ZIPAIR Tokyo Inc. 株式会社ZIPAIR Tokyo

A maddening flight experience that I hope to never repeat

I recently used ZipAir to fly from Narita to California and back, and if at all possible, I will never use this carrier for international flights unless no other options exist. I had initially thought I had found a steal of a fare, all other options being at least $200 US dollars more expensive, but then I was directed to book via their website. The website was difficult to navigate for booking, and for some reason all of the fees were in Philippine Pesos as opposed to either US dollars or Japanese Yen, the two currencies represented on my two destinations, and in spite of several steps I took to try an amend the mistake, the ticket price was still shown in Philippine Pesos. I had to do an online search to convert the currency to make sure that the ticket price was correct. ZipAir is upfront about the complete lack of amenities, but the system is set up to slowly get the money back from their clientele. The baggage allowance is possibly the most annoying part of their policies. The fee is nominal if you avail yourself of it within 24 hours of the flight time, but to keep with the 7 kg ( ~15 lbs) limit means traveling truly bare bones. Just a laptop and an iPad is about 4 pounds by itself, and if you’re traveling for any length of time, your clothes and any extra pairs of shoes will eat that weight allowance up. But never fear, the staff is ready to weigh everything and then ask you what you can take out of your bag to help make the weight limit or charge you ¥8,000 on the spot to check one of your bags. If you want to guarantee leg room? It’s an extra charge. If you want to choose your seat instead of being potentially stuck between people in a middle seat? Extra charge for that as well. If you want a meal? It can be purchased during the flight, but all of these added amenities bring the price of the seemingly discount ticket to near parity with an airline with a name that you’ve heard in the industry before. Slippers? Yes, they’re available for a small charge. Do yourself a favor and book with an airline that includes all of these things as part of their ticket price so you don’t have to be Harry Houdini to figure out what you’ll be charged extra for and what you need to make the flight bearable. I’ve read a few reviews about people flying from Singapore to Narita (~7 hour flight time), and many said it was a pleasant experience. I’d want to ask what ‘extras’ they purchased if any, or if the three hour shorter flight time made it just short enough to make it livable. The in-flight experience was just as dissatisfying. If you’re not one of the people who has paid for the extras, you are largely ignored by the flight crew with the exception of those sitting in an emergency exit row because what you do in case of an accident actually affects them. Otherwise, they’ll greet you as you enter and say farewell as you exit. The customs forms were breezed through one time, and if you were sleeping during that time, then you had to get all your effects together and deal with it while in line at the immigration checkpoint. If you’re not aggressively pursuing everything you need, then you’ll leave the aircraft ill prepared for your next destination.