FYI --- McAuliff

From Arthur Frommer's daily travel letter:

Asian air prices, defying normal logic, just keep getting lower and
lower. Of course, the fact that we're heading into these countries' low
seasons plays a part, but it's not the whole story--we were most
certainly seeing lows this low last fall. Now we've gotten word of a
bargain so extraordinary we can't imagine anyone beating it (though
we've been wrong with those predictions before): If you book through a
reputable company called Nippon Express Travel USA, Inc., you can get a
round-trip ticket between New York (and many other East Coast gateways)
and Tokyo on your choice of U.S.-based carriers--Continental, Northwest,
United, Delta, or American--for $599, for travel between November 30 and
March 31. That's a very good, but not extraordinary, price. What makes
it extraordinary is that your companion ticket is free. What's the
catch? Only that you must purchase tickets by this Saturday, November
14.

You might wonder how this is possible, or legit. Simple: Continental is
starting Newark-to-Tokyo service on November 30, and when it rolled out
its introductory fare, the others matched. (By the way, the $599 fare is
also available on the two major Japanese carriers, Japan Airlines and
All Nippon Airways, but without the free companion fare.) These prices
also are for Monday-through-Thursday flights; you pay an extra $50 for
travel on weekends. (In addition, American is offering the extra option
of flying into Nagoya in addition to Tokyo.) Moreover, there is no
holiday blackout period for this offer on the U.S. carriers. Plus, the
same price is good from virtually all East Coast cities from which the
respective airlines fly.

Although Californians usually get the sweetest Asian air bargains, this
time the easterners carry the day. However, that's not to say that
Nippon Express isn't offering anything for the West Coast; for example,
flying Northwest to Tokyo from your choice of Los Angeles, Las Vegas,
Portland, Seattle, or San Francisco costs just $449 round-trip for
travel Mondays to Thursdays, $50 more on the weekends. However, no
special companion fares are available from these gateways. United is
matching Northwest's prices on all these routes, and from San Jose in
addition. Again, these fares are good from practically any West Coast
gateway from which one or the other airline flies.

To book, call Nippon Express at 800/445-8422 or 212/319-9021 and ask for
either Karen or Dennis.