Well, I’m trying to keep my New Year’s resolution and update
my blog more often.
March 23, 2016 - BUDGETING FUN!
March 23, 2016 - BUDGETING FUN!
Since the #1 question I get asked is “How much does it cost
to take a vacation to Japan”? I figured this would be a good Blog topic. Since this upcoming trip is going to be Tokyo only (we MAY take the Shinkansen to Kyoto one day but this cost will be covered by our JR pass) I will focus on expenses that are Tokyo related.
So, of course to break down the costs your 2 most expensive
items are your flights and hotel.
There are many travel websites and airlines that offer package deals
combining both your flight and your hotel.
This does work well most times.
However, this year there was a VERY good early booking discount on the
Hilton Tokyo Bay hotel website that we just couldn’t wait to see what the
package deals were going to be. We
booked our hotel 1 year in advance for our upcoming trip. There was an early booking promo that
included the room and daily buffet breakfast for our entire stay. This is going to cost us about $130 USD per
night including breakfast. We’ve paid
considerably more for this hotel without breakfast included (about $200 per
night). So, we went ahead and booked
this.
Breakfast buffets at hotels are quite expensive. Last year while staying at the Tokyo
Disneyland hotel we paid about $35 USD per person for breakfast. So we spent $70 every time we wanted a good
hot breakfast. I know this sounds
extremely expensive for breakfast. I
agree. But, the first few days we did
not opt to do the buffet. We purchased
breakfast items such as yogurt smoothies and sweet breads at the hotel conbini
(convenience store). However, after
about the third day of doing this we realized that you really do need a good
breakfast to keep your energy up. You do
A LOT of walking in Tokyo. Our
pedometers showed an average of 11.5 miles per day! So, we did really need a good breakfast. And, hotel buffets in Japan are quite
extensive. There are Japanese selections
as well as western selections. There are
omelets, scrambled eggs, pastries, yogurts, fresh fruit, bagels, toast, French
toast, waffles, cereals – pretty much everything you would want a good
breakfast buffet to include. So, when
we saw the Hilton Tokyo Bay package that included the breakfast buffet for such
a great price we went ahead and booked our room portion. You can get a good 4-star hotel in Tokyo for
$200 per night. Yes, there are plenty
of less expensive hotels but since we go to Japan for 2 weeks we want to stay
at a comfortable and reasonably sized room.
So, a good rule of thumb is to expect to pay about $200 per night for your hotel accommodations.
So, a good rule of thumb is to expect to pay about $200 per night for your hotel accommodations.
Flights – this one isn’t as easy to pin down. On our first trip in 2013 my husband’s flight
was covered by his employer (and his hotel portion …. but this was after I had
returned home). My flight for that trip
was a little over $1800 round trip…. quite an expense! Last year in April we paid $1200 each for our
economy seats. We were really happy with
this price as we had budgeted the $1800 per person based on our previous
trip. So, as we got closer to our trip
date we decided to upgrade our seats to economy plus for the extra legroom and
a bit more comfort. This cost us an additional
$300 per person (round). So, we paid
about $1500 each for flights including our upgraded seats. Budgeting approximately $1500 per person
for flights is what we typically budget.
If you live on the West Coast of the U.S., you will without a doubt get
a lower fare as we are living on the East Coast so our layovers are typically
on the West Coast. We’ve recently
purchased our flights for our upcoming trip.
It is very far in advance to purchase flights however, our budget was
$1500 each and I was able to get our flights for $1100 each so we went ahead
and booked since we were well under our budgeted price. If you are willing to wait until about 2-3
months before your travel dates, you can luck out and get a really great price –
there was a special recently that was released early March for travel booked
and completed by May 10th and the round trip price for flight was
under $900.00 This is a fantastic price but I am not a gambling person by any
means. I plan ahead, budgeted for my
flights and when they dropped to such a good amount I pounced on it!
