 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi
Looking at doing 2 weeks and trying to find out if it would be realistic to do Rusutsu, travel on to Nozawa Onsen and finish with 2 or 3 days in Tokyo? Also, what would be the best way to travel between these locations?
Thanks
Chris
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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It's doable, although on just a 2 week trip, you'd lose a fair bit of time travelling between Hokkaido and Nagano.
You'd need to fly up to Sapporo Chitose for Rusutsu, then a bus transfer. Then fly back down to Tokyo, (or potentially Matsumoto in Nagano - but far fewer flight options) then train or bus up to Nozawa.
Possibly better to chose either Rusutsu or Nozawa and then tag on a couple of extra nearby ski areas meaning you wouldn't have the travel hassle in the middle of your trip. Then a few days in Tokyo at the end before you fly out?
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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What about Rusutsu and Niseko or Rusutsu and Furano. Only about one hour to Niseko and it's a few hours Rusutsu to Furano.
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If you want to combine Honshu and Hokkaido skiing in one trip then Hakkoda near Aomori is well worth a visit, followed by train under the Seikan tunnel.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Thanks all,
sounds like it could involve a bit too much travelling. I really like the look of the authenticity, culture and atmosphere of Nozawa Onsen, is there anywhere on Hokkaido that would be comparable or even on Honshu that would be more convenient?
I suppose I could also consider 2 resorts on Honshu including Nozawa Onsen but feel if we're going, we should really experience Hokkaido's legendary powder.
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Sukayu Onsen is an ultra traditional onsen hotel just up the road from Hakkoda which I would recommend. There must be similar places on Hokkaido...I'm sure MikePow will be on here shortly to advise.
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Unfortunately there are no places like Nozawa Onsen or Seki Onsen on Hokkaido.
Places with a more traditional feel - Sounyko for Kurodake, Asahidake for example - don't have the extensive skiing, restaurants & bars that places like the Niseko Resort Area and Furano have.
Hokkaido is very recently settled in historical terms - mid 1800s - and the lack of architectural grandeur unfortunately reflects that. Functional not fantastic.
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Thanks Mike / HD
Is there anywhere that would be more accessible / convenient on Honshu on return from Hokkaido that would be worth considering?
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Can anyone offer advice re flights?
We're looking to fly into Sapporo Chitose from the UK and to return from Tokyo.
It's looking considerably cheaper to fly into Tokyo and get a flight up to Sapporo with JAL than any of the options coming up on Skyscanner.
Are there any specific routes to Sapporo that I should explore? the cheapest options on Skyscanner are with Aeroflot via a change in Moscow. Again, are there any alternatives I should look at that might not appear on Skyscanner?
Thanks
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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We flew with peach from Tokyo to Sapporo - like the Japanese easyjet and pretty cheap...
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As they say in Ireland (or so I'm led to believe), "If I was going there, I wouldn't start from here!"
It can be very much cheaper starting your booking somewhere other than UK, even if you're returning to the UK.
For example: Try starting your journey in Milan.
Last Feb we did Milan(LIN)=>LHR=>HND=>CTS / CTS=>HND=>LHR for £280 less than the same journey without the first Milan=>London leg.
Given U can get a cheap flight to Milan for£50 or so, it's a no brainer unless you're really strapped for time.
Alternatively, do the Birthday Bash as a warm-up the week before, effectively for half price 
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You know it makes sense.
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Great, thanks Admin, I'll certainly look at that route!
Dashed, thanks for the tip.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| admin wrote: |
As they say in Ireland (or so I'm led to believe), "If I was going there, I wouldn't start from here!"
It can be very much cheaper starting your booking somewhere other than UK, even if you're returning to the UK.
For example: Try starting your journey in Milan.
Last Feb we did Milan(LIN)=>LHR=>HND=>CTS / CTS=>HND=>LHR for £280 less than the same journey without the first Milan=>London leg.
