Japan on a shoestring budget- (Part 2)

Since most things work like clockwork in Japan, you would do well to plan your trip in advance for the duration of your stay if you want to make your trip affordable. In the last post, we talked about ways to save on some modes of transportation. In this one we offer cost cutting tips on a little bit of.. .well.. everything. Here goes-

Low cost airlines–  One way around prohibitively expensive rail passes when short on time is to opt for low cost airlines. There are plenty of operators to compare and choose from. To name but a few- Vanilla Air, Jet star Japan, Skymark Air and Peach airlines. Peach not only has regular sales that offer heavy discounts on already cheap fares, they even offer affordable connections to South Korea and other international destinations. Osaka is the hub for Peach. Consider basing yourself in Osaka and planning onward travel to and fro from this hyper connected city. Included in the price is free or subsidized travel to or from the airport.

The wonderful ubiquitous 7-Eleven– you need that morning cup of joe, 7-Elevens are your best bet for surprisingly good coffee starting at less than a buck per cup.  You are not going to get a trained barista to make your latte or espresso with a shot of hazelnut or whatever else you fancy but it is the go to for good quality drip coffee.  What is more, when you are spending less than a dollar on your morning cuppa, it translates to savings you can use for other aspects of travel in an otherwise expensive country. If you really crave and must get a regular cup, there is always Starbucks where you can splurge and for what it is worth make use of the free Wifi while there.

Eating –  Instead of paying for expensive breakfasts at hotels, eat at local markets. Alternately, you can use convenience stores such as Family Mart as your one stop shop for all your food needs. These not only stock very reasonably priced Japanese quick bites such as different kinds of onigiris ( stuffed rice balls), fresh fruit, different kinds of chicken,  salads, bacon and eggs, two minute noodles etc, they also provide customers with hot water and a microwave to heat your food. Additionally, they sell a wide variety of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. Individual beer cans surprisingly can be bought for as little as a dollar. Most also have seating areas where you can stop and linger over your meal. At train stations including shinkansen try the not so pricey bento boxes. Or you could eat at inexpensive restaurants or sushi bars if you are ok with opening your purse strings a bit more.

Big save– Speaking of eating and drinking, one pleasant surprise in Japan is that you don’t have to worry about slipping the extra bucks to your server or bartender. Americans especially are known to be big tippers but guess what in Japan, the price includes tax and gratuity. Having no need whatsoever to tip in Japan, budget travelers don’t have to fret endlessly over looking like stingy tippers or even having to worry about additional costs that you needn’t factor in.

Use hyperpedia-With so few in Japan able to communicate in English, you could be wasting a lot of time just figuring out train or aviation schedules and prices. While in Japan try using this service that allows you to figure out train timetables, fares and such in English. Go technology!

Accommodation– Use websites with great deals that are specific to Japan such as-http://travel.rakuten.com/. Do keep in mind that while prices are low, you might be charged by person and not by room. Compare with other hostel or hotel websites like agoda, hotwire and hotelscompare. Hotwire many times have some pretty sweet secret deals catering to all budgets.  With some clever research, it is usually not difficult to figure out which hotel you will be getting. Alternately, stay at cheaper traditional guesthouses or minshuku for more traditional style dorm like living for about 20-30 USD. You might also find that travelling in pairs or groups of three makes for cheaper travel. For instance, in Sapporo we found an excellent three star property at USD 54 for three people per day working out to as little as 18USD per person. That said, while for the most part hotels are of high quality throughout Japan, there are some pretty shady and extraordinarily filthy hotels. Do check reviews before you book.

Day passes– While day metro passes or bus passes seem like a great idea to cut on costs, it might not really be. In Tokyo, unless you are going to be using the subway a whole lot, you would do well to buy individual tickets instead of pricey passes. Conversely, buying an all –day inexpensive bus pass in Kyoto makes a lot of sense.

Feature image- A typical bento box. Image courtesy- HL Photo / Shutterstock.com.