japan times...Tuesday, July 4, 2006


THE ZEIT GIST
Travel firm rapped over foreigner ticket policy
Top travel agency charges foreigners more for 'discount' air tickets


By VANESSA MITCHELL
The nation's largest discount travel agency, HIS, which also runs foreigner-friendly No.1 Travel, has based the price of some air tickets from Japan on the nationality of the traveler, possibly in breach of Japanese law, The Japan Times has learned.


Holidaygoers line up at airline check-in counters at New Tokyo International airport, Narita. AP

Foreigners trying to buy discount tickets through the company were quoted higher prices than Japanese customers purchasing discount seats on the same flight.

The policy came to light when the company offered a discount ticket to Los Angeles over the telephone to a Japanese caller, but said it was no longer available at the quoted price after finding out a Canadian was the intended traveler.

It then informed the caller that the price for the ticket would be higher for a non-Japanese customer.

However, Japanese Air Law, Article 105, Paragraph 2, clearly states that "no specific passenger or consigner will be unfairly discriminated against."

The company, which has acknowledged the ticketing policy, has defended its actions, denying ticketing pricing discrimination and suggesting foreign customers pose a threat to profits.

Jason, a Canadian resident of Japan, wanted to fly on All Nippon Airways to Los Angeles just after Golden Week and asked his Japanese girlfriend to
check for cheap tickets online.

She eventually found a return ticket to Los Angeles listed on the HIS Web site for 57,000 yen.

Jason's girlfriend called HIS in Shinjuku to find out if the tickets were still available and was told that they were. She relayed this information
to Jason in English.

"She was speaking to them in Japanese and then talking to me in English," he said.

Soon after, the sales assistant asked if the ticket was for her, and, having been told it wasn't, asked about the nationality of the person who wanted to buy it.

Jason's girlfriend explained that the customer would be Canadian, and was promptly told that the ticket "is not available, and (that) the price for a non-Japanese person is 70,000 yen."

Surprised, the couple confirmed that this was the case by contacting No.1 Travel in Shinjuku, an affiliate of HIS. They then reconfirmed the company's policy with HIS in Iidabashi.

"With corporations as big as HIS there's a lack of communication and one person will tell you one thing and another person will tell you another.
That's why we checked it three times," he said.

When the couple asked why the prices for foreigners and Japanese nationals were different, they were told that the tickets were part of a package tour which had been canceled and that HIS was now selling the tickets to Japanese people only.

The couple are baffled at the explanation given.

"This is a strange story. There is no reason for these tickets to be cheaper for Japanese people than foreigners.

"They're boarding the same plane, eating the same food and getting the same service. There's no way that foreigners treatment would be any different to that of Japanese."

"They're reasoning or their justification doesn't make any sense, it doesn't satisfy me," says Jason.

"I live and work in Japan, and I pay the same taxes, I should be entitled to that ticket price," he said.

But Yukie Kinokuni, from the Corporate Planning Department of H.I.S. Co., Ltd., argues that business concerns, not discrimination, dictated the pricing policy.

According to Kinokuni, foreigners buy return tickets because they are cheaper than one-way tickets. They then return to their countries and don't use the return portion.

"In this case the airline may charge us the full fare which means low profits or a loss.

"So in order to avoid the risk we restricted the tickets to Japanese only customers, who will definitely return to Japan."

In doing so, they don't feel they were being discriminatory.

"We have never thought of ourselves as being discriminatory," said Kinokuni.

The ticketing policy has surprised both ANA and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, who both claim they had no prior knowledge of the company's actions and have demanded it be stopped.

Although HIS sets ticketing policy, it is ANA that is liable under the law for fines associated with ticketing discrimination, according to a spokesman for the Aviation Industries Division of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

But ANA has denied any prior knowledge of the practice, describing the ticketing policy as "hard to understand" and pointing the finger of blame
at HIS.

"The first time we heard about this was when you contacted us and asked us about it," said Toshiki Yamamoto, Manager of Public Relations for All
Nippon Airways Co., Ltd.

"We fix our prices, as far as we know according to the law. We can't control the retail end and what price they are setting.

"If they are selling in that manner, we are going to have to tell them that they can't do that, but as to where the responsibility lies, if they're
selling it at a price that they are fixing, I think the responsibility lies with them," said Yamamoto.

HIS confirmed that ANA was not aware of the policy, saying the company does not report back to ANA and is wholly responsible for setting prices and the conditions of their own tickets.

But it was also quick to deny responsibility, with Kinokuni stating: "We don't recognize that we sold prohibited tickets. Therefore we are notliable for a fine."

Boo! Never used them anyway, but that sucks.

That is pretty crappy timing as just booked a ticket through them about 5 hours ago!!!! Having said that they were the only company who could find me a ticket and also the cheapest price at short notice (or maybe not had i phoned in Japanese?!?!?! :rolleyes: )
Unfortunately I am not really shocked about this kind of behaviour here anymore!!

call them back and say that you were lied too thus you are canceling your purchase. se what happens then.

i used to use them alot but i always ask for quotes from everyone the scary thing is that they are all pretty much the same price. id say that everyone is doing it. check with your airlines

I don�t want to be the devils advocate, but�..
Isn�t that a standard practice in your country? I am not very proud to say that, but in Greece �foreigners� pay usually double or even triple time the price than the locals�..and also usually never makes it to the news�..