Given U can get a cheap flight to Milan for£50 or so, it's a no brainer unless you're really strapped for time.
Alternatively, do the Birthday Bash as a warm-up the week before, effectively for half price |
I've seen this before on flights where I've been flying Stockholm-Heathrow-Boston on the exact same Heathrow-Boston flight as colleagues in the UK but for half the price. Just down to competition as there are other Stockholm-Somewhere-Boston options with other airlines.
Just so i understand, in this example you would fly first cheaply to Milian, and do say London-Milan-London-HND-CTS?
Was the return flight booked to LHR as you final destination, or was it a return to Milan and you just got off in Heathrow? It would be possible to do the latter if you only had hand luggage as you'd just leave instead of transferring, but I'd expect it to turn into a nightmare if you said you weren't going to get the onwards flight (obviously making up a good excuse) as they would need to find and unload your bags. Anyone ever done that?
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Poster: A snowHead
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Yes, we booked out from Milan, return to LHR.
The price is based upon where you start the booking so where you return to is irrelevant.
London-Milan needs to be a separate booking or else the price goes up because you'd have started in London, obviously. Be aware: if this flight is delayed, causing you to miss your outbound from Milan, that's your own problem just as it would be if you'd missed a flight because you'd slept in.
From there on though, once you're on the booked schedule, it's the airlines' responsibility to make sure you make your connections.
The best option Milan-Japan doesn't always go via London but in our case it did so we picked up Sharkymark at LHR on our way through. That's how we know he paid £280 more than us, just for not going to the Birthday Bash first, like he should have
As well as 'one-way' and 'return', Skyscanner has a 'multi-city' option that allows U to plan routes like this - very convenient!
(remember to click through from snowHeads when you make a booking as we get a wee kick-back at no cost to you.)
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I would have to say that the stress of wondering if my bags/skis have made it on a single connecting flight is bad enough (my bags or skis always seem to come out last), let alone 4 connecting flights on one trip 
I'd rather pay for a direct or single connection, knowing I could ski on day one. But I guess it depends on how fixed your travel schedule is.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Direct flights are my preference every time, it's just more efficient all round.
It can be cheaper to buy separate segments, but as noted you take the risk if you're delayed. Note also that if you fly international, your baggage allowance carries over to the domestic leg, which isn't true if you buy that segment separately.
The chance of hold baggage going astray increases with the connections, but it happens even with direct flights. Carry your boots in your hand baggage & know your rights.
My snowboards always come out last. The challenge is working out how long after the previous-last bag you wait before you go and ask what they did with your stuff... again, a relaxed approach helps. I've flown a great deal, business and otherwise, with boards, and only had them go astray maybe twice in... quite a lot of years.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I'm not sure there are any direct flights from London to sapporo, certainly all the ones I've been pricing up have connections, though admittedly I'm looking for cheap.
My plan is a trip for the 17/18 season with a cheap last minute Europe deal this year, however I did see a return flight from Shannon to Sapporo for €544.........
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Even looking at direct flights from the UK to Tokyo, I'm not finding there's currently much change from £700 one way in January. I was hoping to get return flights for around £500. We're not planning on going this winter but just trying to get an idea of all the costs. Am I checking too far in advance for better value flights?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I've got BA return direct to Tokyo from Heathrow in January for 650. Pretty good as they let you take two checked bags now so skis are no problem.
I'm in Hakkoda first week and then probably around Nagano for the next couple so doing it all on the bullet train. Hakkoda is great (third time) but very chilled. Ski, eat, onsen and sumo on tv and the hotel staff are cool. I always stay at the Hakkoda resort hotel but sukaya is good also. A bit less convenient but crazy old mixed onsen. Nozawa is also brilliant. Traditional and lots of skiing. Myoko and Tenjin are fun and reasonably nearby.
I don't think I would ever go to niseko again. Not very steep and full of pissed Aussies. Rusutsu is good but getting really busy but loads of smaller resorts in Hokkaido.
