Since April, the flow of people has been halted by the new coronavirus, and many restaurants, hotels, tourist facilities, and transportation facilities have been drastically affected by the sudden decrease in the number of people using their services.
In order to support these businesses, the government launched the "Go To Travel" program on July 22, 2020, under which the government pays the equivalent of half the cost of travel. The program got off to a slow start at the time because the number of infected people was still high, and the government only offered a 35% discount on the cost of travel.
In October, a common regional coupon (15%) was granted in addition to the travel discount.
The campaign has contributed to the return of people to the tourist area from the four weekend holidays in September.
My family didn't go anywhere except to Hitachi Seaside Park and Tokyo Sky Tree . But I went to Tokyo almost everyday for commuting.
Autumn is the best season for sightseeing, so I decided to go to Kumamoto and Fukuoka for 3 days and 2 nights in November, taking advantage of this campaign. I took JAL dynamic package of Japan Airlines.
That cost is 109,000 yen for a round trip air ticket from Haneda Airport, a Kyushu Shinkansen ticket from Kumamoto to Hakata, and a hotel for two nights. I subtracted a discount coupon of 35,200 yen from that amount and paid 73,800 yen. Since they received a regional common coupon of 15,000 yen, which can be used for meals, shopping and car rentals, the total cost of the trip was 58,800 yen for the two of them.
A 50% discount on 109,000 yen would be 54,500 yen, but if you calculate it, the discount seems to be based on a non-tax charge.
In addition, I paid for this trip by exchanging JAL miles for e-points, which meant I could travel for 3 days and 2 nights for only 13,800 yen.
I really wanted to use JAL travel vouchers instead of redeeming miles, but I can't use them for dynamic packages. I've been saving for JAL travel every month, but it's not very useful, even though I can use it for JAL packs.
I was originally planning to go to Kumamoto this year, so I'm glad I was able to take advantage of this campaign. But whether or not I can meet my friends in Kumamoto for dinner depends on them. I'd like to meet my friends in Kumamoto for dinner if I can.
