ve seen comments that the HK route is the least hassle.
More questions:
- is the bus the best option from Sapporo to Niseko for 2 people?
- has anyone stayed at “Woody Note” Pension in Hirafu? Would the lack of a drying room be an issue?
- most of the carriers seem to have fairly limited baggage allowances, especially in terms of luggage size. How do you guys get around this when taking snowboards? Would it be better to just hire a board there?
Re the bus, it is convenient as it leaves right from the Airport in Sapporo.
No need to book just rock up to the counter when you land and they stick you on the next bus. (but for the return journey you just book online like the day before - the buses do fill up)
The great thing about the bus is that they have a Return ticket that you pay for upfront and if you pay just 1,000yen extra you get a lift pass for Niseko!
In terms of luggage size I have only done one trip with luggage and a wheelie gig with conservative packing was okay for me.
But if Billy can do it anyone can 
In terms of luggage size I have only done one trip with luggage and a wheelie gig with conservative packing was okay for me.
Not sure what you mean here Oz? Are you talking a long ski/board bag or a suitcase/backpack on wheels?
How long have you been hanging around BW?? You don’t know what a Wheelie Gig is??
It fits a heap - weight limits are a concern though that’s why you have to pack conservatively!
- most of the carriers seem to have fairly limited baggage allowances, especially in terms of luggage size. How do you guys get around this when taking snowboards? Would it be better to just hire a board there?
I’ve always travelled with a filled to the brim Dakine Low roller and legal sized carry on backpack.
The dakine is checked in as oversize but because it is classified as sporting gear it has always been no excess charged.
Japan is generally pretty easy to manage baggage with especially handy is Takuhaibin if you decide to do any side trips where you don’t want to lug your gear with you.
Hm that’s interesting. The JAL site says you can only have 2x standard suitcase sized objects and long objects are an extra cost.