JR Northern Kyushu Rail Pass 7000Yen

My co traveller is just excited as me about this trip & has sent me a document full of details! I am one lucky chap!

I was running through the file and found this 3-day JR Northern Kyushu Rail Pass offered for 7000Yen (est S$110)! For first time travellers to Japan, please do not be shocked by this price. Reason being for famous Onsen areas like Beppu - bus rides can already cost up to 3100Yen per person. The Rail Pass will allow you to visit areas like Beppu, Yufuin, Nagasaki etc.

JR passes cannot be purchased in Japan as it is meant for tourists, hence please get yours here.

Below is an overview of areas that are near to Hakata/Fukuoka and the travelling time required. Basically, most are areas that can be covered by the Northern JR pass. Taken from Crossroadfukuoka website

And so I finally bought our JR passes for S$110 at JTB Pte Ltd (at ION Orchard, #B4-29)

Staff was really helpful. And these information definitely come in handy! Armed with this brochure and these two wonderful websites with train info and even timings, I am all set to start planning properly!

(1) JNTO Travel Planner

(2) Hyperdia (even has timetable!)

 

Cheap airfares from Singapore to Fukuoka!

The cheapest place to buy air tickets is usually via the airlines'own website as all middle men costs or servicing fees are pretty much eliminated. However, it is still worthwhile to look around as some of the travel agents will peddle group fare that is very low group fare offered by the airlines.

True enough, my whole Saturday spent on hunting for cheap airfares to Fukuoka paid off when I found a all-in* $529 ticket for my friend on Cathay Pacific to Fukuoka! Compared to JAL $792 and SQ $713, this is really worthwhile. By the way, she has already booked her ticket via MISA Travel, and she is all happy with this good bargain - which is actually a Pre-NATAs Promotion.

However there are two other areas of consideration one must definitely take note!

1. As this is a promotional fare, there are bound to be several booking restrictions one of which is usually travel date changes restriction, so do confirm everything 1st before you book.
2. For Cathay Pacific, the flight transit via Hong Kong, so the total flight time will take up to 10hours. Hence this is not for impatient travellers! But, for those who can bear with it, Cathay offers 1 stopover on your way back to Singapore (subject to some service fee imposed by MISA), so this makes the ticket all the more worthwhile!

*All in fare means the surcharges and taxes are already taken into consideration. Do watch out for these components as they can be very substantial sometimes.