Seoul Departures: How Travelers Score Premium Economy for Less

Why deliberately choose flights departing from Seoul? Here’s the compelling reason behind it.

In recent years, high airfares are not limited to Japan. However, did you know that for flights from East Asia to destinations like the U.S. or Europe, fares can differ significantly between departing from Tokyo and departing from Seoul?

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, “Seoul-departing” tickets have been well-known among travel enthusiasts and frequent-flyer mile hunters. Compared to flying directly from Japan, these tickets often offer better fares, faster mileage accumulation, and more flexible rules for changes or cancellations, making them highly cost-effective.

Currently, with the yen weakening and a surge of inbound tourists visiting Japan, airfares for flights to and from Japan have also soared.

Comparison of fares from Tokyo and Seoul!　Some airlines have fares that are two to three times different.

I searched for the lowest fares of major airlines in economy class (round-trip) for mid-March ’26 from Tokyo/Seoul to Paris using the travel search sites “Skyscanner” and “Google Flights.”

Even when comparing fares of major airlines, significant differences can be seen. In particular, Finnair costs more than twice as much when flying to or from Japan, while Qatar Airways and Air France are nearly double, and other foreign carriers also tend to be more expensive from Japan. Direct flights are also cheaper when departing from Korea.

When searching from Japan, the lowest fares are almost always offered by Chinese carriers such as China Eastern Airlines. However, having used Chinese carriers several times myself, I can say that no matter how cheap the fare, the language barrier, and internet restrictions due to China’s “Great Firewall” affecting commonly used SNS like LINE, Google, and Instagram, make it difficult for travelers—especially those not experienced—to use connecting flights in economy class.

Premium Economy from Seoul is also inexpensive and a good choice

On the other hand, fares for the higher-tier “Premium Economy Class” exceed 300,000 yen when departing from Japan, whereas from Seoul they start from the 100,000-yen range. Although there is some business demand for “Business Class” in Seoul as it is the capital of Korea, overall, it is still relatively inexpensive.

The lowest fares from Japan are often “non-refundable,” whereas fares from Seoul have more flexible rules

Also, even within the same booking class, rules regarding cancellations and reservation changes are more flexible for flights departing from Korea compared to Japan, and various fees are lower. In particular, the lowest fares from Japan are often non-refundable.

For example, with Turkish Airlines, a round-trip economy fare from Tokyo to Paris at the lowest fare (around 190,000 yen) comes with rules of non-refundable on cancellation and a change fee of 114,200 yen. Choosing a fare of about 250,000 yen allows for free cancellation and no change fees.

Meanwhile, for Seoul–Paris, the lowest fare (around 150,000 yen) has a cancellation fee from 48,100 yen and a change fee of 48,100 yen, and selecting a fare about 1,000 yen higher allows for free cancellation on some segments and a change fee of 19,300 yen.

The fact that flights from Seoul have long been cheaper while those from Japan are surprisingly expensive

Why, then, is there a difference in fares between departures from Japan and Korea? The main reasons often cited include differences in inbound travel popularity between Japan and Korea, as well as differences in airport departure and arrival fees.

The notion that “Seoul departures are cheaper” has long been established among travel enthusiasts. The author has personally experienced many times that when using Skyscanner and changing the departure city from “Tokyo” to “Seoul” while keeping the same dates, fares drop sharply. For foreign airlines in particular, setting higher fares from Japan may reflect differences such as the prevalence of individual travelers in Korea who research and purchase tickets themselves, versus Japan, where bulk sales to travel agencies are still common.

 

Recommended routes for from Seoul tickets, and what to watch out for

When purchasing a flight departing from Seoul, it is recommended to search and compare fares using sites like Skyscanner or Google Flights, and then buy directly from the airline’s official website. However, in practice, some airlines do not allow purchases of Seoul-departing tickets from Japan on their official sites. In such cases, use OTAs (online travel agencies) like Expedia or Trip.com.

Expedia, which the author occasionally uses, also offers tickets combining different airlines for outbound and return flights, and clearly displays the “booking class” before purchase. Previously, when trying to change a purchased ticket online, the change fee showed as over 50,000 yen. However, after checking with the airline’s official site and negotiating via Expedia’s call center, the change could be made for just a few thousand yen.

Additionally, you need to arrange a separate ticket from Japan to Seoul. For transfers in Seoul, it is standard to enter Korea, collect your luggage, and then check it in again for the next flight. While a 2-hour connection at Incheon Airport is usually possible, a 4-hour or longer connection is safer. Fares between Japan and Seoul fluctuate significantly depending on the season, and there are many low-cost carriers (LCCs).

Recommended routes departing from Seoul are long-haul flights to Europe, the U.S., and Oceania. For regional Japanese airports outside major cities like Tokyo, Osaka, and Fukuoka, depending on the fare to Seoul, it may be cheaper and more convenient than routing through Haneda, Narita, or Kansai.

Furthermore, advanced frequent flyers sometimes use ANA or JAL in the pattern: Seoul Gimpo → Haneda → Europe/America/Oceania → Haneda → Seoul Gimpo. In the earlier fare comparison between Tokyo/Seoul–Paris, ANA fares were about 220,000 yen in both cases. Of course, the round-trip between Tokyo and Seoul is separate, but if the primary goal is to accumulate miles and flight credits, flying via Seoul and connecting through Haneda is more cost-effective, and since it’s on the airline’s own flights, the miles are guaranteed to accrue.

Even though Seoul departures are cheaper, a round-trip between Japan and Korea is still necessary, so this approach is mainly suited for travelers with flexible schedules. However, given that fares from Japan remain high and fuel surcharges are not cheap, taking advantage of Seoul departures can be a practical way to save on travel costs.