There are various ways to travel from Tokyo to Osaka. In the past, I’ve taken an overnight bus, driven there, and gone there via shinkansen on the JR pass (back when I was a tourist).
But on my most recent trip to Kansai with my sister, I decided to go via plane. I’ve never flown with any low cost carrier (LCC) in Japan before even though there are several of them. Peach had the cheapest flight tickets for the period I wanted to travel, so I went with it. The two-way journey with one piece of 20kg check-in luggage each way came up to just 22,000 yen for the 2 of us!
Most other airlines which would easily set us back more than 10,000 yen one way. FOR ONE PERSON. So Peach is literally more than 50% cheaper.
I saw some bad reviews of Peach though, but I took a bit of a gamble and hoped for the best because the tickets were so cheap. Plus, I noticed that the bad reviews were mostly for international flights.
So… how did Peach fare?
Review of Peach
Ticket reservation was easy and fuss-free. I got the e-tickets in my inbox almost immediately.
On the actual day, check-in was really simple! We just turned up 30 minutes before the flight, and
(1) Went to the machine
(2) Scanned the barcode in the email
(3) Had the tickets printed for us instantly,
(4) Checked in our luggage, and
(5) Proceeded to the gate. Done!
The plane took off and arrived on time (a couple minutes early, in fact!), so that was really nice.
The plane was fully booked and we didn’t pay for the option to select seats and both flights, we never got to sit together. Not sure if it’s some deliberate move on Peach’s part to make people pay for the seat selection, but either way, it was just a 1.5 hour flight, so I didn’t really mind. We were both snoozing away throughout the entire flight anyway, so it would have just been money wasted.
The seats are pretty standard budget airline seats, compactly packed, and with 3 seats to either side of the single aisle. Of course, no in-flight entertainment, no wifi, and no complimentary drinks or snacks.
But there is something to look out for!
PRO TIP: Buy train tickets at a discount in-flight!
Literally right before the flight, I paid the full price of 2,470 yen for the Skyliner ticket to Narita Airport. So the prices are real and not marked up or something to make them look cheaper.
I wanted to buy the Namba tickets and when I approached the staff after the plane landed in Osaka, they said sales were closed. Ticket sales are only during the flight. Darn it. Shouldn’t have given in to the Z monster! 800 yen could have paid for a tray of takoyaki and a drink!
On the flight back to Narita, I made sure to buy the tickets before I fell asleep. What I received was just a stamp, to exchange for a real ticket at the train station counter later:
One last thing that might be of interest. In Narita, we board the plane like this:
But in Osaka, we have to get off the plane via the stairs:
Would I Fly Peach Again?
Domestically? Absolutely! The service and amenities were extremely basic, but sufficient, and most importantly, they arrived on time for all the flights I took with them. They also didn’t damage nor leave my luggage behind, something I cannot say the same for ANA (which ironically is the parent company of Peach and supposedly a “real” airline. Pfft.)
If you’ve never heard of Peach before this post, well, now you know of another way to travel within Japan! (especially useful for places where the JR pass cannot be used, like to Okinawa)
If you were wondering about Peach and whether or not to fly with them, hopefully this provided a bit of insight!
