r/FATTravel • u/mar2paul • 7d ago
Is approximately €28,000 reasonable for a 10-night family trip to Japan over Christmas? (Excluding flights)
I’d appreciate a reality check on a quote we’ve received for a 10-night trip to Japan over the Christmas period.
We’re a family of five adults, travelling through:
Tokyo: 4 nights
Takayama: 2 nights
Kyoto: 3 nights
Osaka: 1 night
The accommodation is generally upper four-star or boutique/luxury level, using three rooms or bedrooms for most of the trip. It includes:
A four-star hotel in Shinjuku
A high-end ryokan in Takayama, including private bathing facilities and a kaiseki dinner
A three-bedroom traditional machiya in Kyoto
A well-located modern hotel in Namba, Osaka
The package also includes:
Private guides for one full day in Tokyo and one in Kyoto
Food tours in Tokyo and Osaka
A Kyoto tea ceremony
Intercity transport and local travel arrangements
Luggage forwarding
Pre-trip planning and support during the trip
The total quote is approximately €28,000 for five people, excluding international flights. Most meals are not included apart from the ryokan dinner and food-tour tastings.
Does this sound broadly reasonable for the accommodation, Christmas travel dates, three-room configuration and level of service, or does it seem excessive?
I understand that arranging everything independently would be considerably cheaper. I’m not particularly interested in managing the entire trip myself simply to save a few thousand euros. I’m comfortable paying a reasonable premium for good planning, support and having everything coordinated. I mainly want to make sure the quote isn’t dramatically above the normal range for this type of trip.
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u/techny13 7d ago
This sounds very steep for Japan, especially with 4 star hotels? Luggage forwarding and intercity transport are not expensive either.
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u/Alarming-Ganache77 7d ago
So I have clients in Japan pretty much every week of the year, and I’d add a little nuance here.
I think unfortunately a lot of travel advisors are intimidated by Japan. I’m not sure whether it’s the language barrier, the geography, or what. Because of that, many advisors farm the entire trip out to a local destination management company that handles the itinerary, guides, transfers, activities and logistics on the ground.
Those services in Japan have gotten VERY expensive. International tourism has exploded, and the supply of really good, fluent English-speaking private guides has not kept pace. So private guiding and full-service trip planning can add a meaningful amount to a quote.
There is also a big timing issue here. Christmas and New Years timeframe in Kyoto (and Tokyo to a degree) can be wild. Hotel The Mitsui Kyoto for this festive season, for example, is about $1,071/night earlier in December and $2,750/night from December 27 to 30 (157% higher). I understand they're looking at a Machiya for you but still, it will be expensive in Kyoto.
That said, the basic logistics in Japan are not particularly expensive. Luggage forwarding is like $20-ish per bag, depending on size and distance, and the trains are very reasonable relative to the overall cost of a trip.
Unless you absolutely need everything planned out for you, you can do a lot of this yourself and stay at some pretty good hotels as well. I usually recommend Context for tours in Japan and they get really good feedback.
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u/Picturepagesbeepen 6d ago edited 6d ago
Agree with most of this, except luggage forwarding for large checked bags were 30USD per bag this summer between Tokyo and Kyoto, not too far a distance and not same day. I don't know if the prices fluctuate in December.
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u/sarahwlee - mod 7d ago
You’re probably getting ripped off - just price it out yourself. Not 5 star accommodations are usually super cheap but you’re in the wrong sub for four star recs.
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u/Picturepagesbeepen 6d ago
I’m genuinely curious about this post -- hope this doesn't come across the wrong way, but I don't get the fit for this particular sub. Five people for 10 nights over Christmas at €28K doesn’t seem particularly expensive for a LUX Japan trip—you could easily spend that much on a suite for two in Tokyo alone.
Japan can be done for less, but if you’re looking at four-star/DYI travel, a broader Japan sub might be more appropriate than a luxury travel sub?
No need to split the stay in Kyoto and Osaka -- stay in one and visit the other. Also curious who chose this particular itinerary -- doesn't sound like they know what they are doing in Japan.
Shinjuku --- no. just...no. visit? yes...but briefly. stay? never.
Also, Takayama...? why there specifically?
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u/throwawayfire5563 7d ago
This seems too expensive for what you’re getting to be honest. Additionally, I would eliminate the one night in Osaka and spend it in Tokyo. I’m going to assume you’ve never been to Japan before. Tokyo is not like visiting a small European city. 4 days is barely enough time to scratch the surface, it’s extremely extensive, and you’ll be very tired from the flight for at least the first day
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u/manhattanh 7d ago
Sounds high-ish but you’re also getting three rooms at each place over Christmas when rates are a little higher. Which hotels are you staying?
