Perth - Helsinki / Helsinki - Sapporo - Perth Advice Needed

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Travelislife, thanks for the PER-HKG-HEL itinerary.
Some background; previously all our other flights have been very easy, all travelling just to one destination, e.g. Perth to Zurich / Perth to Rome etc, all transiting in Singapore, through SQ. This is the first time we are doing a multi-destination itinerary and with code-share airlines. Thus, I’m muddling along. So, I have a few questions.
1 Since it is a CX/AY flight, do I book through CX or AY?
2 For the PER-HKG-HEL itinerary, (through Finnair website), the return flight was through PEK? So, it is HEL-PEK-HKG? There was no direct HEL-HKG flight.
3 If I look at CX website, there are 2 stops – PER-HKG-LHR-HEL.
4 I can’t find the direct PER-HKG-HEL flight you mentioned.
5 I’m interested in the Multiple Airlines / Finnair/ Thai Airways (A$2300 pp). I’ve looked at the various sites like Expedia (can I mention sites in this forum?) and can’t find the return leg of HEL-CTS.

Thanks for your help.
 
For that family mix, you know what Niseko might be best, ability for the oldies to walk around the village and grab a coffee, etc.

Also what type of accommodation will you be looking for as that can also influence skiing location. Niseko is by far the best 'all in one' 'resort town' in Japan. Furano is good with a car.

Also best flights to/from Hokkaido from Perth will be something like PER-HKG-CTS or PER-BKK-CTS I would have thought. I think those 2 are pretty much the only one stop options, nearly everything else out of Perth to Hokkaido would require 2 stops.

We are looking at either a two b/r plus a three/b/r apartment or a chalet with 5 rooms. Because the kids will be in ski school, accommodation near the ski school / ski-in-ski-out would be great. Our TA said that the first early bird offer has come in & recommended Yama Shizen at Niseko at $2710 per adult for 7 nights stay & 6 day lift pass. He’ll give us more details when Furano early birds come on. Think I'll wait a bit more before booking. But he did say to book asap as Neisko fills up very fast.
 
Niseko fills fast but you don't need to book before May/June still. I would be aiming for 200-250/night/person. Lift passes are at most only around $50 a day so you aren't always better off with a package. Especially since a lot of the lessons come with a lift pass for the day/time of lesson.
 
I'll get back to you GLT with the flight info when on a PC.

Are you after luxury? Yama Shizen is at the top end. $400 a night pp is high!

I can recommend Shinsetsu apartments. A 3 bedroom apartment there shouldn't run more than $150 per person per night. Walking distance to the Ace family pair and right in the heart of lower hirafu. I would get a quote through holiday niseko who are a Japan based agency who provide great service. They will be able to provide other options as well. Otherwise a couple of the apartments are leased directly so would contact there for a quote too.

http://www.nisekoshinsetsuapartments.com.au

http://holidayniseko.com/shinsetsu-apartments

100% agree with Cynicor, don't pre purchase any lift passes. No advantage. As it sounds like with kids in ski school they may only want hirafu passes, about $40 a day, rather than whole mountain, etc.
 
Depending on budget, I would go ski in/out if you can afford it. Lowers the threshold to actually ski if you are on the border some days.

Much prefer upper hirafu location but of course it comes down to $- I've never actually stayed in hirafu, I quite like the Hilton for location and the ski valet.
 
Depending on budget, I would go ski in/out if you can afford it. Lowers the threshold to actually ski if you are on the border some days.

Much prefer upper hirafu location but of course it comes down to $- I've never actually stayed in hirafu, I quite like the Hilton for location and the ski valet.

There is very limited ski in/out accom in hirafu though so it will limit you to very expensive options. The one I linked above is literally 1 minute walk from the seicomart, so in a great spot, accessible to everything by walking only short distances as well as the shuttle buses. At the end of the day it just depends what you are happy to pay.
 
I flew HKG HEL in February on AY so they do fly this route direct.
 
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GLT, flightwise I just did a multi city search using Kayak. PER-HEL, HEL-CTS, CTS-PER which will bring you up multiple options including 'hacker' fares which are just a combination of one way tickets, no issues booking like that.

That fare is actually 2 separate tickets:
Ticket 1: PER-HKG-HEL then HEL-NGO-CTS booked through Helloworld.com (which is a finnair ticket so should be bookable on finnair's website as well) for about $1600. Flying on Cathay Pacific, Finnair and Japan Airlines
Ticket 2: CTS-BKK-PER booked through Thaiairways.com for about $750
 
Thanks so much for so patiently guiding me through Helloworld and Thaiairways. I've never thought of doing this way because I assume that 2 separate tickets would be a lot more expensive than a return ticket. Really appreciate the help.

I did think that Yama Shizen was expensive, but haven't been to Japan before, I thought that was the rate. Hmmm, I just had a look at 2016 brochure and for the same period, the brochure price was $1812 pp, compared to what my TA quoted me at $2710 pp. I will look at nisekoholiday.com as suggested and maybe book direct and organise all the transfers and lift pass myself. Do you guys usually buy the lift pass when you arrive in Japan or do you get the accommodation people do it for you beforehand?

Thanks again.
 
