Cheapest way to travel to Okinawa

Hi, my buddies and I are interested in traveling to Okinawa around the beginning of June 09. We should be in the Tokyo area and would like to know the cheapest way to fly there. My local travel agency (in the US) quoted a price of over 430 for the ticket per person. That's a bit out of my price range.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

- atl traveler

If you are in Japan on a tourist visa, you should use an air pass to get a round trip for around 24,000 yen.

If you are a resident of Japan, you should book the tickets as soon as they get on sale two months before travel date. Then, you can profit from the advance-purchase discounts, which can be great.

Among the airlines, which fly between Tokyo and Okinawa (JAL, ANA and Skymark), Skymark is particularly cheap:
http://www.skymark.co.jp/en/

If you book far in advance, you should be able to get a one way ticket for around 13,000 yen.

More details about discount air fares:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2364.html

Uji-san,

You mentioned an air pass in your reply. How does one get the air pass (please include any steps and where to go to initiate the process)? We're looking for a 1 way flight down to Okinawa. We plan to hop out from there at a later time.

Again, thanks again for your replies.

- Atl Traveler

You will need to book the fare in the US before you come to Japan at either ANA or JAL (in the US). From your name, I'm assuming you're from Atlanta. Visit this page to locate the ANA and JAL pages you need.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2364.html

You will need your tickets already purchased for Japan and be able to supply them (ANA or JAL) with your itinerary and your passport. The tickets can be purchased no earlier than two months before your departure date. You will have to book your first leg (there are no changes allowed once you book the first leg) at the time of purchase. Any remaining legs can be purchased anytime within 90 days of your first leg (I think, check the website, they'll tell you there).

Good luck and have fun. Be sure to take the ferry to Tokashiki and snorkel or dive at Aharen or Tokashiku beach.

You mentioned hop on the way back. If you are US military, take the weekly hop out of Yokota. They've changed the plane to a DC-10 and you should be able to get on that plane fairly easy. It's really cheap, too.

Unfortunately for us, we're not military. I will look into ANA's airpass tickets and hope this will resolve our trip to Okinawa.

Thanks again for everyone's suggestions.

- Atl Traveler