In Korea, there are several airlines which offer cheap and good prices. Also, they open an event, "super early bird" or "early bird" so that we can catch cheap flights when we can plan the travels ahead.
So if there is anybody who wants to make a trip through Asia or transferring in Korea or staying here for a few days/travel in Korea, these airlines will be a good choice for you! What you have to notice is that there are some air routes that go to Guam, Saipan, and so on.
Here are some airlines that I look up when I make a travel to a country in where I mentioned above.
- Jin air / www.jinair.com
- Eastar jet / www.eastarjet.com
- Tway air / www.twayair.com
- Jeju air / www.jejuair.net
Except those above, there are more airlines like "air busan", "air seoul" . Wish there will come some people who can use this information in an useful way!
Unfortunately, according to the air routes and airlines, they don't offer meals in the flight. But they have a system that you can make a reservation before you leave so that you won't be hungry during your flight!
- BOOK A FLIGHT
To plan a travel, the first thing that we do is deciding where to go and then booking a flight ticket!
This moment is the most awesome one for me when I travel because it finally gives me the feeling that I go somewhere and have something to do to make it as one of the best travels.
- Decide WHEN TO LEAVE
I went to Okinawa on the first week of May with my friend from high school. And there 1st, 3rd, 5th of May were holidays in Korea. So if people use a vacation just for one day, they could take a rest for 5 days maximum. It was same for me so I took a vacation from my company just for one day on 2nd of May!
- Find a FLIGHT
The airline that I used for this travel is EASTAR JET.
First, to book the ticket, I looked up the round trip flight ticket between Korea and Okinawa with the websites that I mentioned above. I tried to find the cheapest one. But at the same time, it was important to check when it arrives and leaves Okinawa so that we could make our best plans for the trip saving the time!
Unfortunately, because of my schedule of the train for going back to my working place and other plans, we could travel only for 2 nights and 3 days.
So the one that leaves at 11:30 on 30th of April and comes back at 14:50 on 2nd of May was chosen by us. However, I am sure that there are many other flights that are cheaper and more suitable for your schedule :)
- RESERVE A RENT CAR
Okinawa is an island that is long from south to north and because public transportation is a bit uncomfortable for travelers, it is essential to reserve a rent car!
There are a few rental shops but the most famous one is OTS rent car. https://www.otsinternational.jp/otsrentacar/
If you reserve a car 30-40 days earlier than your travel, you can book it almost with the half price!
Unfortunately, I couldn't book it that early, it had a reasonable price that i could afford.
And you can choose options like ETC card-it helps you to pass highway without taking ticket and waiting to pay a fee, Pocket WIFI-so that you can use internet anywhere you go, and Insurance service-You can choose 2 types of safety packs.
Talking about safety packs, one is just 'normal safety pack' and the other is 'premium safety pack'. The former one only tolerates one accident, but the latter one tolerates every accidents with paying more. The safety pack is like an insurance. What is important here is that in Japan, having a scratch on your car can be counted as an accident as well so watch out for it!
Also, it has branches in Okinawa, therefore you can choose at which branch you wanna pick up and then return a car. I chose a branch near to the airport and they offer a shuttle bus between airport and a branch back and forth.
- EXCHANGE MONEY
Money is one of the means that can make our journey easier. Especially I like to eat local foods whenever I travel. I think it is really a big purpose of my travels that I have done. To have it, I always look up what must-eat are and start to expect it a lot! And to reach my goal of this, money is always essential for me.
In Japan, people use Yen and in Korea, people use Won.
Before, I just went to banks to exchange money but now I don't do that. I just use apps for it.
There are so many applications that I can use for exchanging money in Korea. Especially, when I use them wisely, they help us have advantage of exchange rate 90%! And I can apply for exchanging money with the exchange rate I want and wherever I go with my phone. What I need to do is just not forgetting to get the money at the banks or ATM machines in the airport on the day I leave.
I heard that there are some applications like above. What I used this time for travel is 'SUNNY BANK' and it's so easy to use and I loved it! I definitely would like to use it next time as well.
an end of story of my preparation for this travel. I hope you liked it and it will be helpful if you are planning to go to Okinawa in a coming future!
Next time, I would like to bring my real travel stories according to my schedule and show you where I went and what I enjoyed.
THANKS A LOT for reading it!