Have fun J
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I get a similar route as we did last year, Milan=>Sapporo=>London quoted on Skyscanner for £362.
Out 12/2/17 ret 25/2/17. However it has an extra change on the way back, in Frankfurt. To do it with a direct Tokyo=>London leg is £541, £120 more than last Feb.
True though, starting from London costs rather a lot more unless you want to spend a while in Peking and miss Tokyo all together.
Remember that Britain's value relevant to the rest of the world has dropped between 10 and 20% since the referendum so that'll account for ~£100 extra.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@rogg, I'm not sure there are any direct flights either. It seems that only flights from the Middle East onwards land directly at Chitose.
I flew BA in Feb this year and it was frustrating to fly directly over Hokkaido and Chitose airport. Then fly on south for 1.5 hours to land at Tokyo, passport control, collect my bags, transfer between terminals, checkin again, and go to the gate (all of which took another 1.5 hours). Then finally fly back for 1.5 hours, and land back where I had effectively been 4.5 hours earlier.
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No direct flights UK to Sapporo
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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March 2015 we flew Finnair, London - Helsinki - Nagoya - Sapporo this was ok albeit the transits were quite stressful due to time being tight, any delays and we would have been screwed! 2017 we are flying London - Hong Kong - Sapporo with Cathay Pacific only 1 2.5 hour transit and all in £530 return.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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| harri20000 wrote: |
| 2017 we are flying London - Hong Kong - Sapporo with Cathay Pacific only 1 2.5 hour transit and all in £530 return. |
Thanks for sharing, this sounds like a really good option. I've had a quick look at their website and can't see any prices that get anywhere near this though. How did you get this deal if you don't mind me asking?
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| kesone1 wrote: |
Rusutsu is good but getting really busy but loads of smaller resorts in Hokkaido.
Have fun J |
I've also been thinking about this statement. Any quieter recommendations that we should consider?
Thanks
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You know it makes sense.
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@ChrisP3, there are 2 airports (there are of course more - but not relevant) in Tokyo, and they are a bit fare away from each other - so choose your transfer carefully.
like others write Finnair has other hubs than Tokyo in Japan - that makes transfer easy. (Nagoya or Osaka), and you can book all the way, but have to change in Helsinki and "somewhere" in Japan if going to Sapporo.
Hokkaido is a "newer" part of Japan, that is why you do not find places like Nozawa, Seki or Zao with skiing. (a kind of Japan's wild west) http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Hokkaido#History
Aeoflot was interesting when I tried them 35 years ago. (but only to Tokyo). 
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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I'm booked with Lufthansa - Heathrow - Tokyo Haneda - Sapporo || 10 days later Sapporo - Tokyo Haneda || 7 days later Tokyo Haneda - Heathrow, this came to £748 inclduing the booking of specific seats for the long haul parts of the journey. Includes carriage of my snowboard bag on all flights. Might be pricey but I'd rather that than have to fly out of London only to fly back.
God I can't wait, 165 days to go...
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Poster: A snowHead
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| ChrisP3 wrote: |
| harri20000 wrote: |
| 2017 we are flying London - Hong Kong - Sapporo with Cathay Pacific only 1 2.5 hour transit and all in £530 return. |
Thanks for sharing, this sounds like a really good option. I've had a quick look at their website and can't see any prices that get anywhere near this though. How did you get this deal if you don't mind me asking? |
Sorry for the delay in response, i used this site www.hipmunk.com and basically just played around with the dates and times until i found something that worked.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Minion1980 wrote: |
I'm booked with Lufthansa - Heathrow - Tokyo Haneda - Sapporo || 10 days later Sapporo - Tokyo Haneda || 7 days later Tokyo Haneda - Heathrow, this came to £748 inclduing the booking of specific seats for the long haul parts of the journey. Includes carriage of my snowboard bag on all flights. Might be pricey but I'd rather that than have to fly out of London only to fly back.
