Domestic Flights in Japan for Foreigners: Discount Fares to Know About

With there being over 20 domestic airlines in Japan, flying is one of the best ways to get around the country. That’s especially the case if you want to cover greater distances like Tokyo to Sapporo or if you need to travel between cities where bullet trains are not an option.

You can, of course, book regular tickets that you find through the likes of Google Flights. In fact, in many cases, that will be your best option. That said, you should at least know about discount fares for foreigners that some Japanese domestic airlines (namely JAL, ANA, and Air Do) offer.

Are Japanese Domestic Fares for Foreigners a Good Deal?

With both JAL and ANA offering deeply discounted flights when booking well in advance and low-cost airlines offering cheap flights even at the last minute, the usefulness of discounted Japanese domestic fares for foreigners has considerably decreased in the past few years.

That said, there are still three cases where I think it makes sense to consider these fares:

• Wanting to standby for an earlier flight: ANA Discover JAPAN tickets offer you the option to standby for an earlier flight free of charge. This can be useful if you are not sure which flight you will want to take (you can book a flight later in the day but go to the airport earlier and take an earlier flight if there is space).
• Traveling with two heavy bags: JAL Japan Explorer Pass and ANA Discover JAPAN tickets come with two free checked bags (up to 23 kg each) as opposed to the airlines’ regular domestic tickets which only include 20 kg of checked baggage total.
• Traveling to/from Hokkaido: Air Do’s Welcome to HOKKAIDO fare still offers fixed pricing (albeit segmented by seasons). Combined with great availability, the fare can be a great option for travel between Tokyo (or other cities) and Hokkaido. That’s especially the case if booking last minute when ANA and JAL tend to be expensive and taking a low-cost flight would mean having to get to/from the less convenient Narita Airport if traveling from/to Tokyo.

JAL Japan Explorer Pass

JAL is one of the two largest airlines in Japan that, together with its subsidiaries and affiliates, operates a dense network of domestic flights not only out of Tokyo and other major cities but also between regional airports.

Japan Explorer Pass fare is available on a good portion of JAL’s network, covering over 30 cities in the country. In addition to mainline JAL, Japan TransOcean Air and J-Air flights can also be booked using the fare. On the other hand, Amakusa Airlines, Fuji Dream Airlines, Japan Air Commuter, Jetstar Japan, and Ryukyu Air Commuter flights are not eligible.

One-way economy class tickets booked using this fare start at (i.e. the pricing is dynamic with higher prices on days/times with higher demand):

• 5,500 yen (approx. 40 dollars) for flights within Hokkaido and flights to/from Tohoku
• 7,700 yen (approx. 55 dollars) for flights between Tokyo and Osaka/Nanki-Shirahama and flights within Okinawa
• 11,000 yen (approx. 75 dollars) for all other eligible routes

Lap infants (i.e. those under the age of 2 without their own seat) travel for free. There is no child fare – everyone aged 2 and above pays the same fare. Those traveling on flights to/from Tokyo, Osaka, Sapporo, Nagoya, Sendai, Fukuoka, Naha, and Kitakyushu also need to pay passenger facility charges. Those are a few dollars per departure/arrival at the applicable airports.

While the Japan Explorer Pass is only available for economy class flights, you can pay to upgrade to Class J or first class on the day of your departure if there is space.

You are eligible to book the fare if you meet both of the conditions below:

• Reside outside Japan (you can be Japanese if you have residency outside the country)
• Have an international ticket to and from Japan (either with Japan being your final destination or a stopover point)

When booking the flight (you can do so online here), you will be asked to enter your passport and international ticket information. Japan Explorer Pass tickets can be booked up to 24 hours before departure and need to be paid at the time of booking. They cannot be changed or refunded.

The Japan Explorer Pass fare includes two pieces of checked baggage (up to 23 kg each). This is significantly more than the 20 kg total offered by regular JAL domestic economy class tickets.

Japan Explorer Pass tickets are booked into the following fare classes: N, Q, O, P, T, G, L, W, R, E, V, S, H, K, and M. As such, depending on the fare class your ticket books into, you might be eligible to earn miles into oneworld member airlines’ frequent flyer programs.

ANA Discover JAPAN Fares

Together with JAL, ANA is one of the two main airlines operating domestic flights around Japan.  Its Discover JAPAN fares are, in many ways, similar to their JAL counterpart. One major difference, however, is anyone (i.e. even those residing in Japan) can book these fares as long as they use a non-Japanese sales channel (e.g. ANA’s US website).

