The HOW - Flights

The first thing I did was to research the flights .... I waited patiently for MH (Malaysia Airlines) sales however when it finally came .... there was a marketing gimmick which I did not like!

So, since I started researching flight options, I had been taking note of various airlines and their pricing, pros and cons.

Kuala Lumpur - Tokyo sector

Malaysia Airlines - not bad at RM800 per sector (that's norm)

Japan Airlines JAL - similar pricing, code share with MH quite often

All Nippon Airlines - ANA more expensive

Cathay Pacific CX - cheapest but no direct flights. You will need to fly to Hong Kong and from Hong Kong to Tokyo.

At this stage in my life, I would never do such flights which take me more than 10 hours to arrive at my destination (just to save a couple of hundred ringgit) ....

The option I finally chose was a Japan Airlines (JAL) red-eye departing at 23:35 and arriving in Tokyo Narita airport at 07:15.

If you're the type that can sleep in a plane, not get bothered by incessant movement and activities of flight crew plus the occasional announcement in which you get rudely awakened by the pilot or co-pilot's voice telling you stuff which you don't really have an interest in ... then the JAL red-eye is by far the best option.

If you are like me, and wish to include a domestic sector, you MUST use a Japanese airline because Malaysia Airlines has to make connecting flights which cost you 7 hours compared to a 1 hr 10 min domestic flight!

In summary, regular pricing is RM1,600, good deal is RM1,500 and pricey is RM1,900. JAL has the most options at regular acceptable pricing. ANA is slightly pricier by a couple of hundred ringgit. Note: Free baggage allowance is 2 x23kg bags

Oh yes, I decided to also visit Osaka & Kyoto (since getting my sons to go along with me was slightly worse than pulling teeth) Originally, my plan was to take a round trip Shinkansen from Tokyo to Osaka but then I realized that I would be wasting accommodation in Tokyo (while gone to Osaka), neither would I be able to complete Osaka-Kyoto-Nara in one day! Light bulb moment! So that’s how I ended up with a multi-city flight plan … KL – Tokyo, Tokyo – Osaka, from Osaka, we fly back to KL. Feel proud of myself, flight itinerary locked and loaded and paid!

The only thing to note here is KUL-NRT is an international flight (free 2 bags x 23 kg allowance) whereas Tokyo-Osaka is domestic therefore if we bring our full entitlement of 2 x 23kg each = 6 x23kg, we would have to pay for excess baggage for the domestic sector.

Current plan: 2 x Cosmolite luggage (55 cm, large size) + 1 large cabin bag. Got spare free baggage allowance for us to purchase one large suitcase at Gotemba premium outlets & check it in for Tokyo-Osaka sector. 

Alrighty, that's it for flights! 

Oh … about the marketing gimmick of MH … when they had the sale, what they did was to lower one sector (the going) to an attractive price of RM600. But they RAISED the price of the return sector to at least 1,400. Now, that is bad because the final ticket prices were more expensive than normal non-promotion periods! Also, please do not think that you can purchase only the outgoing sector (to take advantage of the low price) and buy return sector later. You cannot do that because you are not a local and cannot purchase an outgoing sector from the foreign country. So much for limited-time promotions! 

So, always do your homework, and do not rush into "deals"!

Note: 

I purchased my tickets on August 30, 2017 ... exactly 3 months to the day we fly off! Tonight -5 weeks later- I checked JAL options for the same flights and they cost RM100 cheaper per ticket. Of course, it could have gone up as well in the past 5 weeks, or could have sold out on some popular sectors and I would not have gotten the timing that I wanted. 

Oh well ... good for you to know!

The Itinerary: