Fly business class to Tokyo for less than $1,700

With Japan fully open to individual tourists, a business-class deal to Tokyo for less than $1,700 from the West Coast is rare.

These flights are available from Los Angeles; San Jose, California; or Honolulu on the low-cost airline Zipair for travel from August through October.

Deal basics

Airline: Zipair.
Routes: From Los Angeles, San Jose and Honolulu to Tokyo.
How to book: Browse Google Flights and book directly with the airline.
Travel dates: August-October.
Book by: Two-three days.

This deal was originally sent out by Scott’s Cheap Flights, which sends deals up to 90% off via its Premium membership, which users can try for free for 14 days and then $49 per year. You can also upgrade to the Elite tier for $199 per year and receive all the Premium deals plus premium economy, business-class and first-class alerts.

Sample flights

As mentioned, this deal is for business-class flights to Tokyo from two California cities and Honolulu, priced as marked at the time of publication, specifically:

• From Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL), starting at $1,431.
• From Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), starting at $1,656.
• From Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC), starting at $1,661.

To book this deal, search your selected route on Google Flights before booking directly with Zipair. For example, you could book this round-trip flight from LAX to Narita International Airport (NRT) in September for $1,656.

When you go to book with the carrier, select two Zip Full-Flat seats to continue booking in business class.

Related: Japan reopens to the world, but its hotels aren’t ready

In selecting your seat, you'll note that the airline charges extra for all services, including seat selection, meals and checked luggage — even in business class. You can choose from a variety of packages that include such things. The prices of each package vary by route, but they start at $58 and go up to $115 on the LAX-to-NRT route. You'll pay extra for what is generally complimentary in the typical business-class experience, including all baggage and an amenity kit. Note: You'll have to select a package for each flight.

Maximize your purchase

If you book this deal, be sure to use a credit card that earns bonus points on airfare purchases, such as The Platinum Card® from American Express (5 points per dollar on airfare booked directly with the airline or through American Express Travel, on up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year), Citi Prestige® Card (5 points per dollar on airfare) or the Citi Premier® Card or Chase Sapphire Reserve (both 3 points per dollar on airfare). Or, try the American Express® Gold Card (3 points per dollar on airfare when booked directly through the airline or Amex Travel) or the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card (2 points per dollar on travel).

See TPG's post for more on maximizing airfare purchases.

The information for the Citi Prestige Card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Bottom line

With round-trip flights for these routes normally costing around $4,000, this is a good deal to experience business class for less, even with all of the extra costs.