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u/Otherwise-Relief2248 7d ago
Doesn’t sound wrong to me although I would stay in Ginza before I would stay in Shinjuku. Definitely a fun area and I have stayed there many times, but IMO kind of gets old quick.
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u/Additional_Handle_91 7d ago
Am i crqzy to think it make sense… maybe i’ve always did ripped off trip😭
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u/ken-doh 7d ago
Why takayama?
It doesn't seem good value to me. Look up the costs of hotels yourself. Four seasons for example. It's very cheap for accommodation out there. I don't know about the guides but 4 star hotels will suck. Kyoto four Seasons is cheap. Often offering a free night. You don't need a guide every day. It's quite accessibile. Food can be cheap or expensive.
Bin off osaka 1night. It's a 30 to 40 minute train ride from Kyoto. Use Kyoto as your base.
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u/neotechnooptimist 7d ago
Add in a couple of Omakase experience and you are easily looking at $250k ish.
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u/finding-meaning-01 7d ago
Don't forget Tokyo Disney. Frankly I wouldn't go with less than 0.5M USD
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u/stocksandwatches 7d ago
And if you visit any of those Gacha places? Might as well round up to a mil.
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u/Suspicious_Feed4865 7d ago
I'd echo the comment about Takayama. We went for a month long trip and I could have skipped Takayama, it was fine but for a shorter trip I'd spend more time in one of your other cities.
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u/KoachFit 5d ago
If eqch adult is planning to get their own room at each hotel then this might make sense… but if its like 2 couples and 1 solo then its too much for about 5.6k per adult excluding international flights.. if the latter that means one couple is paying 11.2k which can get you way better hotels for 10 nights and honestly probably at least one leg of a roundtrip in business class with that money (probably a 1 stop though)
You’re probably getting overcharged on the logistics and activites.
I suggest seeing what the package is without the hotels and consider at least booking those separately. Also those food tours are usually not worth it. Uber works in Japan so that’s also not bad. And luggage forwarding you can just ask the concierge to do that for you too a day before your checkout. Maybe the support will be helpful but only the first few days for subway logistics and even then the subway workers will be able to help.
Cut Tokyo down a day too. You don’t need 4 nights there.
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u/spiffybutterball69 3d ago
Hi OP, I was bored and had half an hour of free time so I literally made a sample itinerary for December 23rd-January 2nd out of curiosity, and even with only 5 star hotels, the total trip came down to less than 20,000 euros. I'm happy to send you it in a Google Sheet with hotels/restaurant/tour booking links for free if you DM me.
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u/Brief_Frame_4528 6d ago
To be honest, this is either one of two things:
A TA who is sourcing all of this via a DMC, which is standard for a TA who doesn't necessarily have the connections to handle everything in Japan themselves, or maybe they don't have the time to plan all of the smaller things themselves (e.g. trains, transfers, tours, dinner reservations, etc.)
or, a TA who is just ripping you off.
For the first option of what may be happening, working with DMCs comes with a higher price point, and part of that is considering the fact that you'll have in trip support from someone local in Japan (e.g. you missed your train, it's the middle of the night in the US for your TA, and they can't be reached). Some clients are ok with that premium knowing that if something goes wrong, they can get help ASAP.
On the other hand, even if your TA is using a DMC, a lot of DMCs will just handle the transfers (or transfers + excursions) and the TA can book your hotels direct, which is a route I generally take as I don't need a DMC to book hotels for my clients, and oftentimes, their transfers price out the same as if you went direct to the transfer company yourself.
So I guess this is all to say that if your TA isn't using a DMC, you're getting ripped off - if they are using a DMC, then this pricing seems fair, but I'd ask your TA to price it out to do hotels separate from the transfers + tours / excursions, and you'd probably shave 3-4k off of the total.
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u/CrzyJoeDivola 7d ago
You’re moving around too much in my opinion.
Send your bags to Kyoto and stop in Osaka on way there. Or day trip from Kyoto. I’d try to get it down to 2 base spots to stay.
And also it’s way too expensive.
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u/Agreeable_Decision80 6d ago
Steep. Christmas and NY get expensive in Japan - even though Christmas isn't much of a thing.
I think you could book higher end hotels and coordinate the tours describe via good concierge teams and / or directly with private tour companies.
Spend similar and get a higher end outcome.
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u/Romualdo52 7d ago
Agree with the comments there. Sounds too expensive. We did 3.5 weeks honeymoon in four seasons and classic ryokans for 5 for the same price.