Go To Travel Campaign ―The opportunity you can travel at a half price started in July, 2020 for overnight trips and day trips. (Read How to Apply for the Go To Travel Campaign for more details)
Travel coupons are distributed which have a value of 15% of the total travel cost. You can use these coupons at the prefecture of your travel destination or adjacent prefectures, but you might be wondering how it works and what you can do with them. So here we explain everything you need to know about the Go To Travel Campaign coupons!
What is the coupons?
As we explained in this article, you can save up 50% of your travel cost with the Go To Travel Campaign with the combination of the reimbursement valued 35% of total travel cost and 15% by distributing coupons. (Up to ¥20,000 per day per person for overnight trips)
You can use these coupons at the souvenir shops, restaurants, touristic facilities, activities, transportation etc. in your travel destination (only at the prefecture you travel to or neighboring prefecture of your destination). The coupons are valid only during your travel dates.
They issue the coupon by ¥1,000 and you can get them with paper coupon and electric coupon which you can use with your smartphone.
Where can you receive them?
There are 2 types of coupons, paper ticket and electric ticket, and which coupon you will get is up to where you booked your trip.
- If you book at the store; you will get the paper coupons when you payed at the store.
- If you book through website; (1) you can get the paper coupon when you check in to the accommodation, or (2) you can get the electric coupon on the first day of your trip. It will be available after 3pm if it’s a overnight trip, after 12pm if it’s a day trip.
- If you book directly from the accommodation; you will get the paper coupons when you check in to the accommodation.
How to use the coupons
There will be a blue flyer or sticker with “Go To トラベル” logo shown at the front of the shops, restaurants, facilities etc. to know if you can use the coupons. And you can check which type of coupon you can use (紙クーポン means paper coupon and 電子クーポン means electric coupon) and which prefecture they are located on the flyer. You can use the coupons only at the destination (prefecture) and neighboring prefecture.
For example, if you travel to Fukushima, you can use the coupons in Fukushima + Miyagi, Yamagata, Niigata, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma prefectures.
Where can you use them?
You can check the list of the facilities with the excel sheet but the easier way for you would be checking the available facilities on the map from the website below.
You can either search with 現在地 which means the current location or 都道府県(prefectures).
Put check marks on what kind of facilities you want to search in the area.
観光文化関連 (red box) includes tourist facilities such as museum, theme park, zoo and hot spring etc.
屋内体験施設(blue box) includes sport game, theater, movie theater, manga cafe etc.
屋外体験施設(green box) includes sport gym, fitness etc.
If you want to directly look at the map and see where you can use the coupons at the destination, check the map below.
Paper coupon
The valid dates and prefectures you can use are written on the front, and issued by 1,000 yen.
You cannot get the change from the coupon, but you can also pay the rest with cash. (E.g. when you buy your souvenir gift for 1,500 yen, you can use 1,000 yen coupon and pay 500 yen with cash. When you get a snack for 900 yen using 1000 yen coupon, there is no change. )
Electric coupon
There are ¥1,000, ¥2,000 and ¥5,000 coupons. There will be the website to get the coupon (you don’t need to download the app but can access with the browsers), and login with travel agency’s ID, booking number and your destination. These information will come with an email on the first day of your trip. (It will be available after 3pm if it’s a overnight trip, after 12pm if it’s a day trip.)
And you can choose the coupon amount (¥1,000, ¥2,000 and ¥5,000) to issue the coupon, and when you want to use it, scan QR code at the register and show your screen to a staff and payment will be confirmed! Please note that there will be no change when you use electric coupon either.
To learn more about the coupons, here is the best way to use Go To Travel Coupons at the popular destinations in Japan!
What you can’t do with the coupons
- You can’t exchange the coupons with cash
- You will not get refund when you want to return the item which bought with coupon
- You can’t receive your change
- You can’t exchange your coupons with other destination’s coupons
- If the total travel cost is under ¥3,334, you will not get the coupons
These coupons are aimed to contribute to the local economy so it has to be consumed in the destination, for example, you can’t pay tax or utility bills with the coupons, and you can’t buy prepaid card or gift cards.
You may wonder if you can use the coupons at the supermarket or convenience store, and the answer is technically yes, but it is up to the local branch whether they decided to participate to the campaign or not. For example, if the local convenience store at your destination has the sticker/flyer on the front, you can use it. But please remember, it’s not applied to every convenience store in Japan. If you are unsure, you can always ask staff too. Let’s use the coupons on something you can only buy/do at your destination!
*Please note that if you cancel the trip after you received the coupons, or if you downsized the number of the travelers and changed the package price, it’s necessary to return the coupons to the travel agency/accommodation where you booked your travel.
Let’s “Go To Travel” with us!
We have Go To Travel Packages to the popular destinations and we will give you electric coupons. Of course, you can use your coupons for our local guided tours too! We can also customize a package just for you. Contact us if you have any questions about Go To Travel Campaign or want to travel cheap with us. Let us know your travel date, destination and preference etc. so that we can help you make the best trip in Japan with the campaign.
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