ANA Discover JAPAN tickets are priced dynamically and start at 7,364 yen (approx. 50 dollars) for the shortest flights on the least busy dates. Below are some other major routes and their lowest ANA Discover JAPAN fare prices:

• Tokyo – Osaka: 9,819 yen (approx. 68 dollars)
• Tokyo – Sapporo: 13,819 yen (approx. 95 dollars)
• Tokyo – Naha: 14,637 yen (approx. 100 dollars)
• Osaka – Sapporo: 14,364 yen (approx. 100 dollars)
• Osaka – Naha: 14,364 yen (approx. 100 dollars)

Similar to JAL, there is no child fare. That said, lap infants up to 3 years old (compared to JAL’s 2 years old) can travel for free. Passenger Facility Charges need to be paid separately for flights departing/arriving at select airports.

Only economy class tickets can be booked, but ANA Discover JAPAN passengers can pay to upgrade to Premium Class on the day of departure if there is availability.

While Discover JAPAN tickets are refundable, doing so incurs significant cancellation charges. Advance ticket changes are not possible. That said, unlike with JAL, those traveling on ANA’s Discover JAPAN tickets can stand by at the airport and try to catch an earlier flight free of charge.

Like JAL’s Japan Explorer Pass, ANA’s Discover JAPAN tickets include two pieces of checked baggage (up to 23 kg each), which is significantly more than the 20 kg total offered by regular ANA domestic tickets.

Discover JAPAN tickets book into the following fare classes: K, S, V, Q, and B. As such, depending on which fare class your flight books into and which Star Alliance member airline frequent flyer program you use, you might be eligible to earn miles.

Air Do Welcome to HOKKAIDO Fare

The third and last airline that currently offers discounted domestic flights around Japan for foreigners is Air Do. Air Do is a small airline affiliated with ANA that exclusively operates flights connecting destinations on the island of Hokkaido (Sapporo, Hakodate, Asahikawa, Obihiro, Kushiro, and Memanbetsu) with the rest of Japan, primarily Tokyo.

Passengers meeting the following two conditions can book Welcome to HOKKAIDO fares:

• Residing outside Japan (the requirement to show a non-Japanese passport is mentioned)
• Traveling on an international flight to and from Japan

Air Do’s Welcome to HOKKAIDO fare is available on all of the airline’s routes. There are two advantages when it comes to the way Welcome to HOKKAIDO tickets are priced:

• While the price depends on the season, all flights with Welcome to HOKKAIDO seats available during that season are priced the same (i.e. there is no dynamic pricing based on demand)
• The prices do not depend on the route (i.e. during a given season, all flights eligible to be booked using the Welcome to HOKKAIDO fare cost the same)

One-way Welcome to HOKKAIDO fares for the next few months are as follows:

• 10,000 yen (approx. 70 dollars): January 9 – February 22, 2024; February 26 – 29, 2024
• 12,000 yen (approx. 82 dollars): December 15 – 22, 2023; January 5 – 8, 2024; February 23 – 25, 2024; March 1 – 14, 2024
• 15,000 yen (approx. 105 dollars): December 23, 2023 – January 4, 2024; March 15 – 30, 2024

As with ANA, there is no child Welcome to HOKKAIDO fare (i.e. the same fare as for adults applies) but lap infants under 3 years old travel for free. Passenger Facility Charges on top of the fare need to be paid on applicable routes.

Air Do’s Welcome to HOKKAIDO tickets can be booked online on the airline’s website up to the day before departure. They can be canceled (albeit for a fee) but cannot be changed. Same-day standby for an earlier flight is not permitted either.

Unlike with JAL and ANA, Welcome to HOKKAIDO fares come with Air Do’s standard checked baggage allowance – 20 kg total.

Solaseed Air ENJOY JAPAN Fare (Discontinued)

In the past, Solaseed Air – an airline mainly connecting Kyushu and Okinawa with the rest of Japan – offered foreigner-only ENJOY JAPAN tickets across its network. The fare, however, has been suspended back in 2021 due to Japan’s COVID-19-related foreign visitor entry restrictions.

To this day, the fare has not been reinstated. It is not clear when (or if) the ENJOY JAPAN fare will be offered by Solaseed Air again.

Summary

With Solaseed Air having discontinued (at least for the time being) their ENJOY JAPAN fare, there are three airlines offering (at least in theory) discounted domestic flights to foreigners: JAL, ANA, and Air Do.

While the former two price their Japan Explorer Pass and Discover JAPAN tickets dynamically, Air Do has fixed prices which only vary depending on the season rather than a specific day or flight. This makes Air Do’s Welcome to HOKKAIDO fare the most attractive of the three, especially if you need to travel last minute to/from Hokkaido.

The JAL and ANA foreigner-only fares are no longer that useful. That said, you might still want to at least consider them if traveling with a lot of luggage or, in the case of the latter, if you want to have the option of standing by for an earlier flight.