Japan is the hottest destination at the moment! If you’ve ever looked up flights to Japan, you know how expensive they can get—especially for a direct route. So when I found out that ZIPAIR flies nonstop from San Jose, CA to Narita, Japan for a fraction of the usual cost, I had to give it a shot. Spending over 10 hours on a budget airlines doesn’t sound completely fun but I say ZIPAIR is worth it! And that’s coming from someone who has flown business class with ANA.

Booking

ZIPAIR is a budget airline, which means the base fare is just that—the base. My ticket was ridiculously cheap compared to other airlines, but everything else (checked bags, meals, even water) costs extra. For this flight specifically, our base fares were $536 per person round trip. Meals cost $12 and we chose to buy a bundle which allowed us to choose our seats and have an extra 5kg of baggage weight ($58 on the way there, $45 for the return pp). ZIPAIR lets you bring on 7kg between two carry on pieces for free. Just make sure that you don’t go over the weight limits because they even weighed our carry ons at Narita. I always recommend bringing a small luggage scale to avoid extra weight costs because you don’t want to be that person emptying out their suitcase and putting on extra layers to avoid fees :)

Check-in & Boarding

San Jose Airport is super easy to navigate, so getting through security was a breeze. As someone born and raised in San Jose, I have always appreciated the ease and convenience of SJC.

Something to note is that all guests have to check in at the counter. Just make sure to get there early enough in case things move a little slower but they are staffed pretty well to check in all passengers. We boarded about 30 minutes later than scheduled due to the flight arriving late.

The In-Flight Experience

ZIPAIR flies a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which automatically makes the experience feel more comfortable. The seats were clean and modern, and legroom was pretty standard. They also offer lie-flat business class seats at a much lower price than traditional airlines, which is tempting if you’re looking for a more premium experience. Keep in mind that the “business class” is not a true business class experience, just the lay flat seat. Seats are configured in a 3-3-3 configuration.

There’s no seat-back entertainment, so you’ll need to bring your own device. They do offer free Wi-Fi, which is a nice touch, though it wasn’t the fastest. At times, the Wi-Fi was also spotty, and several of my Instagram followers have reported the same. This wasn’t a big deal for me and I have always found Wi-Fi on international flights to be inconsistent.

Japanese airlines are known for high quality service. Despite ZIPAIR being a budget airline, we were treated so well by the flight attendants.

Food & Extras

ZIPAIR doesn’t include meals with the ticket, but you can pre-order food or buy snacks onboard with the QR code. Everything sold in flight was super reasonable. Some sample prices include a water bottle for 250 yen and soda for 300 yen. You can also buy alcohol with the very reasonable prices.

I was super curious to see what my pre-ordered meal would be like! I ordered the sweet and sour pork and honestly it was actually good for $12.

Final Thoughts

Would I fly ZIPAIR again? Absolutely. And at the time of writing this, I’ve flown round trip to Japan with them twice now! It’s a no-frills airline, but for a direct flight to Tokyo at this price, I really can’t complain. As long as you know what to expect—budget airline means budget experience—it’s a solid option. For travelers like me who enjoy spontaneous trips to Japan, as long as the flight ticket price and PTO works out, I’m going.

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