Flight Ticket to Japan?

Question:

Aren't flight tickets to Japan supposed to be cheaper because of the earthquake? Gees, I called some travel agencies today, and it is as expensive as before. Why is that?

Answer:

There were many cancellations at first because of the earthquake, but there are still many people traveling. And in spite of the occasional clueless tween still asking on YA if Japan was all wiped out, most people know that Japan as a whole is doing all right. So you still have many people traveling during the peak summer season.

But one of the biggest reasons why air tickets are so high is because of the price of oil. Nearly all airlines are tacking on huge fuel surcharges for their tickets. For example for ANA a transpac round trip has a USD$583 fuel surcharge added; for AA it's $576, JAL it's $583, and so on. Many airlines lump it in with taxes; others just raise their fares.

By the way, it's about to get worse. In spite of the drop in oil prices in the last few days, the Japanese government just approved another hike in the surcharge for JAL and ANA reservations ticketed from August 1st - so get ready for nearly another $100 to be tacked on to your ticket price.