ANA and JAL’s Time Sale Happens Every Month and It’s Perfect for Domestic Travel
Sale implementation schedule and buying timing?
The timing of Time Sales is irregular, but by analyzing the periods in which they have been held so far, a rough estimate can be made.
Looking at the most recent February sale, JAL offered tickets through May. It is expected that tickets for June will be available in March. On the other hand, since ANA has a longer sales period than JAL, even if you miss out, there will still be a chance to purchase tickets in the next sale. In any case, it is crucial to stay updated through newsletters and social media to avoid missing sale announcements.
The best time to buy depends on whether your travel date is fixed. If you have a specific date you must travel, booking immediately after the sale starts is recommended. Flights at convenient times on weekends and holidays are highly competitive, so it is essential to be prepared to navigate the virtual waiting room as soon as sales begin.
On the other hand, if your travel schedule is flexible—such as traveling on a weekday—it is likely that seats will still be available without rushing. By checking seat availability and planning your trip accordingly, it is no exaggeration to say that you can travel domestically at the most reasonable price.
One important thing to remember is the purchase deadline for sale fares. In ANA’s case, even though the sales period is longer, the payment deadline is the same day as the reservation, so caution is needed.
Conversely, some people make reservations but do not complete their purchases. Therefore, even if the flight you aimed for is fully booked right after sales begin, checking again after midnight the next day may reveal that fully booked has changed to seats available.
Recommended Routes” to Aim for at the Time Sale
Recommended routes to aim for at the time sale
The target routes for time sales are those with only ANA or JAL flights, meaning airports that are not serviced by other carriers like LCCs, or in other words, monopoly routes. Since there is no competition and no land routes like the shinkansen, fares tend to stay high unless you book well in advance.
For example, the Tokyo (Haneda) – Misawa route, which is only served by JAL Group flights, was available for 6,970 yen in the latest time sale (including the domestic passenger service charge at Haneda Airport), while the lowest regular fare on the same day was 15,770 yen one way. For a round trip, the fare difference would be more than double. Other routes from Haneda that are good targets include Yamagata, Nanki-Shirahama, Amami Oshima, the Amami Islands in Kagoshima, the southwestern islands of Okinawa, Osaka (Itami) – Oki Islands, and Sapporo (Okadama) – Rishiri.
Additionally, the Tokyo (Haneda) – Wakkanai route, which is only served by ANA Group flights, was available for 10,670 yen one way in the time sale, while the lowest regular fare was 20,170 yen, showing a significant difference of about 20,000 yen for a round trip. Other good target routes for ANA from Haneda include Monbetsu, Nakashibetsu, Odate-Noshiro, Shonai, Toyama, Hachijojima, Tottori, Yonago, Hagi-Iwami, Iwakuni, and Saga.
The major routes from Tokyo (Haneda) – Osaka (Itami), Fukuoka, and Sapporo (Chitose) are also worth considering. Since there are many flights per day, avoiding peak weekday morning flights, evening to night flights often used for business, and weekend morning or evening flights, which are popular for leisure or homecoming, increases the chance of finding a deal.
The prices of the tickets mentioned in the article were researched in mid-February, for flights departing on April 1st.
