Jeju Island - A Beautiful Destination BUT Very Expensive to Fly To!

We are about to take a trip to Jeju Island. A small island off the coast between mainland South Korea and Japan,it has been geared for Conventions and Sporting Events .When South Korea hosted the Soccer World Cup it was on Jeju Island that it was held.The latest ASEAN meeting was recently convened there also.

Known as Honeymoon Island by Koreans,it is one of the main destinations for honeymoon couples from South Korea, and is also very popular with Japanese honeymooners. A World Heritage Site with lava tubes, good diving in the beautifully clear waters off lovely beaches, and very scenic ..........this is an island for tourists as well as those there for work or sporting events.


Few Direct Flights and Very Expensive


Getting to Jeju is proving a headache! We are finding that booking flights is not simple.There are many flights every day............but they are VERY expensive.Flying from Fukuoka to Jeju is going to cost us almost as much as from New Zealand to Fukuoka.Perhaps a package deal would have been more cost effective.

As we plan to meet up with our son and daughter-in-law in Fukuoka it was logical to fly there. Our daughter is living on Jeju which is why we originally planned this trip.If you plan to take this trip I suggest you do it all together so you can co ordinate your flights. Unfortunately we booked the New Zealand Fukuoka leg separately.

Few flights are direct, which turns a one hour flight into anything from 3-8 hours depending on the stopover times.Cheaper fares become available only a month prior.......but may be booked out at the higher prices quoted.Asiana, Japan Air, Korea Air all fly from Japan most days while Jeju Air.......probably the cheapest option is only available to those who can speak Korean! We have struggled to find an affordable option......there are plenty of expensive ones!

I will update on Jeju Island once we return.......... first hand information on the island, accommodation, airfares etc Meanwhile I will continue to look for an affordable fare!

Booking Airfares To Fukuoka,Japan and Jeju Island - South Korea

We have just booked our air fares from Auckland to Fukuoka, Japan. Cathay Pacific had some well priced fares via Hong Kong. We will have two nights as a stopover, so we can enjoy a day catching up on changes to the Hong Kong we visited back in 1986!

However, we are finding it very difficult to come up with a reasonably priced airfare from Fukuoka to Jeju Island, South Korea. Our daughter and her partner are living in the resort town of Soegwipo at the moment, so after a week with our son and daughter-in-law who live in Japan, we were hoping to visit Jeju Island, which is popular with the South Koreans for honeymoons..... thus it is nicknamed "Honeymoon Island".

It seems to be very pretty, and has a nice climate. While the Koreans say it is the Hawaii of Korea I am assured while lovely...... it is definitely not a second Hawaii!However, there are beautiful beaches, lava tubes, good deep sea diving and some interesting sightseeing spots to visit.

So far the cheapest airfare from Fukuoka to Jeju Island is about half the cost of flying from New Zealand to Fukuoka, and we have yet to find accommodation........our offspring's accommodation is minute!

One tip.......had we not asked our travel agent about him doing the bookings for the same price as the internet, we would not have been able to do the stopover in Hong Kong via the internet. Sometimes it works better to use a travel agent.......and he got exactly the same price for us as on the internet.