fr8doggr

Anyone have any tips or advice for the best, easiest, cheapest, most comfortable ways of commuting to Japan from the US? Passenger, cargo, economy/business class, jumpseat, etc. Schedule would be two weeks on/ two weeks off.

SabreDriver

From where in the US to where in Japan, makes a gynormus difference.

I, for one, prefer commuting on my company's freighters (747) to commercial DH, not as glamorous as business/first class, but I can jump into my jammies and be sound asleep in the bunk before the top of climb only to be awakened by the rumble of the gear coming down at the FAF... and I'll bet I can still use the lav before we land

The last place I "want" to commute, is trapped in a tube with 350+ of my closest friends for 8-12 hours. I'd likely be in a center seat of an MD-11, with 2-5-2 seating but your milage may vary, just depends on your preference.

Jetjok

Fr8doggr,

It would really help if we knew your exact situation, ie. what airline do you fly for?, where are you located geographically in the US? where are you planning on commuting to in Japan?, etc, etc. There's lots of knowledge residing on this board, but without specifics, it's really hard to offer opinions. But I will say this, It will be a looooooong commute twice a month and I suspect that you will be quite tired (literally) of it in only a month or two.

JJ

fr8doggr

Sorry. I should have provided more details. I fly for ABX Air (the old Airborne Express). They are planning to open a 767 domicile in Osaka, Japan. I'm thinking of bidding it for the captain upgrade. It is a two year commitment. I live in Cincinnati. Schedule would be two weeks on - two weeks off. Roundtrip coach airfare CVG - KIX is about $1500. Pay raise more than covers that, plus allowances for housing, taxes, etc. I'm looking for advice and options from those who have done that kind of international commuting before. The raise and 767 PIC time are very appealing, but not sure if it is worth the commute once a month.

SabreDriver

That's better... I've crossed the western pond more times than I care to count, that said, if you are going to fly over in Asia for a couple weeks, (maybe your body clock gets completely converted) then a ride in coach to CVG, middle seat between two large snoring folks Takes most of a week to convert back to Eastern time, just in time to dread to do it again Been there, done that, got the T-shirt, it hurts.

How firm are the report dates? Firm enough to buy ticket far enough out to get the best fares? The best fares I have ever had when I lived in Japan, were from Japanese tour operators, bought tickets 15-45 days in advance and the rates were less than half what I would have paid from a US based outlet. Catch was that the trip was Japan-US-Japan, not tough to make it work if you are there a lot. There wer dozens of those services in the Tokyo area, Osaka is bound to have the same thing. I used HIS travel, they have an office in LA, I think you should be able to get a round trip from CVG-OSAKA Kansi-CVG for well under $1000 if you avoid the Japanese peak holiday times, check and see. PM me for details.

Not saying the upgrade is not worth it, that's up to you. I'm just saying that the commute from Eastern US to Japan is one of the toughest on the planet, with the Eastbound version being tougher for most folks to do. I'd rather take a butt woopin than do it again, more than once a year, and those Upgrades are tough to come by, even with a zillion FF miles.

Fly Safe

SD

kc10/c130

Our guys that commute from Subic tell me it is very painful to do. Soooo many things are just not worth the money. To each his own but...

penguin22

Have you looked into costs of a crash pad/hotel? All the China trips are out and back, crew rest in domicile. BKK and NRT are the only trips with layovers so far.

I'd look into public transportation to KIX from your hotel/crash pad. It costs a fortune to drive a car across the bridge, and no idea what parking would be, but my guess is it's not cheap.

And in order to get a Japanese drivers license, you'll need to pass a drivers exam. The problem is most of the traffic signs are in Kanji. Only a few of them have english text also.

Having done the commute a couple times, there's no way I'd ride across the Pacific in a coach seat. I'd rather hitch a ride on a freighter.

ultradrvr

penguin22 and fr8doggr.....is the word on the street that there will be enough guys bid to fill 16 crews or will they offer the furlough and new hire people??? and if they do offer/make the furlough people take it and its a 2 year lock, what happens when they finally need 9 f/os and they hire off the street. Id rather be in a 9 in the states then a 76 in japan.

Jetjok

That sounds like a lot of bleeding for a pay raise that you won't be able to enjoy because your body clock is going to be screwed up ongoingly. Anyway, Fedex offers this flight, which is probably a normal trip that departs most days. However, that said, you can check with our jumpseat group to verify.

Route............Show..........Depart.........Arri ve
MEM - NRT.....01:12 AM.....03:12 AM.....06:33 AM
NRT - KIX.......07:05 AM.....09:05 AM....10:25 AM

As well, we do the reverse, again, check with jumpseats.

Flight#...Route..........Show........Depart....... Arrive
0018......KIX - MEM...11:45 PM....01:45 AM...12:23 AM

Then you could take one of the two direct flights we have from Memphis to CVG, which would leave about 2 hours later. In my opinion, both of these options sure beat the hell out of flying commercial, never mind flying coach. I'd rather kill myself than fly coach, and that's for a trip over 45 minutes, never mind for hours and hours.

I hope this information helps.

JJ

LJ-ABX

From where do you get the information that the schedules will be two weeks on/two weeks off? There are no provisions in our current contract that would permit such a schedule.