I have taken ZIPAIR twice since 2022 from Singapore to Narita, and was happy with their service everytime. I will be taking ZIPAIR to Narita again this end march to see the cherry blossoms. This is how much i love ZIPAIR🤗

I flew on ZipAir March 2023 from San Jose to Narita. Flight was great, aircraft was clean, flight attendants were all attentive and looked like they were happy to be there. Very professional. Food was great. Way better than what I’ve had on main line carriers. You just have to be aware that when you buy a ticket, there are no refunds and changes. You need to be sure you are really going on the date of departure or make sure to buy travel insurance. I’d fly ZipAir again in a heartbeat. Saved a lot of money.

It's a mixed bag with LCC. If you need a connecting flight separate from the LCC and you want to add meals and check bags, most if not all of your savings is gone. For example, if you depart from City A to Narita and back, you might already have ANA or JAL or other carrier fly directly. But on ZipAir, you must connect to one of the other cities with service to Narita on a separate ticket. You then realize you have to either get up super early or not be able to use transit to get to the airport because it is too early, or you have to spend a night near the airport the day before. If you have to take time off work, the extra travel time is costing you extra leave which is also worth something. All of these are extra costs in possibly both directions. The longer the trip takes, the higher the incidental costs such as travel to the to the airport, lodging, and meals. Since the connecting flight is completely separate, you now have to take the luggage with you and do a separate check-in. I suppose maybe you can use curb side baggage drop off and tip the caddy in the process at least in one direction. ZipAir's full flat seat on Trans-Pacific flights might not make as much sense going Westward to Japan because of the day time departure time following the sun and making it tough sleep anyway. Even in situation where you have to use connecting flights for both LCC and full service carrier, the later can usually be bought as single ticket where if there's flight delay that causes you to miss the flight, they will take care of you to arrange for alternative, sometimes even at a competitor's airline. If you miss a connection because an LCC is late, I hope you have good terms with your trip interruption insurance. When there's no issues, the full-service carrier has easier baggage transfer thus you can make a tighter connection. On the plus side, say you had enough miles to fly in one direction for free but not for a round trip ticket. The full-service carriers will charge a ton for a one-way ticket that you couldn't buy with miles. That's where LCC/MCC will help because they don't usually charge a premium for a one-way ticket. Other use case might be multi-city trips where you aren't making a strict point A to point B and back to point A trip. For Domestic Japanese flight, Skymark is rather good for MCC option. They give you one checked luggage. It'll cost more than an LCC like Peach but less than JAL or ANA in most cases. If the flight hours works well, then that might save you some money. Aside from longer boarding bridge and slightly less convenient check in counter, and reduced frequency of flights and destination, there's not much difference. It's not like Peach where you may have to go to a separate terminal by bus and take another bus to the plane. All that starts to add up in terms of time.

Just missed the stream. We’re leaving for Japan in a few hours! So excited!! If we’re lucky we will run into you somewhere in Tokyo.

I just used ZipAir for my first trip to Japan and got a round trip ticket for $623! Really good flight experience too

I flew from LAX to Narita in October on Zipair and I can't rave enough about it, also their meal (tumeric rice & beef was good) + extra baggage extra cost is worth.... Flew back via Delta and it was horrible we were late and pilots took a horrible path back....🤬. I'd fly Zipair round trip in a heartbeat.

I flew ZipAir on my last flight. non stop direct for $600. INSANE. Ofc I can fly to japan and feel like im getting a great deal. I just had to fly to LAX first domestically in the US. ended up being $700 because I bought some upgrades that I really enjoyed on my flight. Before that I took EVAAIR which was over $1000. Great carrier but it def wasnt $400-$500 better. I think even the business class in ZipAir is cheaper (at around $900) so yea im def giving ZipAir my business and I trust the safety. it IS essentially JAL, just cheaper. youre getting the same HIGH LEVEL of service. Its great. I Definitely recommend it

My wife and I flew on ZIP 3x last year. We brought our own food each time. We used points to fly to Honolulu on other airlines first for a few days and then fly to NRT on Zip at incredible low prices.

just came back from my japan trip using zipair from singapore to tokyo... its great. decently priced tickets for non-fussy travellers. no on board entertainment and all that. its basically a pay-for-your seat prices.. check in luggages, seat and food selections are your add ons.. would definitely recommend for those on a budget. i've used them twice them last year to tokyo and again, just 2 weeks back.