Flights Budget: $1200 per person
Food
Since our breakfast is included in our hotel we will
budget $120 USD daily for meals (this is for 2 adults). We like to enjoy a nice dinner which would be
the most expensive part of our meal budget for the day. Since we will have a big breakfast a quick
sandwich or salad will work out well for lunch. There’s so much walking and activity during
the day that we tend to eat more when we visit Japan than if we were going on a
beach vacation where you’re just laying on a beach soaking up the sun. Tokyo is NOT that kind of vacation for
us. There’s so much to see. We are constantly on the go! Up early, out all day and not back to the
hotel until late evening. It’s just how it
is. I would NEVER do this type of go go
go vacation anywhere else. But, I
absolutely love Tokyo. There’s so much
to see and do.
Food budget $120 per day (for 2 adults)
Transportation:
Another big budget expense is
transportation. You need transport from
the airport to your hotel and again on the reverse. There are a few ways to accomplish this:
Trains – this is the least expensive option but not ideal
for us after travelling almost 20 hours.
This can cost anywhere from $7 per person each way to $30 per person
each way if you use the Narita Express train.
Airport Limousine Bus – not a limousine. It’s a motor coach that transports you from
the airport to your hotel. It is of
course a shared service so there are MANY stops. We did this on our first trip. The charge is about $24 USD per person, each
way. So for us as a couple the charge is
going to be about $100 USD
Shared Transport – This was our option on our last trip, and
will be our option on our next trip as well.
We used a service called Green Tomato.
It was a van transport. Which is shared as well. There can be up to 3 stops. We were very lucky last year and were the
only ones picked up at the airport and the only passengers going back from our
hotel to the airport. The charge for his
is about $40 US per person so round trip for us as a couple is $160. For us this convenience was worth the extra
cost.
Of course, you can opt for a Taxi (about $200 USD each way)
or private car ($400 USD each way).
These are the most expensive options.
Transportation while you’re in Japan:
We opt to purchase the JR Pass. This pass allows you to utilize JR trains including the Shinkansen (bullet train) unlimited. The only downside of this pass is that you purchase it in either 7 day, 14 day or 21 day increments. Since we have 12 days it doesn’t make sense for us to purchase the 14 day pass yet the 7 day pass won’t cover our entire stay. We will need to supplement the extra days (we will purchase a pasmo or suica card -see below).
The current costs for the JR Pass for adults and the regular
car (green car passes are more expensive):
7 Day $235
14 Day $389
21 Day $497
Here is the official link to the JR Pass website:
http://www.japanrailpass.net/en/
It is also a good idea to purchase a Pasmo or Suica card. The Pasmo or Suica card is a prepaid smart card that allows travel on almost all methods of transport in Japan (subway, trains, and buses). By touching the card on the appropriate symbol on ticket gates, the card is charged for each trip. Originally created for Tokyo, it can now be used all over Japan since March 2013. The card is already charged and has ¥2000 on it (including the ¥500 deposit). The deposit can be reclaimed
ONLY by returning your card in certain areas in Tokyo. We purchase one of these to cover transportation that isn't covered by our JR Pass (such as subways).
**Also - you can use your Suica or Pasmo cards to pay for MANY things such as vending machine drinks, 7-11/conbini purchases etc. It's VERY convenient to just tap that little card and pay for snacks!
Here is the official link to the JR Pass website:
http://www.japanrailpass.net/en/
It is also a good idea to purchase a Pasmo or Suica card. The Pasmo or Suica card is a prepaid smart card that allows travel on almost all methods of transport in Japan (subway, trains, and buses). By touching the card on the appropriate symbol on ticket gates, the card is charged for each trip. Originally created for Tokyo, it can now be used all over Japan since March 2013. The card is already charged and has ¥2000 on it (including the ¥500 deposit). The deposit can be reclaimed
ONLY by returning your card in certain areas in Tokyo. We purchase one of these to cover transportation that isn't covered by our JR Pass (such as subways).
**Also - you can use your Suica or Pasmo cards to pay for MANY things such as vending machine drinks, 7-11/conbini purchases etc. It's VERY convenient to just tap that little card and pay for snacks!
Transportation while in Tokyo: $235 each for JR Pas + Suica card $50 each
SIGHTSEEING:
Another cost to plan for is entry to sightseeing spots. Many places in Tokyo are free to visits such
as temples and shrines (my favorite is Asakusa’s Sen-Soji temple). There are some really amazing areas of the city that are FREE to explore –
take a walk around Harajuku Takeshita Dori, visit the serene and beautiful Meiji Shine, see thousands of people cross Shibuya Scramble, window shop in beautiful
and fancy Ginza – all of these places to see are free to walk around and enjoy.
