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Daily Deal—Fly to Japan from $339

Konnichiwa! And welcome to the reidsguides.com daily travel deal for March 16, 2005.

I know most everyone thinks first of Tokyo, a tourism hotspot long before Lost in Translation. But I beg of you to sample Japan beyond the bright lights of its biggest city--and make a beeline on the bullet train to Kyoto. There couldn't be two places more dissimilar than Tokyo and Kyoto, and if you don't get a glimpse at both you've missed the point of Japan .

Tokyo is every glittering inch and towering skyscraper the world class metropolis. This chaotic and glorious city is determined to be the first to turn the futurescape of SciFi and anime into present-day reality.

Kyoto, on the other hand, had the excellent fortune not to be bombed to the bejesus during WWII as happened to Japan 's other great cities. That means many of its ancient temples and shrines, its wooden houses, and its narrow streets have survived, leaving the urban fabric of old Japan largely intact.

And though Japan itself may be pricey, getting there all of a sudden doesn't have to be, thanks to a gaggle of airfare sales. Let's get right to it.

The cheapest deals are on United, which will fly you out March 26 through April 2--returning any time through April 24--for just $339 out of San Francisco or Portland, $389 from New York or Washington, DC--that's incredible--or $439 from Chicago. But you have to book by Friday, March 18.

But perhaps the most exciting sale though, really, comes from American Airlines because it's going to inaugurate a new route on April 3 direct from Chicago to Nagoya, Japan--a major transportation hub nestled in Central Honshu's industrial valley. It's about halfway between Mt. Fuji and Kyoto , so it's a pretty good place to start. To celebrate this new route--and this is where the good news comes in--American is offering roundtrip flights from dozens of US cities for just $439 to $489 for outbound travel through May 31.   The return date is wide open through August 31, so stay as long as you like (well, up to a three-month maximum). To get this bargain you have to book by March 31.

Not to be outdone, Japan Airlines is selling roundtrip from San Francisco to Tokyo, Osaka, or Nagoya for $490 for departures between April 1 and May 1. Flights from LA, Vegas, or Honolulu cost $549, from Chicago $568, and from New York $660. You have to book this one quickly, though: by March 17 at the latest--that's tomorrow, folks. I should also point out that travel on a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday tacks on $60 more.

There are, of course, fine print, taxes, and other annoying details on all these bargains. You can read all that, and book the tickets, by following the direct links to the individual airlines from our Website. Just go to reidsguides.com and click on the transcript for this Daily Deal. While you're there, check out our hundreds of trip planning tools and resources. That’s www.reidsguides.com.

Until tomorrow’s deal, thanks for listening.