I flew ZIPAIR from Singapore to Tokyo last year and they offer great value for money, my round trip ticket was USD$450 all in. I only had carry-on baggage, so that saved me a fair bit in checked baggage fees. The seats they use are the same as many full-service carriers, so the comfort level is comparable and they offer free Wifi, which I had never seen before. It worked well; I could surf the web and watch KZfaq and that's a big plus for them. The only thing that's a shame is that their full-flat seat is so much more compared to their standard seat and literally, the only thing you get on top of standard is the lie-flat seats. Also, I took advantage of a package whereby I got extra carry-on allowance and seat selection included, which was perfect for solo travellers on short trips, now they sadly don't offer it anymore. Still a good option I would recommend to budget-concious travellers if the price is good.

That ZipAir price looks good, but with LCC's there's always a bait and switch element. If you want an in-flight meal, checked-in baggage, and to select seats in advance, it costs a minimum of 11000 JPY / 85 USD each way. Keep that in mind. Carry-on baggage is 7 kg maximum, you're charged if it's heavier. I would take the ANA flights for sure. Dont be deceived by Scoots prices. They will double once you want checked in luggage (or anything else). Scoot charge you just for showing up in clothes 🤭🤭

Air Japan has been around since the 90s, they have been an affiliate of ANA for awhile. We used to get Air Japan ANA planes flying regionally in Asia from places like Hong Kong or Manila on their 787s and previously on their 767s, fully decked out in ANA livery however on or next to the plane door you'd see a Air Japan logo. Also flying Zip Air on their Narita to Vancouver route in August! Can't wait :)

I just took Zipair last week. Not a bad low cost airline, really!

Zipair is great for a budget airlines in terms of quality and service, but would likely still choose Cebu Pacific for their low-low prices. If I go budget, will prioritize budget saving.

Looking forward to them opening flights to Malaysia, especially Kota Kinabalu. We have quite a number of Koreans and Japanese that visit Kota Kinabalu for golf. Will definitely keep an eye out for these flights!

John, sorry to disappoint you, but, Emirates airlines became quite expensive, especially with flights coming from Europe, I did some research for flights to go to Japan in January and Emirates airlines had the cheapest price at 1300/1400 Euros in economy class from Europe to Japan with connection flight in Dubai... Yep, I made a reservation for an ANA flight from France with connection flight in Frankfurt but a snow storm cancelled the ANA flight (and also cancelled my rescheduled Lufthansa flight that forced me to choose another connection airport because Frankfurt airport is at this moment a mess in terms of management...), next time I go to Japan, I will go by direct flight in ANA!!!

Flew Zipair in Dec 2023, great airliner for the price! Free in flight WiFi with speeds fast enough to stream, clean planes, friendly staff. Waiting for their flights to open up for Dec 2024 so I can book them again for my trip flying out of LAX. Already got the hotel.

This is great news! For now I can go to Singapore from Malaysia to take the Zip AirLines but hopefully they will have service to KLIA too.

Unfamiliar airlines to me , i’ve never heard of neither🤔So this is quite informative stream 😎Thank you for sharing 🙂👍!!!

Looking forward to our last flat seat on Zipair. Limited lay flat seats so best to book about 3 months in advance.

Flew ZIPAIR full flat May 2023, for the price, it was pretty great.

This is great information! Doing my research for 2025. So far, where I’m at (Chicago) I’d pay more to get to the west coast to catch a ZipAir flight. But still keeping an eye on this airline.

Zipair and Air Japan are a lifesaver for visiting Japan. The cost of flying full service airlines to Japan costs way more than travelling to places further away if you're not within short haul range to Japan.

we have ZIP air since 2023 here in Philippines MNL to NRT best prices

This is great news! I am right now in Japan. I paid 1600 usd round trip from Bogotá. It’s a super long trip so I think it was not a bad deal ☺️

Gonna try Zipair from LAX to NRT next week. Super cheap. Normally though I prefer to fly ANA/Jal. I have enough points/miles to try for a JFK/ORD to HND on ANA business. So either maybe later this year or even NYE to grab the availability.

