Hey guys, have anyone had experience with Gotogate and Japan Airlines?

It seems i cant do web check in for my flight with JAL, the flight is tomorrow.

Based on the seat selection page, i see the flight is almost full already means others have checked in, but i cant?

Should i be concerned?

What error message are you getting? JAL web check in is normally 24hours before your departure. So if you flight is tomm night, there is still more than 24 hours.

Hi, I can only share my limited experience (visited Summer 2017). Can't comment on the driving part since I used buses and trains when I was there, but I do remember thinking that Hokkaido is huge....and it takes a few hours to travel from city to city.

For Sapporo, keep in mind that Mt. Moiwa may have a lot of people if you decide to go at night for the views. For your 9th day, what do you like to do? Shopping? Strolling around parks?

Some comments:
1) Are you picking up car rental from airport ?

2) #2 Lake Toya to Otaru is about 2.5 hours drive, earliest you reach there will be late morning. Then you walk around/eat/etc. Then you need to rush from Otaru to Asahikawa is another 2.5-3 hours drive and check-in by 3-5pm as that's their acceptable time, late check in (6pm or later) is sort of frowned upon even if you inform the host. Hokkaido is sort of laid back and close early, as compared to Honshu. My suggestion is try to over night somewhere (maybe Otaru) and enjoy. I think Otaru can spend 4-6 hours walk, cafe, relax, etc. for me. Some people say 2 hours all done

3) Furano - Tomamu - Sapporo is the longest drive. To and fro you may spend 5-6 hours on the road. Normally I suggest to spend minimum 2 nights if you go that far and enjoy the journey + environment there. Don't just rush along the expressway, try stop by those rest area or nearby towns for interesting stuff/food/local produce/etc. e.g. white/yellow corn, melons, apricots, etc. depending on season maybe cheaper.

4) When and where will you return your car rental ? My first and this question is because you don't really need to drive in Sapporo, you can get around with subway and buses, and it is not easy & cheap to find car park in Sapporo city centre. During summer, they have food & beer fest along the whole Odori park.

just got an update from the hotel, and answer yes they can help to keep our luggage for few days

wow , this is quite good of a deal.

check who is their partnering telco in Japan, if it is one of the big boys. NTT Docomo, Softbank.
Coverage wont be a problem for sure if its them.

I was in the same situation last year during my trip to Osaka .
The hotel don’t let u keep the luggage there overnight
First hotel don’t let since we are not coming back
Last hotel don’t let since we are not checking in yet .
We took an overnight stay at some onsen town in between
So end up store the luggage at coin lockers . Have to look for big ones . We stored it at TENNOJI stn since that’s where our last hotel is

Yamadera, many say crampon is necessary for safety. I never buy check in luggage for aa flight, if crampon not allowed as carry on, need to decide whether to remove it from list or not. What do u think? Is yamadera worth a visit? Thx

Crampons? Is someone going to climb a mountain?

Oot, but the last few times I've been overseas (Thailand and Korea) i just got by using Digi internet passes. So much easier than fiddling with a new SIM card though i agree if there's a group, it's probably cheaper to share a portable WiFi.

It's Docomo

Seat selected doesn’t mean they are checked in - so I don’t see a concern here. Actually I was able to select seats prior to online check in too, but that was before JAL migrated their system to Amadeus. Post-migration I was not able to manage my booking till online check-in opens.

any street food area at Kobe like at nishiki market and dotonbori?

there is one chinastreet in Kobe

Yup, aware that need few hour to travel thus staying in multiple hotel to reduce the distance to drive.

Is the night view worth it? Saw alot comment that it is too crowded to actually enjoy the night view. For 9th day, some shopping and see if there is any more interesting place to visit around sapporo +- 1hour of driving is fine.

1) Yeap, will be picking up from airport.

2) Is there any interesting place around lake toya to spend more time there? Main purpose is on the night firework and I'm thinking to leave around 9am next morning to Otaru after breakfast. I expecting to reach Asahikawa late evening/night and I'm going for airbnb it should be okay if I discuss with the host earlier. Do Otaru worth to spend a night there? From numerous blog it seems a very relax place with nice cafe and the otaru canal at night seem nice during winter but I'm not sure during summer will it look normal

3) Yeap, so I stay one night at Tomamu to avoid waking up at 2am to drive to Tomamu for Unkai Terrace. Agree with you, we try not to rush the itinerary also but Do you think my itinerary now is rush to cover all the attraction?

