Hi — I’m Tabiiku. I travel around Japan with my daughter on the principle that experience is the best thing you can give a child. We flew ZIPAIR to California with my eight-year-old, in the Full Flat seat. This is what I learned, and what I would do differently.
The reason we went for Full Flat is simple: on a long flight, not being able to lie down is genuinely miserable — for both of you.
ZIPAIR: the trade-offs
First, the thing people worry about. ZIPAIR is a JAL subsidiary, and its accident and delay records are in line with ANA and JAL. There is no safety concern to weigh up here.
The real trade-offs are these: it only flies out of Narita, the baggage rules are strict, check-in deadlines are enforced rigidly, and there is no in-flight service to speak of.
What you get in return is price. A ZIPAIR Full Flat seat costs less than a full-service carrier’s economy cabin.
| Cabin | Rough return fare, Tokyo–California |
|---|---|
| ZIPAIR Full Flat | ¥180,000–250,000 |
| ANA Economy | around ¥300,000 |
| ANA Business | around ¥600,000 |
Booking: what to think about
Which airport
I would choose San Jose over San Francisco. It is a small local airport, usually quiet, and immigration is normally almost queue-free — which matters a great deal when you are travelling with a child.
Which seats
You have a real choice here, and it changes the experience.
A window seat plus the middle seat side by side means you cannot actually see each other’s faces when you turn, but it is easier to look after your child. Two centre seats together means you can talk while seated and, in our case, play a solid hour of UNO.
Which options
The Flex Biz option is close to essential with a child: it is cancellable and it includes seat selection, which is not optional when you are travelling with a family. It also adds 8kg to your carry-on allowance.
On the day
Check in on your phone. If you are travelling on a visa, be at the airport at least two hours before departure — I cannot stress this enough. The check-in cut-off one hour before departure is enforced absolutely.
Bring your own blanket and pillow.
The free wifi is close to unusable. Across a ten-hour flight, I would say maybe two hours of it worked at all. Download everything — Netflix, games, whatever your child will want — before you leave the house.
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