Tips on travel to Japan— have accommodations booked July 25- Aug 2 but would love tips on when to buy flights/ how to get the best deals! I have a westjet card so planning on using the companion voucher.

Zipair is cheap

Not sure you can use your companion voucher overseas. I suggest you check.

Elaine you can during certain times of the year. Kasey Brown best to call
westjet to ask.

Elaine yes you can. Anywhere westjet flies

yes you can use the vouchers for international flights, any time of the year but I recommend taking AC as their prices are much better, even without a companion voucher.

You CAN use your voucher, but westjet is SUPER expensive to get to Japan, so even with the voucher it's usually cheaper to fly other airlines (I was so excited cause I've got the same card but haven't used it yet). Average "cheap" flights RT to Tokyo are about 1100-1200$, but you can occasionally find them for 5-600. I've noticed they normally go on sale for cheap cheap in Feb & Aug so I'd put a flight watch on your dates and if nothing by end of Feb see what you can get for about a grand (or if westjet has a sale that with the voucher gets you both there for ~2k that works too).
Also, the dates you have (if you don't already know) is going to be HOT. like... Don't go outside if you can help it, hot. Make sure to pack loose clothes, a UV umbrella if you have one, and make sure to drink lots of water.

Jhoudiey definitely July is humid/hot in Japan. Each eatery gives you cloth wipes/napkins to cool off etc. Very nice touch.
I was @ Tokyo in 2005 so don’t have current knowledge/pricing. But I can tell you I would love, love to return in a second
It’s so clean. They are clean and the people are so honest!!!
I would accidentally give too much cash and they would advise me and not accept overpayment. Tipping is uncommon there. They don’t understand what you’re trying to do.
There’s a few things to be mindful of there. Take your shoes off often, even stepping into a “portable clothing change room.” They give you doilies to put around your neck trying on clothes to not stain them!! Very clever. They have doilies in cabs and on the small cash/credit card trays. Again they’re showing respect.
They aren’t comfortable with people being loud: laughing on the train….actually anywhere. They’re very respectful and sweet people.
This is a country with 4 distinct seasons. If I go back I would love to go in the Spring time to see the
.
You’ll love Japan

Robbin and never eat or drink in the street

i was going to add how hot it’ll be, we’ve been there then and HOLY man.
But I also echo the person above, do lots of research into the etiquette there, it’s very very different from here. I found lots of people speak little to no English so be prepared for that.
My husband has very strong feelings about air canada and has avoided using them there for years. But other options are likely pricey (JAL is great). He did take the westjet Dreamliner there this summer and really enjoyed the plane; not sure the cost breakdown exactly.

Jhoudiey how and where do you put a flight watch on?

Jhoudiey how and where do you put a flight watch on?

I get emails from yeg deals, then there's the YOLO flight bot you can sign up for as well (I have mine set for any dates, any JP airport and under 900) and ALSO set Google price trackers if I have a specific set of dates I'm looking for. I'm hoping within the next month or so they drop to the 6-700 range again, but have no idea if they actually will. Just be prepared cause sometimes the sale doesn't last long so you don't usually have time to waffle around before buying. I've got the details all of my travel companions so if/when they pop up I can just book everything and let them know dates after

Train around japan is convenient.

We just went in April this year so if you have any questions let me know. We got flights through air canada direct. It was 2300 for two return including luggage. air canada was the cheapest and it was the fastest. Went to Vancouver then direct to toyko

We found it cheapest to fly to Hawaii on westjet, and then take ZipAir. However, we could not use the companion fare as it was off-season, when westjet uses a Japanese carrier. You shouldn’t have that problem flying in the summer.

Gina did you book Zipair at the last minute or close to your travel date?

Elaine I booked it about 3 months out, but I had a Google
Flight alert on it for about 6 weeks before that. When the price dropped to $600 return I snapped up 2 tickets! We are going at the end of January.

Amazing!! Thanks for sharing

Bring a little hand towel as they don’t have paper towels in the bathrooms

Dongxia brilliant! Thank you!

Handkerchiefs are widely sold and often carried so you can dry your hands in public washrooms and also to spread on your lap in a restaurant.

If you keep an eye out there are deals thriugh WJ. I went in October and got a one way deal for $490 all in via YYC.

Olivia wow that’s so good! What time of year did you book?

Kasey Brown I booked in Jul/Aug for Late Oct before their seasonal route ended

I flew to Tokyo from Calgary in the summer and used companion voucher. It wasn’t cheap but service was pretty good. We took bullet train from Tokyo to Osaka. It was really hot and humid. Be prepared especially if you’re planning to go to Disney or other theme parks. It’s hard to imagine how hot and humid it gets if you’ve never been to Asia. PM if you have any Qs