The Japan Trip Resource Thread!

[randombs]

I have forgotten who posted this as I grabbed it and put it in a text file and can't seem to find it again.

Is this actually possible, that place seemed nice but so far when looking I am finding ?44 a night the cheapest!? This is for July 1st to July 21st.

Am I simply looking in the wrong places as I would like to get it under a grand ;___;

Thanks again for any help!

May be worth mentioning this is the first time booking things myself!

lol I'm pretty sure that was me who posted that. About prices, that was in the Winter time.

For example, one of the hotels I stayed at in the Summer, Shiba Park, was ?50-odd a night but in Winter it went down to ?40 for the exact same rooms.

I used www.hotelclub.com to book my hotels as it meant less cash to worry about as only one hotel I used took payment when I arrived (but I think even then it was still by credit card) and also the rates seemed pretty decent.

I daren't even check nowadays as the exchange rate is just scary (132Y-? when I checked this afternoon!)

[GluedOnBeard]

Aha it was indeed, I remember the Iron Man hand ^^; Having looked at the difference in prices now and thanks to both yours and the site teddymeow has suggested it is a bit annoying I could not have gone a bit sooner. Still I am starting to find some half decent deals and yes the exchange rate is indeed scary when you compare it to what people were previously mentioning!

I had not thought about the actual payment till now (as it is not really preferable to take that much money and pay in cash, if that is possible?), there is no way I am going to be able to use my maestro card, looks like I will have to get a VISA card then, how troublesome! (I don't have or want a credit card so I hope that is ok)

Damn global financial meltdown.

Damn right! Your prices reflect mine exactly, are you going for three weeks?

[teddymeow]

I'm going for 14 nights and at present it's working to about ?1000. That's a double room so a single will be a little cheaper.

Getting very excited about going back now. 7 weeks today and the holiday starts. Not that I'm counting

[kryss]

People who live in Japan: does this mean if you send money home you get more ??? for your Yen? I get a bit confused about the to-and-fro with exchange rates.

Yes it does indeed. Not that I have money to send home these days.

[Richard.John]

The exchange rate favours then cruelly takes away too. It's horrendous for Brits travelling to Japan now but great for Japanese who want to travel to the UK. A complete reverse of the situation less than 12 months ago. The Japanese govt. isn't happy of course as exports are more expensive, and as Japan runs a trade surplus with most of the industrialised world, that's bad for business. Cue Toyota which really is Japan, inc. Of course the cynics would argue that Japanese government was quite happy for the Yen to slide against Sterling, the Euro and the USD for so long, and now it is returning to its natural level. China plays the same game, too, but at least they are honest about it and manipulate the value of the currency to favour exports.

[Darwock]

People who live in Japan: does this mean if you send money home you get more ??? for your Yen? I get a bit confused about the to-and-fro with exchange rates.

It does indeed. Unfortunately as I am unable to predict the future, I already sent all my savings back when it was 200 yen to the pound.. that was a record low since I arrived. If I'd known it would eventually drop to 145 (maybe even lower now?) I would have hung on to the cash! I can't save anything now due to working in high schools and having unpaid vacations

[teddymeow]

Well, only 3 weeks out now so I figured I'd better order my currency rather than waiting for a minor miracle in terms of exchange rates reversing.

Managed to get 123.5 to the ? (cash) from the Post Office and 121.4 to the ? (travellers cheques). That's the besdt it has been for a while. Usually I get the money from my bank but Lloyds were only paying a paltry 114 (cash)!!!

In the grand scheme of things I am quite pleased with the rate I got in regards to how close it was to the one posted on xe.com; usually it is lower than theirs.

__________________________________________________ __________________________

Jangarra Ramen; is it that good? Can somebody tell me where they be located? The more I read about it the more eager I am to try it. The best ramen I had last year was in Ueno near the station round the corner from a huge toy shop and near a cool denim shop! That was lush!!!

[Vince]

Usually I get the money from my bank but Lloyds were only paying a paltry 114 (cash)!!!

I got 121 from them today, its really changeable at the moment though. I fly to Osaka on Thursday, which I'm really looking forward to, I've never been to Japan before so it should be fun.

[teddymeow]

Vince, have a great time!!

How long are you going for? I've never been to Osaka but it's on the list along with pleaces like Okinawa and Kyoto. There's still so much more of Tokyo I've yet to see so plenty of fun holidays still to come before I venture out of the city!

[Richard.John]

Good god, that rate is disgusting. Sterling has been battered so much, you might as well sell it in a fish and chip shop.

[Darwock]

Sure is, my mum has cancelled plans to come out and visit me cos the rate sucks so much. I'm thinking of scraping together all the cash I can and sending it home now for a bit of security.. but to do it I'd have to survive the next few months on instant ramen.. is it worth it? lol

[Richard.John]

It will recover eventually but might take a few years. Surely it can't go any lower....Gulp......

[Anpanman]

It is bad, thankfully it will be December before we fly so fingers crossed it will have improved slightly by then.

[Supergoal]

Yep shocking exchange rate. I recently needed to draw upon some some money from my UK bank account to use here in Japan. I was almost crying at what I was getting in return.. I think if you are into currency trading, surely around about now would be a good time to whack some money onto the pound in the belief that the only way is up.. Right?

[randombs]

Woo it's up to 128Y to the pound, last time I checked it was 120Y