Thanks so much for so patiently guiding me through Helloworld and Thaiairways. I've never thought of doing this way because I assume that 2 separate tickets would be a lot more expensive than a return ticket. Really appreciate the help.

I did think that Yama Shizen was expensive, but haven't been to Japan before, I thought that was the rate. Hmmm, I just had a look at 2016 brochure and for the same period, the brochure price was $1812 pp, compared to what my TA quoted me at $2710 pp. I will look at nisekoholiday.com as suggested and maybe book direct and organise all the transfers and lift pass myself. Do you guys usually buy the lift pass when you arrive in Japan or do you get the accommodation people do it for you beforehand?

Thanks again.

Depends what you are doing. Organise it yourself when there though, generally. Lift tickets are the simplest part of the whole thing!

All the prices are online, many things come with an all mountain for your whole trip but most people won't use that much. When learning you only really need one side of the mountain for the first day or 3.
 
Just sort it out when there. You will probably save money and gives you so much more flexibility with your lessons etc or if they have bad weather days when you don't ski.

I have always booked every component of my Japan holidays myself and had no issues at all (accom, car hire, lift tickets, restaurants).

I can also give you the link to book the CTS-Niseko bus transfers yourself, much cheaper than any agency will give you.

Though if you are going through a company like holiday Niseko they are very helpful in letting you know how it all works and with no hard up sell like some of the Australian based agents. They can also help with restaurant reservations which you will need to make with a group that size and in peak season. Most restaurants will have a 'private room' kind of set up where you sit on the floor Japanese style for a group your size, but they only have one so do need to book.
 
Also just a quick one, as for that 'being the rate' in Japan, note that Niseko is the most expensive all round place in Japan (food as well) as it is very westernised. Also apartment style accom isn't that common in Japan so it is more expensive as it is a specific product.
 
So yeah, Niseko is a great place for first timers but don't think it is representative of Japan or skiing in Japan from a cultural or cost point of view. Japanese skiing in Hokkaido is generally small pension or massive hotel operated resort (Rusutsu, kiroro, Tomamu etc) on smaller hills. And can be very cheap! My wife and I were staying in pensions/lodges in private rooms including breakfast and an amazing dinner for around $100 pp per night.
 
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That fare is actually 2 separate tickets:
Ticket 1: PER-HKG-HEL then HEL-NGO-CTS booked through Helloworld.com (which is a finnair ticket so should be bookable on finnair's website as well) for about $1600. Flying on Cathay Pacific, Finnair and Japan Airlines
Ticket 2: CTS-BKK-PER booked through Thaiairways.com for about $750

I think this would be your best option. I couldn't bring up CTS on Finnair website, but it's bookable through Expedia, linking from Google flights. Downside is you have 9 hours in HKG on the way, after an early start. Upside is you get to try out Finnair's new A350 on HKG-HEL, if that is of interest to you. Or for ~$500 more you could have a 2 hour transit in SIN instead, taking advantage of QF's re-instated QF77, departing at 1600. Also then connecting on to the A350.
Cathay Pacific have a return trip that is shorter, also overnight for ~$1000 if you feel the extra $$$ is worth it to avoid the 8 hours in BKK.

Don't ask me about the skiing though...
 
I think this would be your best option. I couldn't bring up CTS on Finnair website, but it's bookable through Expedia, linking from Google flights. Downside is you have 9 hours in HKG on the way, after an early start. Upside is you get to try out Finnair's new A350 on HKG-HEL, if that is of interest to you. Or for ~$500 more you could have a 2 hour transit in SIN instead, taking advantage of QF's re-instated QF77, departing at 1600. Also then connecting on to the A350.
Cathay Pacific have a return trip that is shorter, also overnight for ~$1000 if you feel the extra $$$ is worth it to avoid the 8 hours in BKK.

Don't ask me about the skiing though...

Thanks. I did think that it was a long 9 hours layover in HKG. Called Finnair in Sydney, asking about using the outgoing flight to Singapore with QF. The lady said that it would bring the whole return flight up to $4000+ because there's no promo fare on that. I'll check with Expedia again.
 
Travelislife, would appreciate the link to book the CTS-Niseko bus transfers. We did not look at pensions because (I think, like B&B) the owners live in the house itself and with three children (all boys), we don't want the boys to 'disturb the peace' of the owners. That is the main reason why we are looking at apartments or chalets.

Another quote we had was $10,092 for a 3 b/r and a 2 b/r apartment at Freshpowder Apartments in Furano, based on 2016 rate. I think I'm a bit early in my planning. Now, that it's mentioned that it's still ok to wait till May to book, I'm not so anxious and it gives me more time to surf the net. Question - when you book the accom yourself, did you go direct to the accom website or is it through a site like Travelplan, Skimax, booking.com etc?
 
Either direct with the accom provider (such as those links with Shensetsu) or through a local agent such as holiday niseko. I find doing it direct or at least local agent the prices and service has always been better. I have got quotes from Travelplan and Skimax in the past and always found them on the high side price wise or a more limited selection of properties.
 
Agree with travelislife. Some hotels actually work out the same, I booked the Hilton for my mate through ski japan or some such because the rate was basically equal.
 
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