God I can't wait, 165 days to go... |
I hope you mean : I'm booked with Lufthansa - Heathrow - Tokyo Haneda - Sapporo || 7 days later Sapporo - Tokyo Haneda || 10 days later Tokyo Haneda ?
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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After many hours searching for best routes, we found Lufthansa from Munich - Haneda - Sapporo the easiest and most cost effective with return via Frankfurt. The best bit, however, was because ANA are Star Alliance then we made our connection at Haneda. The airport was mobbed (it is the fifth busiest airport in The World - thank you Wiki) and we had to change terminal from International to Domestic with our bags as we had to clear customs before changing terminals. The queues were huge and it was a short connection time but because we had come in on Star Alliance we were allowed to jump to the front, otherwise we would have lost a day. To top it all the thre of us were upgraded to business class on the Munich/Haneda leg...happy days!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| mishmash wrote: |
I hope you mean : I'm booked with Lufthansa - Heathrow - Tokyo Haneda - Sapporo || 7 days later Sapporo - Tokyo Haneda || 10 days later Tokyo Haneda ? |
I'm doing 10 days in Niseko and then a week between Tokyo and Kyoto, trip of a lifetime!
| Goliard wrote: |
| After many hours searching for best routes, we found Lufthansa from Munich - Haneda - Sapporo the easiest and most cost effective with return via Frankfurt. The best bit, however, was because ANA are Star Alliance then we made our connection at Haneda. The airport was mobbed (it is the fifth busiest airport in The World - thank you Wiki) and we had to change terminal from International to Domestic with our bags as we had to clear customs before changing terminals. The queues were huge and it was a short connection time but because we had come in on Star Alliance we were allowed to jump to the front, otherwise we would have lost a day. To top it all the thre of us were upgraded to business class on the Munich/Haneda leg...happy days! |
Glad you were ok, out of interest was the flight from Haneda to Sapporo booked as part of the same 'trip' with Lufthansa? Mine is and I was wondering if this would qualify me to the same perks?
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Does anyone have any accommodation suggestions for Niseko for a single traveler ? I just had a few quotes through which were eye watering.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| AndAnotherThing.. wrote: |
| Does anyone have any accommodation suggestions for Niseko for a single traveler ? I just had a few quotes through which were eye watering. |
You might have missed the boat, I got in very early, booked in May, 10 days in a plush studio in Grand Hirafu cost me £1500, after brexit this raised to £1800 and this was an 'early bird' deal with a discount!! Glad I paid before. I think the exchange rate and prices are going to really screw you now unfortunately.
It seems accommodation goes very quickly for peak weeks.
Edit: Actually I just checked, I booked late March, 234,960 yen for 10 nights in the Akazora. Just checked for 7 nights in the same studio and same week 288,200 yen which is now £2123 ouch!
I take it you've tried this site - http://www.niseko.cc/niseko/accommodation/search.jsf
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@Minion1980, Cheers, just having a look. Is your booking B&B or HB?
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| AndAnotherThing.. wrote: |
| @Minion1980, Cheers, just having a look. Is your booking B&B or HB? |
Self catered! But I like it that way, gives me more options, also I've been planning and saving for this since last season so I am fully prepared to spend a lot of money, it's a once in a lifetime trip for me, doing Tokyo and Kyoto after Niseko. If it all prices up too much for you it might be better to think about 2018 and getting in early with an early bird discount like I got, I think it was 30%. Hopefully brexit won't screw the pound much more but it's not looking good. Not sure if Admin is thinking about bashes in Hokkaido but I know he was scoping it out last season.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@Minion1980, That's fair enough. Thanks for the link 
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| AndAnotherThing.. wrote: |
| Does anyone have any accommodation suggestions for Niseko for a single traveler ? I just had a few quotes through which were eye watering. |
Not really, but Niseko can be very different in price.
Try to have a look here: http://www.niseko-ta.jp/resort/?lang=en&s_id=3
or try other options on the same page.
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FAQ
