Japan Airlines offers free domestic flights for international travelers

• Japan Airlines offers free domestic flights to tourists from the US and other selected countries.
• Travelers must book round-trip international flights on Japan Airlines to qualify.
• Tokyo has seen a record number of international visitors in 2023, boosting tourism spending to $37 billion.

Japan is a popular place for tourists, and a new initiative will make it easier – and more affordable – to visit than ever.

Japan Airlines is offering free domestic flights to tourists from the US, Canada, Mexico, Thailand, Australia and New Zealand, according to a recent announcement on its website.

It will also be available to tourists from Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, India, China and Taiwan.

To claim the free tickets, passengers must book return international flights with the same airline and domestic flights must be booked in the same booking as international flights.

A USD 100 stopover fee will be charged to travelers from the US, Canada, Mexico and China who plan to stay at their first destination for more than 24 hours.

A Japan Airlines spokesperson told Business Insider that “no end date has been set” for the initiative.

The new initiative means lesser-known towns and cities will become more accessible.

Grace Cheng, a New York-based travel blogger, previously told BI that tourists visiting Japan often make the mistake of only going to the capital, Tokyo, which doesn’t fully represent how broad and versatile the culture is.

Tokyo has become increasingly popular in recent years. In 2023, the number of international visitors to the city reached a record 19.54 million, according to data tracking website Statista.

In the same year, the value of tourism spending by international visitors was about 5.31 trillion Japanese yen, or around $37 billion, the site said.

“Tokyo is not Japan,” Cheng said. “And you have to explore the other cities to get a sense of what Japan is like.”

Cheng recommends visiting Sapporo in Hokkaido Prefecture in northern Japan. She said it is often more accessible than the capital and has friendly locals.

Meanwhile, Harper’s Bazaar Singapore suggests visiting Kanazawa, on the east coast of Japan’s Honshu island, for its Edo-era architecture, historic teahouses and traditional Japanese artists, also known as geisha.

The outlet also named several other popular locations, including Naoshima, an island city in the Seto Inland Sea.