Here are some of my favorite "free of charge" places to visit while you are in Tokyo:
Sen-Soji Temple
Here are some of my favorite "free of charge" places to visit while you are in Tokyo:
Kaminarimon Gate at Sen-Soji Temple in Asakusa
Nakimise Dori shopping arcade at Sen-Soji Temple
Sen-Soji Temple
Tokyo Station...inside and out
Ginza
This is the view from the free observation deck at the Tourist Information Center in Asakusa
Meiji Jingu Shrine in Harajuku
Harajuku's Takeshita Dori shopping arcade
Shibuya Scramble Crossing
Hachiko Statue in Shibuya
Akihabara Electronics Town
Museums:
Museums are not free but I really do suggest visiting a
museum while you are in Tokyo. We visit
one each trip. Our first trip we visited
Shitamachi Museum, and our trip last year we visited Miraikan. This next trip I would like to see the Edo
Tokyo Museum. A good rule of thumb is
to budget about $10 per person for museum entry fees (most are a little less
than this but I budget on the high side always just to make sure I’m fully
covered when planning).
Shitamachi Museum:
Miraikan Museum of Emerging Science:
Edo Tokyo Museum:
Museums: $10 per person
Tokyo Hot Spots:
There are so many unique and interesting places to see in Tokyo. Some of my favorites include:
Tokyo Skytree
Tokyo Skytree is a new television
broadcasting tower and new landmark in Tokyo.
There are 2 observation decks
that give the MOST amazing views of the city.
Tembo Deck is the 1st and lower (if you can even describe it
as lower) at 350 meters
The 2nd observation viewing deck is the Tembo
Gallery at 450 meters high. There is an
additional fee to visit this level.
Also, when we visited we of course started at the Tembo Deck and were
only there about 5 minutes when my husband decided to buy tickets to the
higher, Tembo Gallery while the queue to purchase tickets to that level was
very low…. what we didn’t know is that once you purchase the tickets to the
Tembo Gallery you must IMMEDIATELY take the elevator to that level. So, we really didn’t see anything on the
Tembo Deck. Next trip we will know the
way it works. Also, worth noting is that
foreigners who have their passports with them can bypass the crazy long queues
waiting to get on elevators to the Tembo Deck!
There is an additional fee to do this, but it was well worth the price
to only wait about 10 minutes to get on the elevator instead of the probably
2++ hour wait on the regular line.
Skytree admission is not cheap. I
think we paid $40 per person.
It was definitely worth it and I would recommend it. For more information, you can visit the official website:
It was definitely worth it and I would recommend it. For more information, you can visit the official website:
Tokyo Tower
Tokyo Tower is the original broadcasting tower located in the
center of Tokyo. The tower’s main
observatory is a puny (sarcasm) 150 meters.
The special observatory is a bit higher (yet still much less impressive
than Tokyo Skytree) at 250 meters. I
visited Tokyo Tower on my first visit in 2013 and I visited the outside of the tower
on our trip last year and took some killer photos. The cost to enter Tokyo Tower is much more
budget friendly $17 for BOTH observatory levels.
Views from Tokyo Tower:
Parks and Gardens:
Some are free of charge to enter. My favorite, Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden
has a small cost to enter of ¥200 which
is about $2 USD. Well worth the
cost. The Japanese gardens are
breathtakingly beautiful. We were lucky
enough to go during Sakura (Cherry Blossom season). The trees were gigantic and literally
breathtaking. Even my husband who is
typically not a flower/garden guy couldn’t stop taking photos. We were on a little bit of a schedule so we
couldn’t spend as much time as he would have liked. I could barely get him out of there! It was that incredibly gorgeous. I’m looking forward to going back this Autumn
and seeing the fall foliage.
