Zipair Review: LAX–>Tokyo

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We are back from our family trip to Tokyo, and I have a lot to share. The last time D and I went to Japan was in 2011. At that time, we had our 2 and 4 year old kids stay home with my parents. It was exciting to be able to experience Tokyo this time around with our 15 and 17 year old teenagers!

The first time we went to Japan we flew Singapore Airlines. This time we chose Zipair, which is the budget-friendly subsidiary of JAL. When I first heard about Zipair, I was skeptical about the minimal amenities (no free water?) However, when I saw the dramatically lower prices, I had to do further investigation to see if the cost-savings might be worth it.

Zipair Baggage Limits

We opted for the Zipair Value Package, which I would recommend. The Value Package allows prior seat selection, carry-on baggage of 7 kg, check-in baggage of 30 kg, and an inflight meal. Because I was nervous about the baggage weight limitations, I bought this handheld luggage scale from Amazon. It turns out I really had nothing to worry about, as all of our luggage was way under the limit. However, I am glad that we had the scale for peace of mind. As a bonus, n and D have since used the hand scale to weigh their backpacks before they go backpacking with Boy Scouts. I believe this was the first time an airline weighed our carry-ons. At LAX, they weighed each carry-on separately, and at Narita, they weighed all of our carry-ons together.

Zipair Food

We chose our meals when we booked our tickets. All four of us chose the Hayashi Beef with Tumeric Rice on the way there. For our return flight, the kids and I had Gyudon (beef bowl) and D had Butter Chicken Curry. I also paid 250 yen per meal to have our meals delivered towards the end of the flight instead of the beginning. I figured that we could bring our own food for the first half of the flight and that we would be hungry by the end.

The meals come with a small bottle of water.

This is the Hayashi Beef, which admittedly does not look too appetizing. However, it was actually quite tasty and appreciated.

Even though we all brought disposable water bottles that we filled right before boarding, we needed to order more drinks to avoid dehydration. The on-board ordering process was quite easy through your phone/credit card, and the prices were reasonable. However, be sure to not wait too long to order, as I noticed that many items were sold out.

I thought this baby food offering was interesting. If this is not something your baby would eat, you are probably better off bringing your own food!

Zipair: Is it Worth the Cost-Savings?

For our kids, the biggest down-side of Zipair was the lack of in-flight entertainment. There are no screens on the seats, so no endless movie-watching. (However, the seats themselves were fine and comparable to other airlines). Zipair advertises free Wi-Fi, but we found it very spotty. Zipair has a limited selection of movies (around 10?) that you can watch through their website on your own device. Of course, you can always download movies beforehand if you have the room.

The biggest downside for me was knowing that Zipair does not offer any refunds or rescheduling. I guess this is what traveler’s insurance is for? (We haven’t bought traveler’s insurance before, so I’m not familiar with how it works).

In the end, the lack of flexibility was worth the hundreds, if not thousands in cost-savings (which is easy for us to say when we made both flights). The service on Zipair was prompt and efficient. Both of our flights were on-time (we actually arrived early in Tokyo). Flying with a lesser-known airline can feel risky. However, after talking to D’s brother about his Zipair experience, we were willing to try it out. We also saw a couple of other families we knew on our flight to Narita, which was oddly comforting. If you are on the fence about trying Zipair, I would recommend it!