Flights out of my city with a stop in LAX to NRT was averaging $7,800 for a 14 hour duration for 2 adults and one child. Decided to go with ZipAir LAX-NRT for $3,800 and an 8 hour drive to LAX with $55 worth of gas. Prices are pretty high, thankfully ZipAir is an option. It could of been cheaper if I did not go with the premium options and food selection. Also they have a pretty good menu to choose from, having a Una Don meal 😊

Awesome show John! Ty! It’s funny, but we’d pay the higher fee to get at the safety standards, quality of service, etc of the Japanese flight vs some of the other brands. It would be way worth the experience for us and the kids 😊..like a full immersion experience from the air right to landing in Tokyo!

9:49 Usually those are just the base prices. If you've got a suitcase and even a backpack sometimes budget airlines will charge you heavily for everything additional. Plus, usually, I've found that budget airlines fly weird hours. 5pm here by ZIPAIR seems normal, but then you arrive at 11pm and still have at least a couple of hours more in the middle of the night until you pass through security, get transport, and reach your hotel. And 8-15am for Scoot is ok I suppose, although you still have to wake up by at least 5am (and probably earlier) to get ready to leave for the airport.

This is good news. Hopefully I will be able to get to Japan again later this year.

Zip air going to YVR in March

Hello, Thank you for your post. Air Japan was a subsidiary group of ANA for many years, so they wanted to use the group company as a start up of a 3rd carrier but as a Hybrid Carrier (Half Full service / Half Low Cost) as they already have Low Cost carrier Peach. Also they use of Air Japan brand as to target inbound passengers where to Japan is high from mainly Asia regions, where ZIP Air has a completely different target/strategy compared to Air Japan. ZIP Air also fly to Manila which you missed out on the map for your information.😊

We flew Peach airline from Haneda (HND) to Naha (OKA) and the price was good but my wife did not like it. We had to walk a long way dragging our luggage to a hangar. They had a limit on carryon weight. My guess was that we were one of their first customers and they had not yet set everything up yet. On a short flight, I don’t care much, price is the bottom line. For people coming to the USA don’t get stuck on all the tourist traps. San Francisco has gone downhill, Yosemite is crowded, and amusement parks have become expensive even for locals.

My in laws want to visit japan next time with us, while we usually fly Jal and ANA, we will keep an eye out for Zipair which can be as low as 450 USD from LAX. And the reviews have all been positive.

Flew Zipair from LAX in July and it wasn't much different from the previous United/JAL flight I took.

This is good for those living in Asia or Los Angeles, but you live elsewhere in the states, not so good of a deal.

Actually, I've been looking, and NGO Nagoya is almost Half the price of a Tokyo airport (from Auckland). It was too late for me. When I realised the difference since I'd already paid for my flights. But I hope it helps someone else. AKL to NGO 711 NZD (65,181 JPY) on Singapore Airlines

yes they need to expand it.....when we came we tried to go through zip air but it's only good if you live in LA....they need to come to the other big air ports dallas, harts ford, jfk, etc...

Our family is heading there next week from San jose! Thanks tp zipair, our flights were $450RT, less than half of the other airlines!

I just checked IF you don't mind using Chinese airlines and a long stop in China then you can fly from London to Japan for 95 521Yen or 507£ The Cheapest flight that is not Chinese was KLM for 750£ or 141 306Yen. This was in May by the way, its costs more in July.

We're saving $650 per person (including hotel in LA) by flying Zip Air - its our first time flying with them and the reviews look pretty good.

Air Japan has been in existence for many many years… it was on ANA’s 767 airplane with a very tiny font. ANA has decided to make it its low cost carrier now to compete with many other low cost carriers.

ZipAir was not really a great deal for this spring. With luggage and choosing seats, it was over $1000 round-trip. I ended up booking Air China. While it is a horrible airline, the savings were very significant. Plus, it includes meals, choosing my seats, TV, and two luggage check-ins. Plus, a free hotel stay in Beijing. So I'm pretty content.

I fly out of SF and flights are sometimes 2x price of LAX especially JAL. I'm 6'3" and sitting in a cramped seat for 11+ hours is torture. I'd rather pay a couple hundred extra and get a nice comfortable seat...(JAL won an award for best economy seat design)

I bought plane tickets to Japan last year for 540 with American airlines. I departed from LAX to to Henada for October 2023. I had to buy the tickets in January 2023

ANA was 13hours from LAX 3 weeks ago. Brutal . Only 9 returning because of jet stream.

