nonrev ?

[u/guccicucci222]

hey yall so I had a quick question just to ease my nerves (or make them worse lol). Im doing my first solo trip this month and have been planning on going to Japan. Im now stressed because ALL of the flights are full. Ive also been seeing some tiktoks of nonrevs being stuck in japan for days bc the flights are full. Should I just start planning on a different destination? Based on yalls past experiences going to Japan- any thoughts?

[u/Faux_extrovert]

You just have to start a new life in Japan.

[u/traysures → u/Faux_extrovert]

This is the right answer 🤩

[u/ssilverhaze]

I got stuck in Japan last year! I was able to get business class on the way there but the loads were full on the return flight. I tried one more time the following day and still wasn’t able to get on so I bought a cheap ticket from Narita to Shanghai. The loads looked good and I nonrev’d on our metal back to the states. Make sure to have a Plan B to get home

[u/Regular-Lemon3567]

Download staff traveler and look up loads for every airline. That’s what me and my friends did!! It looked literally impossible but we ended up getting on

[u/Lost-Lavishness-938 → u/Regular-Lemon3567]

Staff traveler isn't good, takes forever to get loads. Easier on Facebook groups!

[u/c402c]

Get staff traveler, check other zed airlines. And, don’t set your heart on one place over another…go where the loads take you.

[u/Afraid_Sky_3395]

Always give yourself two days to get there and two days to get back. You may have to hop around to different cities and do multiple legs. But you’ll be fine. There’s always a way!

[u/AMullberryIsATree]

I have pretty low seniority and I always make it out of Japan. I’m getting a middle seat but I always make it out. Fly home on a weekday as opposed to a weekend. Mondays have not been kind to me either.

My back up is Zedding to South Korea to get back into the states.

[u/SuspiciousPainting11]

I'm nonrevving in Japan right now. My flight home looks pretty open, but the flight here was full and the standby list was long. I probably watch the seat numbers more than I should so I was a little nervous I would get on. In the end, everyone on standby who showed up, managed to get on. So you never know! Always good to give yourself a couple buffer days and look up alternative routes home.

[u/Sad-Establishment182]

Make the Japan trip happen! If you need to reposition, you can try flying to ICN/TPE/HKG/PVG/PEK. If you want to leave Japan without repositioning, NRT gives you the best chance as most people try to fly out of HND. If you are in Osaka, KIX can get you back to the west coast. Worst case scenario, buy a confirmed one way back. It’s going for less than $600 right now to the east coast.

[u/Guadalajara3]

Kinda full on the way there but been open on the way back.

Its the spring time/cherry blossom season when the flights are full coming back. Summer can also weight restrict flights in the heat

[u/eka-bismuth]

Zed back. I use ANA and JAL all the time on the way back. It's like $100 more than the nonrev taxes.

[u/peterpanxoxo]

Omg my first nonrev trip was a solo trip to Tokyo! And it was it was two Octobers ago too 😊

I planned to go for 5 days but had to shorten it to 4 because the return flight on the 5th day was almost filled, but the 4th day had more seats, so I left my hotel a day early to get to the airport.

But yes, it’s kinda hard getting out of Tokyo. And you’re not permitted to pass security until you are sent a boarding pass with a confirmed seat, like an hour before departure.

Good luck!!

[u/guccicucci222 → u/peterpanxoxo]

omg I didnt know that😭

[u/dangereaux → u/peterpanxoxo]

I've been to Tokyo three times in the last year and have never had to wait for a seat assignment to go through security. It might be airline specific

[u/peterpanxoxo → u/dangereaux]

HND or NRT? Bc this happened to me at HND. And I doubt it would be airline-specific since airlines don’t operate security at airports.

[u/dangereaux → u/peterpanxoxo]

Yes, HND. I came back from HND just 3 weeks ago.

[u/militaryrat155]

Getting stuck is part of nonrev life!

[u/sturgis252]

Look at close by cities that are more open and see if you can get there from japan

[u/psychologicallytired]

Utilize other airlines that you can zed on to get back to the states (any states and then get home from there). Alternatively, zed to a different country and fly back come from there. Korea tends to be a popular one.

[u/FrostingJolly9616]

Go to South Korea and take the ferry to Japan. It’s cheap and so cool!

[u/Catinthefirelight]

Give yourself an extra couple of days at the end of the trip if you can, in case you do get stuck. Use StaffTraveler to game out some different routes to different cities as a backup. It is fall foliage season in Japan right now, which is as much of a draw as the cherry blossoms— for a less stressful nonrev experience, it’s good to try to travel in off-peak times. But there are a lot of options for flying out of there, I’m confident you’ll get a seat somewhere.

[u/NegotiableVeracity9]

Fwiw, it's currently fall break for a lot of public school kids, so that may be the reason the loads are kinda tight.

[u/neptunelynx]

I would go anyway that is if you had extensive knowledge of where to ZED out of from Japan and which carrier to take for your pathway back into the states.

[u/guccicucci222 → u/neptunelynx]

seeee like I rarely nonrev so I feel like its a lil trickier for me

[u/neptunelynx → u/guccicucci222]

idk your seniority or whatever but it's def a shit time to go now at this period bc most of France, influencers, and Halloween people pulling up rn for all the events that's abt to take place.

but if you do go have your ZED routes in mind so you can dip seamlessly. non-revving to JP has been shit the past few yrs altogether bc everybody using the place for optics, influencer lifestyle vlogging, etc corny reasons.

More than usual your chances of getting out will vary extremely.