Who has a hook-up? Or, what are you seeing recently: Japan to the USA?

[Mr.WannaKnow]

Osaka to NYC, what prices are we seeing out here that are not criminally high. It didn't use to be like this. I'm seeing $1600 USD as the lowest one for a roundtrip flight.

Anyone know where else I can book a flight too that won't be as difficult? For example, can I just do Osaka to LAX? I need some advice here brudders.

[Koenji]

Distance often is not the major factor. Market supply and demand is. For instance, Vancouver, which is the closest city in North America to Tokyo, is often the most expensive destination, and has a higher base fare than NYC. Mind you, the fuel charge will have a leveling effect. I think you're looking at 50,000 yen for fuel, and there ain't no getting around that.

[psprof]

I think you're looking at 50,000 yen for fuel, and there ain't no getting around that.

Yep. I have recently traveled to Canada and the US a couple of times for work. The ticket prices are as they always were between 50 and 60 thousand yen. Then, they tack on a bunch of new fees and gas surcharges which doubles or more than doubles the cost.
I think Jalan has some discount fares for international travel now. They used to be only domestic travel. I think most of these are vacation plans, though, and they give you discounts on the extras, not the flights.
You can always try JTB for their group rates, but I am not sure if there is much of a discount. I haven't done it in a while. I used to get a couple of man off the price when I traveled that way. The thing is that you cannot choose your seat and you have to pick up your ticket at the airport from the group pick up desk. You don't actually have to be in a group to get this fare. Also, when we were traveling from the US to Japan, we always called different JTB offices around the US because they have different discount offers and you might find a deal at one of them.

[gaijinalways]

You can also do this with HIS (who is usually cheaper than JTB ). We have booked through the London office and the NYC office in the past, but recently we didn't see much of a difference after factoring in the hassle of booking overseas. It really depends on when you're traveling and I didn't see that indicated in the OP's post. Also, stopping over in China, Hong Kong (yes, I know, HK is technically part of China, but even for tourist numbers they are counted as a different region) or Korea on the way may reduce the price.

[Hijinx]

Osaka to NYC, what prices are we seeing out here that are not criminally high. It didn't use to be like this. I'm seeing $1600 USD as the lowest one for a roundtrip flight.

Anyone know where else I can book a flight too that won't be as difficult? For example, can I just do Osaka to LAX? I need some advice here brudders.

Price means nothing without dates.

[twelvedown]

Yup. Hijinx is right.
I suppose you've checked out kayak.com? They're pretty good.