Spotted: $617 return to Tokyo direct on world's best airline

Japan is already a very popular holiday destination for Australians, but this hasn't stopped an airline from slashing its prices.

Japan Airlines is currently having a sale that has seen return fares as low as $617 from Melbourne to Tokyo direct.

While the airline website shows $699, and several bargain hunting websites have reported $635 for the return ticket, Yahoo Finance has spotted $617 fares on flight aggregator engines.

Sydney is a few more dollars more expensive, but plenty of date combinations saw fares around $640 for the direct route.

Generally the cheapest date combinations seem to be around April to July and October to November. The Tokyo Olympics will be held from July 24 to August 9.

Tokyo return flights from Sydney or Melbourne usually cost more than $1000.

Japan Airlines is a full-service carrier, meaning no extra charges for checked bags, meals and entertainment. In fact, Skytrax named the Japanese company as the world's best economy class provider last year.

Travellers in Sydney can also currently buy tickets to Osaka direct for just under $650 return.

There is no indication from the airline as to how long these prices will last, but there are a limited number of cheap seats available for each flight.

The sale comes after Japan Airlines announced last week it would give away 50,000 domestic flights to foreign visitors coming to the Olympics, to encourage them to see the country outside of Tokyo.

Yahoo Finance has not received any monetary benefit for this article.

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