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Discount Air Ticket Agents in Japan.

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Buta’s Airline and Flying Page.

Buta the Commuter’s Tale.

Buta has always liked flying, which is just as well because he has become something of a commuter between Tokyo and Yorkshire, making the journey several times each year. Probably the best routing is KLM’s from Leeds-Bradford Airport, with a transfer at Amsterdam, but for the last couple of years Buta’s been flying with Swissair from Manchester through Zurich.

The whole trick of being a happy regular long distance commuter is to find ways to make things easy and keep the stress factor down. Of course flying in the comfort of business or first class is great, but it’s expensive, and since the Japanese economic bubble burst Buta finds himself more often than not flying in the economy cabin. Still there are ways to make a long ride in an economy seat more comfortable … please click here to find out more.

Flying without breaking the bank.

Buta once walked around a plane asking people what they paid for their tickets, and almost everyone had paid a different price. The moral is that it’s always worth shopping around. One of the best places to start is Airline Network’s internet site. For Swiss Air tickets there are sometimes bargains on the Swiss Air Homepage. For departures from Japan Number One Travel is generally one of the cheapest, and Ikon Travel have often been competitive, as well as giving excellent service.

Flying for fun.

Buta enjoys travelling by air, and is always excited when the big aeroplane is at the end of the runway, poised for take off, with the wheel-brakes holding it back against the thrust of the jets. Even more exciting, though, is the feeling each time that he’s waiting at the end of a runway in a tiny, noisy two or four seater, looking through the whirr of the propeller, about to gingerly edge the little machine into to sky. Being flown in a big, comfortable airliner is great, but has nothing on taking to the sky as a pilot.

A huge proportion of pilots now flying learned on that fun workhorse of the skies, the humble Cessna, so if you’re interested in flying yourself, a very good place to start is the Cessna homepage.

Comfort on the Cheap.

The most reasonable discount business class between the UK and Japan costs three to four times as much as do the cheapest economy seats, so the airlines just work on passenger volume when they think about economy class … they jam as many passengers as possible into the economy cabins. Business class passengers pay more for space, comfort and convenience. They can check in at less crowded counters, they get ten kilos more baggage allowance, and they can wait for take-off in a quiet and comfortable lounge. Once on board they get better food, free champagne and most important, bigger seats with a lot more legroom.

The mileage programmes operated by most airlines offer the more frequent flyer at least some of these benefits. Most airlines have different levels of membership, and as you accumulate more miles you are promoted to a higher level. The trick is to fly with the same airline as much as possible, and so get promoted. On a long-haul route like Europe-Japan it’s quite easy to accumulate miles and move up the system, even flying in economy class. With higher level membership some of the business class benefits come for free, even with economy tickets. These can include check-in at the business class counters, free ten or twenty kilos extra baggage allowance, and access to the business lounges. More comfort, less stress.

With a bit of planning and some luck, it’s also possible to get a seat with a good stretch legroom even in the economy cabin. Start by checking the seat plan of the plane. There is usually a seating plan in airline timetables, and sometimes on their websites. Many aircraft have seats beside doors which have a great deal of space in front of them. With some airlines it’s possible to request these seats in advance, and with others checking in as early as possible and requesting one of these seats will do wonders, especially if the airline is reminded that you are a frequent flyer. Generally speaking, older aircraft like the Boeing 747 Jumbo and the MD11 have more potentially comfortable seats than do the newer Airbus types, but seating configuration varies between airlines. The trick is definitely advance planning and research.

Buta does have to admit to a partiality to champagne, and when he’s in economy class usually carries a bottle of the bubbly brew with him …. not a bad way to make friends with fellow-travellers, either!

At busy times economy cabins can be over-booked, and some passengers have to be upgraded to business class for free. There’s nothing lost by asking the check-in person if the plane is over-booked, and then mentioning that you’d really appreciate being up-graded.

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