Nonrev to Tokyo
 

I'm interested to see if anyone here has nonrevved from Tokyo lately. I'm planning to leave Tokyo back to ATL or SFO on a buddy pass on 12/22. I was planning to nonrev, but talked to two friends today who have nightmare stories trying to get out of NRT during August. Anyone know if December is better, or should I pay an extra 300 for a confirmed seat? Any stories are appreciated...

What airline?

I wouldn't worry about getting to NRT right now - it's getting back on 12/22. I wouldn't expect many open seats around that time - you'll have students coming home from school, ex-pats returning for Christmas with the folks, business people coming home before the holidays.

Shoot - I remember right after Christmas last year, I had to drive DTW-DCA, because there was >no< empty seats on Delta between those two cities, or through ATL, CVG, or JFK. N-O-N-E.

A friend of mine had to rent a car and drive PIT-ATL with his family to get back for work.

Anyway - non-reving around the holidays is fraught with peril.

The flight from NRTto ATL on 12/22 looks open now, but that could change by the time you travel. Embargo date on buddy passes are 12/19 12/24 and 12/27.

As iaflyer said above non-reving during the holidays is a bad bad idea.

I had a family member go recently...it was easy getting over, but hard getting back. Stock up on ID90's.

I had two buddy passers go over about three weeks ago, returning about a week ago. They got there and back on Delta, business the whole way - Columbus to Atlanta, Atlanta to Narita and then reverse. But that wasn't a holiday period either.

Buy a ticket if it's during the holiday period. It's early enough you can still get a good deal. If nothing else just buy a one-way back. If you don't, you'll regret it later.

Thanks everyone for all the good advice! I just bought my ticket for a great deal...a little more than a buddy pass. It's not business class, but I don't have to worry about sleeping in an airport for 4 days. :)

I wouldn't have done that (but I didn't check the loads for this specific trip so I can't say for sure).

There are so many ways to get back from Tokyo if traveling alone.

But again, maybe all ten flights back to the states were full that day, in which case you may have made a good choice on a buddy pass.

I used to live there for three years and agree that traveling out of Tokyo during the holidays sucks. You would be surprised as to the amount of Yanks that live in Tokyo. Having said that I hope you do make it over there. Tokyo is a blast!:D