Parks or gardens: $2 per person or free
Other costs:
Other costs that you may consider are specialized
tours. There are tons of tours that
operate in and around Tokyo. The 2 best
places that I’ve found to book them are Veltra and Viator. Full day Tokyo tours are approximately $100
USD per person and most include lunch. I
did one of these on our first visit and it was fantastic. This year we are budgeting this amount for a
tour of Mt. Fuji. It is a full day tour that departs Tokyo and takes you to Mt.
Fuji and the area around Mt. Fuji.
We also opted to go see a Tokyo Giants baseball game. Our tickets cost $15 each (nose bleed section seats). We had a great time and I would recommend this experience!
Cost for baseball tickets $15 each
Last but not least…what kind of Disney cast member would I
be without delving into the costs associated with visiting Tokyo Disney
Resort?!
If you read my first trip report, you probably have a better idea of how much park entry, monorail costs (yep, you have to pay to use the monorail at TDR) as well as food. Here’s a current cost break down for Tokyo Disney:
Admission: The good
news is that the park entry is much less expensive than what we are used to
here at WDW (although, as a cast member I have free park admission here….we receive
NOTHING there at TDR in the way of discounts or cast perks). Here is a current cost breakdown for
admission:
¥6,900
|
|||
¥12,400
|
|||
¥16,600
| |||
¥20,800
|
|||
¥5,400
| |||
¥4,200
|
|||
- Note 1: Starlight Passports can be used for Park admission from 3 p.m. on Saturdays, Sundays and National Holidays only.
- Note 2: After 6 Passports can be used for Park admission from 6 p.m. on
Those familiar with US Disney tickets can see they are
called “passports” not park tickets. They do not offer the option to “hop” between
parks unless you buy a 3 or 4 day passport.
They do not offer longer than 4 day passports like they do here at
WDW.
Monorail or “Resort Cruiser” prices:
Ticket Type
|
Adult (Ages 12 & over)
|
Child (Ages 11 & under)
| |
Single Ticket
Ride up to one full loop (Ticket is valid only on the day of purchase and becomes invalid after exiting the station.) |
¥260
|
¥130
|
|
Day Passes
Unlimited use for a specified number of days |
1-Day Pass
|
¥650
|
¥330
|
2-Day Pass
|
¥800
|
¥400
|
|
3-Day Pass
|
¥1,100
|
¥550
|
|
4-Day Pass
|
¥1,400
|
¥700
|
|
Coupon Tickets
(11-ticket set)
Special ticket book with 11 single tickets for the price of 10 (Expires 3 months from purchase date) |
¥2,600
|
¥1,300
|
|
** If you are lucky enough to be a Disney resort guest your
monorail access is free of charge. You
receive your monorail passes when you check in.
This only applies to OFFICIAL DISNEY HOTELS not the partner hotels.
IN REVIEW:
So, to recap we’ve covered food budgets, hotel budgets,
flights, trains/transportation and sightseeing. The only other cost that you
need to budget for is souvenirs!
You really do need a budget here because there is so much Kawaii (cute) in Japan you can get into tons of trouble (well, it gets me into trouble). I just can’t stop shopping when I’m there. If you are bringing back gifts for family, friends or coworkers you may want to check out Daiso which is Japan’s equivalent of our dollar store – but, it’s actually way more superior. They have much higher quality goods than our dollar stores do. There are also “3 Coins” stores which are ¥300 yen shops. So, everything is $3 USD. I found this by accident on our LAST day of vacation last year…literally our last hour of vacation! They had gorgeous slippers, hair accessories – just very pretty items. I will make this one of my first shopping stops on my next trip.
You really do need a budget here because there is so much Kawaii (cute) in Japan you can get into tons of trouble (well, it gets me into trouble). I just can’t stop shopping when I’m there. If you are bringing back gifts for family, friends or coworkers you may want to check out Daiso which is Japan’s equivalent of our dollar store – but, it’s actually way more superior. They have much higher quality goods than our dollar stores do. There are also “3 Coins” stores which are ¥300 yen shops. So, everything is $3 USD. I found this by accident on our LAST day of vacation last year…literally our last hour of vacation! They had gorgeous slippers, hair accessories – just very pretty items. I will make this one of my first shopping stops on my next trip.
So, that pretty much covers the budget subject! I am hoping my next blog entry is much more
exciting!
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