Hey. If you flew to the US in December , it is peak season between about December 15 to January 5 depending on the origin of the flight and destination.

Honestly, it’s about the same from other Airlines. If you live in the East Coast and have to make transfers/connecting flights, it’s best to use the same airline.

i just got back via zipair. $750 RT narita to SFO, yay, but i hated the food last summer so i skipped this time :) Can't carry a carryon without paying extra luggage fees you guys

Would love them to fly to Australia. Hello from Downunder 🦘🦘🦘🦘🦘

Doesn't help us in Europe 😭 Flying to Seoul is like 30%+ cheaper from here

For the red eye, it may be worth to compare the higher class zipair vs the premium class in jal.

I think flights to and from Europe are more expensive than it used to be because airlines can’t fly in Russian airspace with is pushing up the price.

Making my first trip to Japan in 3 weeks. Decided on Zipair out of LAX and satisfied with the pricing. My best decision may be paying the extra $73 for front row and getting that extra legroom.

Cool!✌️

ZIPAIR was the reason why I even made it to Japan from the US back in Dec 2023 to Jan 2024. Otherwise, I would've spent more time finding ways to save more money to afford the large carriers.

Cebu Pacific Air is the best. Round trip Manila - Tokyo can go as low as 60$usd

Mmm wonder if Zip Air and Air Japan will start service to London ...

Hello John I’m from Colorado USA 🇺🇸 it would take me 14 to 18 hours to get to Japan 🇯🇵 I guess it depends what carrier I would take. I’m not sure otherwise how that works and the easiest way to come visit Japan for the first time as a tourist.

ANA and United are part of the Star Alliance so if you decide to roll the dice to see if you get a decent United Flight you can save a few dollarydoos and still get miles.

ZipAir doesn't fly to Seattle yet. I heard Air Japan debut to BKK on B787-8 Dreamliner. So, I haven't try it out on Zipair

I'm going to Tokyo from LAX on Zip on 3/8 and hopefully it is a good experience

hopefully they can start making their way to New York City!

I have been seeing ana and United flights lax to nrt for $800. when zipair is close to $950 with lugguage. so ill take united to ana

John! I think you should ONLY let Patreon people use the phone number. It will incentivize more people to join your Patreon. It's a nice perk you can advertise.

Leaving on a jet plane,dont know when I will be back again.Lost in Translation ❤ Whisper ⛩️

No issues with Zipair when i flew

Ooooh fly into lax or SFO and then take a cheap flight to Japan .

Never heard of starlines. Does it come to USA? And what’s the difference between star lines and Japan airlines?

Hi, Any recommendations on an app to get a taxi from Narita to Tokyo? Or is it the same price if I just look for one once I arrive at NRT? Thank you!

Its crazy to me that these airlines dont have a single route to/from europe.

I no longer think ZipAir is worth it. A trip from San Francisco to Narita with the ability to have check in luggage and advanced seat selection would cost me 943 dollars. I looked at JAL for a nonstop trip and it was 961 dollars. And that's with the added plus of a screen to watch movies.

They should do CGK and MNL next

ZipAir goes to Manila too

Japanese I think don't realize how well they have it. The inflation in North America and Europe is bad. Inversely the deflation in China is bad and is sign of crashing economy. Transportation costs in Japan for American are affordable and nice.

this is totally unrelated but I just read this very interesting news article about a British guy who managed to fly to New York from London Heathrow without a boarding pass and a passport !!!....WTF !!!

Eu prices high ? Try dubai....

Im so sad Zipair doesn’t fly to Seattle

Is Zip the one who gives you free WIFI instead of food? It mskes so much sense cos tbey save weight and your cell phone is your entertainment center.....

going to be a ton of asian tourists incoming

The issue though is that they use Boeing aircrafts, so, hard pass for me. 😅

I'm from Canada and while I appreciate the political commentary, it's easy to over simplify from the outside looking in. Yes, inflation is bad here. It's bad in a lot of places in the world right now. No, our current PM is not the best (no political party is going to be perfect), but to insinuate the current government is the main cause of a global issue is absurd. Anyways, one day I do hope to visit Japan.

Oh no to Malaysia KL

US carriers are trash, it’s an embarrassment. JAL and ANA are excellent, almost the same with service and comfort. Singapore Airlines is the most overrated airline in the world.