Travel
5 Reasons To Travel From Portland To Tokyo This Fall
Traveling to this beautiful city may be easier than you think.
If you’re a Portlander with a travel bug, you’ve probably considered all the exciting places that are just within reach, or right across the Pacific. A quick trip to Vancouver? Long-haul to Sydney? What about Japan’s bustling capital, whose culture has inspired many of Portland’s most beloved spots, like the Japanese Garden?
With a skip and jump across the ocean, everything Tokyo has to offer can be right at your fingertips. Discover why Portlanders should visit Tokyo this fall, and learn how a Chase Aeroplan® Card can help travelers get the most out of their trip by accumulating points on everyday purchases and more. If you’re not already earning, it’s a great time to start. New Chase Aeroplan® cardmembers can earn a welcome bonus of up to 100,000 points.
Earn 75,000 points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months your account is open. Plus, earn 25,000 points after spending $20,000 on purchases in the first 12 months your account is open.
1. The Festivals Are Out of This World
There’s never a shortage of things to do in Tokyo and each season brings with it many enchanting festivals:
- The Shinagawa Shukuba-matsuri Festival. In late September, these two-day festivities honor the culture and traditions of Tokyo’s Shinagawa ward with parades, Japanese taiko drumming and storytelling.
- Tokyo Yosakoi. This two-day celebration serves as the second half of Fukuro Matsuri, an annual festival in the Ikebukuro district. Drawing more than 100 dance troupes from across the country, participants perform routines while dressed in traditional costumes.
- Four Seasons Cherry Blossom Festival. Held in the Obara area less than two hours’ travel time outside Tokyo, this festival celebrates spectacular pink and red foliage on display in the area’s parks between mid-November and December.
Travelers staying outside Tokyo can also visit the many regional attractions by navigating comprehensive public transportation options like trains, buses, taxis and ferries.
Looking for a more direct way of getting around? Chase Aeroplan® cardmembers can use Pay Yourself Back® to redeem Aeroplan points for a statement credit to cover travel purchases made with the card, ranging from airfare to hotels, taxis, trains and more. Each point is worth 1.25 cents, which means you can get $1,250 in statement credits for the current welcome bonus of up to 100,000 points to use toward your next adventure.
2. The Food Is Incredible
Tokyo is renowned for its amazing food and seasonal Japanese delicacies like oden (hot pot in broth), matsutake mushrooms, shinmai (or new harvest rice) and yaki imo (Japanese sweet potato) shine brightest in the cooler months towards the end of the year.
Bringing food and festivals together, the Meguro Sanma Matsuri and the Tokyo Tower Sanma Festival are two of the many ways the city celebrates the Sanma (or Pacific saury) fishing season. Each of these festivals offers attendees the chance to try sanma for free, as it's grilled and served up for all to taste.
Foodies, rejoice: Tokyo is a haven for gastronomes, with new flavors and experiences down every alley and around every corner, so enjoy all the delicacies on offer. Plus, Chase Aeroplan cardmembers earn 3X points for every dollar spent dining out at restaurants including eligible delivery services, and even at grocery stores.
3. The Natural Scenery Is Absolutely Stunning
Though Portland’s lush trees pop with color in the fall, Tokyo offers a whole new take on changing foliage as its deciduous trees change to shades of orange and crimson red.
Visitors can explore stunning scenery filled with Ginkgo and Japanese Maples, as well as moon-viewing gatherings called tsukimi, which celebrate the moon at its fullest. The traditional Rikugien Garden is a great location for taking in fall views, with enchanting illuminations highlighting natural scenery after dark.
Other notable spots are Tokyo’s largest park, Showa Kinen Park, and Hitachi Seaside Park, which boasts roughly 32,000 kochia plants. The field of shrubs that turn a shocking magenta-red in the fall creates a visual experience that can’t be captured with North American fauna.
Any Portlander who’s visited the Portland Japanese Garden knows that Japan boasts beautiful, delicate and unique landscapes. Why not take a few visits there before your trip and become an amateur botanist? In addition to earning 3X points on dining at restaurants, takeout, grocery stores and eligible delivery services, and Air Canada purchases, Chase Aeroplan® cardmembers will earn one point for every dollar spent on all other purchases. Enjoy the fauna at home and receive 500 bonus points for every $2,000 spent in a calendar month, up to 1,500 points per month. After that, maybe a day trip to Kyoto, the City of Flowers?
4. Fewer Crowds Later in the Season
The captivating cherry blossoms bring peak crowds to Tokyo in the spring. Later in the year, however, is perfect for those looking to avoid the hordes of visitors and peak travel season prices. Waiting out the busy months and planning a trip for late fall or before the year’s end, instead, will offer travelers a wider variety of hotel and flight options at a lower price, along with fewer people at popular attractions.
Aeroplan’s far-reaching global network provides cardmembers with access to over 1,300 destinations worldwide. Accumulating redeemable points is simple: earn points on every purchase you make, then redeem them for airline tickets from one of Aeroplan’s over 45 airline partners.
5. It’s Easy to Get There… Or Anywhere
Making your dreams come true might be easier than you realize. With the ability to earn one point on everyday purchases with the Chase Aeroplan® Card, your future travel plans are even more accessible, and even more comfortable.
New cardmembers will automatically receive Aeroplan 25K Elite Status for the remainder of the calendar year, plus the following calendar year. That 12-hour trip from PDX to HND will feel like a dream with Status member benefits like priority airport services and upgrades to premium cabins on Air Canada-operated flights.
When you can earn points that quickly, why stop at Tokyo? Maybe a Business Class flight to Sydney starting from 85,000 points, or a thrifty adventure around the world with Aeroplan’s stopovers starting from 5,000 points? Whatever destinations are on your must-visit list, the Chase Aeroplan® Card can help you see more of the world, faster.
Offers may vary depending on where you apply, for example online or in a branch, and can change over time. To take advantage of this particular offer now, apply through the method provided in this advertisement. Review offer details before you apply.
Chase Aeroplan credit cards are issued by JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. Member FDIC. Accounts subject to credit approval. Restrictions and limitations apply. Offer subject to change.
