On 2006-07-04 03:16:01 -0700, "Sigi Rindler" <srindler@da2.so-net.ne.jp> said:

> Read today's Japan Times (Tuesday 4th, July) and learn that these 
> companies are discriminating against foreigners by selling the same 
> ticket for 57,000 yen to Japanese and for 70,000 yen to foreigners!
> Yesterday I bought a ticket at another travel agency after gathering 
> information by phone from a couple of HIS and Travel # 1 branches. 
> Everybody provides another information, and the prices were all higher 
> than what I finally paid.
> If a ticket to Europe cost 100,000 yen, you'll need to pay an 
> additional 30,000 yen for fuel surcharge, and airport taxes.The above 
> mentioned travel agencies vary greatly, and I wondered why I was quoted 
> over 8,000 yen more for this "tax". Also, stopover fees were twice as 
> high compared to other agencies.
> When asking for the most economical ticket to Vienna, Frankfurt or 
> Zurich, I was given the prices of major airlines belonging to the Star 
> Alliance. Only after inquiring about Malaysian Airlines, I noticed that 
> the difference was a "mere" 55,000 yen to the least expensive major 
> airline! I have booked on MAS, since they are really good from previous 
> experiences, and this was the only airline that had no fixed tickets (3 
> months open).
> 
> Watch out and have a Japanese ask for the end price before revealing 
> your nationality! On the other hand, these agencies  might have dropped 
> this practice as of today since airlines (e.g. ANA) and a relevant 
> governmental agency have already complained.
> It was over 50,000 yen profit for me by not going with the two biggest 
> ticket discounters in Japan! By the way H.I.S and Travel No. 1 are one 
> and the same company...
> 
> 
> 
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This really is nothing new. At least 5+ years ago I was always getting 
cheaper tickets from H.I.S. than I was from No 1 travel. Mind you this 
was before all of the Terror/Fuel surcharge crap. I just always thought 
of it as the English sur-charge.



CB