4) Oh, is it really easy to commute within sapporo? If easy, I might return the rental car on the day we reach Sapporo. Thanks for the info, that's interesting so I guess 4D3N at sapporo is sufficient.

Thanks!

The night view over Sapporo is really nice...but yes it was super crowded when I was there. Luckily I hiked up in the afternoon and I found a spot while it was still empty to catch the sunset + night views. If you're worried about the crowds but still want night views over a city, may I suggest Mt. Tengu in Otaru? Not as many lights as Otaru is smaller in size compared to Sapporo, but the view of the port + city, and less crowds was worth it to me

With regards to point (2), I personally wished I stayed the night in Otaru (maybe next time hehe) I very much wanted more time to walk around the city and enjoy the cafes, plus I wanted to travel up to the aquarium, but lack of time + coincided with the festival.

For point (4), yes it's really easy to navigate within Sapporo. Most of the city can be accessed by public transport. Some places further out may only be accessed by bus though.



This post has been edited by duh2k: Jan 9 2018, 09:08 PM

2) Lake Toya daily fireworks ... emm ... *spoiler alert* how to say as not to disappoint you ... it isn't that spectacular as those New Year countdown even in places like KLCC/DPC/Sunway/Genting. Just to set your expectation.
On the way from Noboribetsu to Lake Toya, you'll pass by several fruit farms or vegetables if you intend to cook or steamboat, actually the local produce in Hokkaido are very good and our next trip is to cook/steamboat ourselves at several homestay places.

For me, Otaru can spend the daylight times to walk around and eat/drink along the inner street. Once 6pm and sky gets dark, 80% of the tourist will be gone and you can have more room to breathe and enjoy the view. Also it's the time to walk along the canal with lights and maybe have dinner also. Summer is nice also, it won't be smelly or dirty like our Klang/Gombak river.

Then you can arrange next day wake up earlier and drive straight to Asahikawa so you'll have few more hours there to spend and adjust your Asahikawa/Biei/Furano schedule.

3) I've not yet been to Tomamu, but drove further to Abashiri - Shari. Maybe I'm not that young anymore, so our schedule are like half day itenary, another half day just wander around town/local, or relax at the homestay. My suggestion is no need spend too many days shopping in Sapporo. Shopping maybe another trip to Tokyo/Osaka, those places are better. Of course there are some stuff which are available in Hokkaido or season-based only.
So for me is a definite yes to spend +1 day in either Asahikawa/Biei/Furano or somewhere Tomamu.

My fav Marusei Butter Sandwich and I think you are quite near the Obihiro factory somewhere near Tomamu.

4) Yes, as long as you can walk a lot, if you walk Dotonburi before, you will make it in Sapporo city centre. Even in Sapporo JR station and underground shopping, there are many surprise temporary kiosk/stalls depending on season or some local produce shops. Same in other cities like Furano/Biei/Asahikawa/etc.

yea, if alone no brainer!
but even if the passes are so convenient. can just put in to a 2nd phone and hotspot it.

thats what i did haha

should be no problem!
the speed would be awesome haha.

is it this one ??

Ok, great. If that's the case I maybe add 1 night at Otaru and went for Mt. Tengu and for Sapporo just see if it's crowded on the day. I guess if the ropeway is crowded, the top should be crowded right?

Oh, then that should be fine since last 2-3 days just gonna be in Sapporo wont be going further than Sapporo. By the way, my flight on last day is 9.20AM AAX, which public transport is available in morning to New Chitose Airport?

Thank you so much for the details information

2) Haha, kinda guess so but also want to go for 1 night of better hotel there with onsen and at same time enjoy the view of Lake Toya. Dont think this time will be cooking steamboat as first time there, want to try out most the food there

Sounds good for the Otaru plan, if that's the case perhaps I will reduce 1 day in Sapporo. Will the restaurant at Otaru close early at night?

3) For us, shopping just on souvenir and snacks but most of it might be able to get on first day where we will spend 2-3 hour at New Chitose Airport, as last day we have no time at the airport. Yess! that butter sandwich is in my to-buy-list, is the factory sell cheaper or more variety compare getting from Sapporo?

4)Ok, thats great means I can return rental car on the day arrive at Sapporo.

Thanks so much for the suggestion and info