The Japanese government has launched the Go To Travel Campaign to encourage people to travel around Japan from July 22nd, 2020 onwards. This is a great opportunity to travel cheap in Japan! This campaign is not for international travelers but only for residents in Japan. So if you already live in Japan, why not going for a trip around Japan with the Go To Travel Campaign? In this article, we will explain what the Go To Travel Campaign is and how to travel cheap with it!
▷Contact usWhat is the Go To Travel Campaign?
The Go To Campaign consists of 4 different campaigns which will support the industries which have been severely affected by COVID-19 such as travel, food, entertainment industries etc. Go To Travel Campaign is one of these campaigns and the government will cover half of the domestic travel costs up to ¥20,000 per person per day (up to ¥10,000 for a day trip) by issuing coupons which are worth 15% of travel costs (up to a total of ¥6,000 per day) which you can use at the restaurant, other facilities or transportation etc, and giving 35% off discount on the travel package.
There is no limit for the number of traveling with campaign, so you can repeatedly travel at a half price in Japan during the campaign. This campaign will last until February 1st for overnight trips and January 31st for a day trip in 2021 (or if the budget for the Go To Travel Campaign has been reached, the campaign will end earlier than scheduled).
How does Go To Travel Campaign work?
It is basically a package deal and the campaign will cover half of the travel costs up to ¥20,000 per person per day. About 70% of reimbursement is actual discount on the package and about 30% of it is with coupons that you can use for gift shops, restaurants, amusement parks and transportation.
- If your travel package costs ¥20,000, you can save a half of the costs which is ¥10,000 with the campaign. You will pay ¥13,000 for your trip but you will get coupons with a total value of ¥3,000. With that, you can save ¥10,000 in total.
- If your travel cost is ¥50,000, a half of the costs will be ¥25,000, however, the reimbursement is up to ¥20,000 per day. So you will pay ¥36,000 of the total costs and will get coupons with a total value of ¥6,000. With the coupons, eventually you can save ¥20,000 in total.
How to apply for the Go To Travel Campaign
Book a package via travel agencies or book the accommodation directly.
If you book a package via travel agency, accommodations and transportation (trains, highway fee, airplane, bus etc.) will be included but if you book accommodations directly, transportation will be excluded from the discount. But either way, you will get coupons.
The discount is not only valid for the accommodation but also if you book overnight transportation such as a cruise ship, the overnight ferry or a sleeper train (excluding overnight transportation that only offers seats), you can get a discount for those too. If you want to go on a day trip, the campaign will cover your transportation fee + food or activities.
Website you can book Go To Travel Campaign:
JTB(in Japanese)Japan Wonder Travel (in English/Japanese)
If you already made a booking for your trip before the campaign started, you can still apply the discount if you went on a trip between July 22nd to August 31st. However, you can apply for a refund until September 14th.
Let’s “Go To Travel” with Japan Wonder Travel!
All the official information about the Go To Travel Campaign is available only in Japanese, but don’t worry, we can arrange your trip for you! What we can do; we can arrange your trip including transportation and accommodation/ activities.
We have package tours with the Go To Travel Campaign, usually our package will include the transportation + accommodation but if you want to book the accommodation separately, we can arrange lunch reservation or activity such as admission pass or guided tour instead. We have some travel packages including popular destinations, please check out what we can offer with Go To Travel Campaign!
▷Go To Travel Campaign with Japan Wonder Travel
We can also arrange a travel package just for you. Please fill out the form below to make it happen! Contact us if you have any questions about the 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.
Please fill out the inquiry form if you want to travel with Go To Travel Campaign!
NOTE
*We are afraid we have stopped accepting the booking for GoTo Travel Campaign (as of 11/06/2020) since we have reached the GoTo Travel Campaign budget. Please wait for a while until we can start arranging the tour again.
*According to GoTo Travel Office, we will not be able to arrange the trip to Sapporo and Osaka City departing by December 15th.
Thank you for your understandings.
FAQ
If you have any questions about coupons, please read these articles!
–Everything you need to know about Go To Travel Campaign Coupons (General)
–The best way to use go to Travel Campaign Coupons in the popular destinations
Q. Is the hotel for the quarantine also included for Go To Travel Campaign?
Basically only the Japan resident can use Go To Travel Campaign, and unfortunately we don’t arrange the quarantine facilities at this moment. You can check this website for more information (Self-Isolation Japan.com)
Q. How can we get coupons?
Please check this article! (Where can you receive the coupons?)
Q. If I want to stay for a couple of nights in my friend’s house, can I still use Go To Travel Campaign?
As long as you stay at the hotel on the same day of your arrival, your trip can be applied partly for Go To Travel Campaign. For example, if you go on 4 days 3 nights trip and you stay at the hotel for the first night and stay at your friend’s house for the rest, it’s considered as 2 days 1 night trip and you will get the discount for it. However, if you only stay at your friend’s house, it is not applicable for Go To Travel Campaign.
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Happy travelling!
▷Check out how the coupons work from Go To Travel Campaign
For travel destinations
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Comments
Great article!
“[…]If you already made a booking for your trip before the campaign started, you can still apply the discount if you went on a trip between July 22nd to August 31st. “ 🤓 I checked the indicated website to apply online and unfortunately it looks like the application deadline for this was 14 September. Does anyone know of this is the case or if there is another way of applying still? Thank you.
Hi Rashomon-san,
Thank you for pointing it out, and that’s correct, the deadline for the application was September 14th.
Sorry we haven’t updated with that information. We updated on the article as well.
I was going to request a motel quote using Go To Travel. However, found the information requested to be intrusive and not required for just my asking for a quote.
Hi Mark,
Thanks for your message. In terms of the price for accomodation: you can check the prices of the hotel online yourself and add our service fee to the amount. However, we cannot only book your accommodation, as a travel agency we need to sell packages (transportation & accommodation + optional activities). If you are looking to only book a motel I recommend you do this yourself (as this is the cheapest way). For the actual booking we need to collect some information such as proof of living in Japan (and being able to make use of the Go To Travel campaign) and keep it on file. That’s why we ask for a copy of your residence card. Hope we could clarify some things for you, otherwise please send us an email or reply here again.