The following will be an accounting of my 2025 trip to Vietnam and Japan. If you’ve not read the blog, you can do so here. Or if you want a small wrap up, you can check The Sisters here. Or mine here. It can provide some context to the costs below! All prices will be in Canadian (or converted into Canadian when it shows up on my CC bill).
The Costs
All in all this whole trip cost (me individually) $3585.55 with a per day cost of $210.91 over 17 days. And it breaks down as follows:
| Transportation | $1837.03 (+95, 00 Points) |
| Accommodations | + $866.77 |
| Food & Beverage | + $462.22 |
| Miscellaneous | + $419.53 |
| Total | = $3585.55 |
The Transportation ($1837.03 + 95,000 Points)
In total, the transportation costs for this trip total $1691.88 with a point redemption. Transportation can be broken down into two main sections: Airfare and Ground Transportation which costs $691.88 + points and $145.15 respectively.
The Flights ($1691.88 + 95000 Points)
In total my airfare cost $1691.88 and 95000 Avios points. For the Airfare the following are all my flights taken on this trip:
- (Qatar Airways Business & First Class) Seattle-Doha-Bangkok ($298.90 + 95000 Avios Points)
- (Air Asia Economy Class) Bangkok-Danang ($139.47)
- (Vietnam Airlines Economy Class) Danang-Hanoi ($141.00)
- (Cathay Pacific Economy Class) Hanoi-Hong Kong-Osaka-Sapporo ($509.67)
- (AirDo Economy Class) Sapporo-Tokyo ($60.48)
- (Zip Air Economy Class) Tokyo-Vancouver ($480.42 + $61.94 Checked Bag Add On)
Getting around on the Ground ($145.15)
My ground transportation cost is $145.15. Most of the transportation on the ground were ride shares and airport transfers. Our hotel offered airport transfers which were competitive to the ride shares so we opted for that in a few cases. In Japan, most of our train costs were between the Sapporo Airport and the city and the round trip between Sapporo and Otaru. Since most of the Japanese transit can be charged to a Suica Card I did that, so the cost is an estimation. The following are all my ground transportation costs for the trip:
- Quick Shuttle (Vancouver-Seattle) ($29.94)
- Airport Transfer Hoi An (2x) ($23.94)
- Grab Bangkok ($15.00)
- Grab Hanoi ($31.32)
- Airport Transfer Hanoi ($4.95)
- Japan Suica Metro estimation ($40)
The Accommodations: ($866.77 + Marriott 35K & 85K Certificates + 2000 Marriott Points)
Our accommodations included a few Marriot Free Night certificates redemptions which help to elevate some of our stays and bring the costs down. Vietnam being pretty affordable helps since Japanese hotels are generally have average costing. All of our accommodation costs in total come out to $866.77. As a note, I will include the Bai Tu Long Bay cruise as a miscellaneous expense since its both a tour and accommodation. Below are all the different places I stayed at:
- 1 Night Bangkok Marriott Marquis (35K Certificate + 2000 Marriott Points)
- 2 Nights Laluna Hoi An Riverside Hotel & Spa ($76.59)
- 3 Nights JM Marvel Hotel & Spa ($202.33)
- 2 Nights Tokyu Stay Sapporo ($178.79)
- 1 Night Unwind Hotel & Bar Otaru ($178.63)
- 2 Nights JR West Group Via Inn Prime ($230.43)
- 1 Night Mesm Tokyo, Autograph Collection (85K Certificate)
Food and Beverage ($462.22)
Food is one of the main reasons why I travel! Though tracking spending on food can be difficult. Asia continues to be challenging because there is still a cash culture in some areas. Most of the total is from credit card statements and paper receipts, the rest is an estimate. I suggest taking this total with a grain of salt! In total my trackable expenses for meals and snacks throughout my trip amounted to $462.22.
Miscellaneous Expenses ($419.53)
There are a myriad of miscellaneous expenses for this trip. Because of this there are a variety of expenses on this trip. This ranges from eVisa costs to activity entry fees. It also includes data connectivity for Asia. In total these expenses add up to $419.53. The following are most of the trackable activity and miscellaneous expenses:
- Vietnam Visa ($37.25)
- Indochina Junk 2 Night Bai Tu Long Bay Cruise ($289.43)
- Sun World Ba Na Hills Entry ($51.98)
- Ubigi eSIM for Asia ($40.87)
- Hama-Rikyu Gardens Entry($2.83)
Totals
After adding everything up, we get a grand total of $3585.55. Averaging this out over 17 days, we get an average cost of $210.91 per day. If you’re still reading, I hope this post is helpful or interesting! I continually track my costs to see where I can try to bring my overall expenses down while enhancing the experiences where I can! If there is extra information you’d like to know, or have suggestions, please feel free to drop a comment below and let me know!