Tsonda... NO! In Oz everyone travels smae price.

I just went through HIS because my J mate arranged the trip for his wedding thru a mate there. Got the best deal I've had so far, so no complaints from me.

lol Oz people must be really honest then.
I went into a shop last time I was in Greece to buy some souvenirs to bring back to Japan and I was told from the owner that the prices on the items are for foreigners. I got them for less than half the price. Also, I asked a Greek friend of mine to book me hotels etc and also paid less than the price they were charging officially.

im not going to greece now

Why the boo-hoo knee jerk reaction? It isn�t racism, it�s economics.

As a non-Japanese speaking foreigner living in Japan I would expect to be charged more by the only English speaking travel agent. In my opinion, they have every right to price their service where there is equilibrium between demand and supply. The commodity is not seats on a flight, rather it is English speaking agency services. If you don�t agree then use another English speaking agency. You might then learn a something new about the supply side of the equation.

Shop owner in Surfers Paradise (in Australia) are famous for jacking up prices the moment a Japanese bus load arrives. They know that Japanese are gullible and even if they do smell a rat, are too polite/shy to complain.

Go to Hertz.com and select America as your county of residence. Then get a price for a 3 day car rental in Germany. Now clear your cache and do it again, this time selecting Germany as your country of residence. The price for Americans can be up to 4 times higher.

damn germans

the boo-hoo knee jerk reaction is to the fact that they are in violation of Japanese Air Law, Article 105, Paragraph 2, which clearly states that "no specific passenger or consigner will be unfairly discriminated against."

the boo-hoo knee jerk reaction is to the fact that this "ticketing policy has surprised both ANA and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, who both claim they had no prior knowledge of the company's actions and have demanded it be stopped."

the boo-hoo knee jerk reaction is in response to HIS's ignorant, and dismissive, "We don't recognize that we sold prohibited tickets. Therefore we are not liable for a fine", stance.

the examples you have stated do not justify anything. they just demonstrate more acts of discrimination that you seemingly condone.

In my opinion it isn�t unfair discrimination. It is quite fair and justified by the system of free market economics that is practiced in Japan. It is a matter of demand and supply for English speaking travel agent services. That the law prohibits it is quite amusing to me. The same law should be equally applied to a whole host of other products and services that are differentially priced.

I think it was silly of HIS to charge a higher price for the actual ticket when they simply should charge a uniform price for the ticket and a higher commission for any sale to a non-Japanese speaker. There is a big difference.

Try buying a car in Japan using a gaijin broker. You will pay for the English speaking service.

My examples were not intended to justify anything, they were simply examples of differential pricing practised by an American company (to the disadvantage of its own citizens) and of Australian shop keepers.

I do however condone the higher price charged for travel agency services in English. That is perfectly fair.

This is not a statement that Free Market capitalism is fair. But whilst that is the system of trade in Japan, the HIS pricing strategy is a fair one (on the basis of rational interpretation. I admit that on the basis of feelings, it does not seem fair at all.)

no 1 travel staff isnt highly pad i think the staff turn over is horrible. One price one system im more than happy to just speak japanese if it saves me 200 bucks. id also like to know that though. as a person that will be a long term resident here i think that knowing what the actual price is important. when i book a holiday for my wife and am i paying 30% more cause im not japanese. would i have saved more money if my wife booked it? those are valid points i think. The fact that there is a law that says no one should be charged more is an important point. One price for all no matter what... if that is the law then it has to be followed.

le spud: This story is not about No1 Travel which is affiliated with HIS and does provide English (and other) language service. This is about the plain old HIS travel agency service in Japanese.

It's still better than being put on a no-fly list and not being told why you're on it, or even that you're on it...

This is a bizarre one in that according to HIS, dealing with foreigners carries more risk. It's not about whether matey boy has the same chicken or fish on the plane. They say its about his risk of dropping them in the shit with the airline. In that sense, it may not be "unfair" discrimination. Thats what the law is about.

I never use HIS because they don't take credit cards. Free insurance for my family if I use mine.

Which cc is that Mr wiggles?

most cards i think

A rather dire and embarrassing failure to understand the difference between public and private duties and rights...

News item: The foreigner then became hysterical shouting, and trying to force his way down the aisle. "I live and work in Japan, and I pay the same taxes, I should be entitled to sit next to echineko! That is echineko I'm sure!" he said.

damn. my gf needs to buy a ticket to Thailand today, so I called No1 for quotes yesterday - they seemed ok value, and cheaper than the internet, but it sucks to know that you might be being chanrged more than necessary...

in unregulated countries one expects sharks and cheats... but in travel agencies in the UK it makes NO difference what nationality you are.
that is just f#ed.

spud - your arguament would make sense if HIS charged higher accross the board, for their service of English speaking staff, but to offer different prices to different nationalities based on their PREDICTED BEHAVIOUR (not using the return parts of tickets) is indefensible - especially if you then deny the practice!

being charged 2000 yen to use VISA by No1 is a pain but you pays your money and makes your choice.