Tokyo Airfares: L.A. Times Dropped The Ball

Above, a Korean Air Lines jet being prepared for a flight to Japan. Korean Air had the lowest round-trip fare I found. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

While reading the listings of airfares in the Los Angeles Times Travel section yesterday, I noticed that the lowest (and only) airfare listed from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Tokyo was $1,064.00 from these airlines: ANA, American, Delta, JAL, Singapore and United.

I thought this price was odd as only a week before they listed the price for a round-trip ticket from LAX to Narita at around $800. Even this was a bit high as fares generally drop during the off-season. So I decided to do some checking on my own.

Through my source, the lowest airfare I found was $360.00 + tax and fuel surcharge from Korean Air Lines. Others (including Continental, ANA and United) averaged at $454.00 + tax + service fee.

The Times checks airfares on Thursdays, the day before the Sunday Travel section goes to press. It appears they didn't check very well since I found fares much lower than they did. And, it only took me a few minutes to do so.

This does not give me much confidence in the paper's travel section staff.