---
title: "Why Your LAX-Tokyo Ticket Just Got $400 Pricier, Even as Fuel Falls"
description: "Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways are charging record fuel surcharges this summer — about ¥65,000, or roughly $400, each way on transpacific routes — even though jet fuel prices have eased. The reason lies in a lagging government formula and a weak yen, not the price at the pump."
category: "Business"
category_url: https://herald.la/category/business
author: "Tyler Grant"
published: 2026-07-02T00:10:00.000Z
updated: 2026-07-02T00:10:00.000Z
canonical: https://herald.la/article/why-your-lax-tokyo-ticket-just-got-400-pricier-even-as-fuel-falls
tags: ["Japan Airlines", "ANA", "fuel surcharge", "LAX", "Tokyo", "travel", "aviation"]
---
# Why Your LAX-Tokyo Ticket Just Got $400 Pricier, Even as Fuel Falls

Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways are charging record fuel surcharges this summer — about ¥65,000, or roughly $400, each way on transpacific routes — even though jet fuel prices have eased. The reason lies in a lagging government formula and a weak yen, not the price at the pump.

The fuel surcharge on your summer flight to Japan is at a record high — and, oddly, it has little to do with what fuel costs today.

## The bill

For tickets issued from July 1 through August 31, Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways are charging ¥65,000 per passenger, each direction, on routes to and from North America and Europe — the highest fuel surcharges either carrier has ever levied, [Travel Voice reported](https://www.travelvoice.jp/english/ana-and-jal-will-raise-fuel-surcharges-again-to-the-highest-levels-ever-from-july-2026). At current exchange rates that's roughly $400 one way, or about $800 round trip on a Los Angeles-Tokyo itinerary — before the base fare, taxes or seat fees.

## A formula that looks backward

The paradox — record surcharges while fuel prices ease — comes from how Japan sets the fees. Under rules overseen by the transport ministry, JAL and ANA must calculate surcharges from a two-month average of Singapore kerosene prices (the Asian jet-fuel benchmark) and the yen-dollar exchange rate, [according to JAL's filing](https://press.jal.co.jp/en/release/202606/009573.html). Crucially, that reference period ends two months before the charge takes effect, so the summer surcharges reflect the spring — a window when Middle East tensions pushed kerosene prices sharply higher. Falling prices now won't show up until a later cycle.

## The yen makes it worse

There's a second factor: the yen. Airlines buy fuel in dollars but manage costs in yen, so a weak yen inflates the domestic cost of the same barrel. With the yen hovering around ¥157 to the dollar in recent reference periods, the formula produced its top surcharge tier. A Japanese government emergency fuel subsidy actually held the summer figure to ¥65,000; without it, the raw formula would have topped ¥70,000, industry trackers noted.

## What it means for LA travelers

For anyone flying LAX to Tokyo this summer, the surcharge alone runs about ¥130,000 — roughly $800 — per person round trip. A few things to know: the surcharge is set by the date your ticket is issued, not when you fly, so booking now locks in the summer rate even for a fall trip; award tickets on JAL and ANA (and some partner programs) often carry the surcharge too; and flying a non-Japanese carrier, such as routing through Seoul, may come with a different, sometimes lower, fee structure. The next cycle, in September and October, will be built on June-July data — so if fuel prices and the yen steady, fall travelers could see some relief.

## Sources

- [ANA and JAL will raise fuel surcharges again to the highest levels ever from July 2026](https://www.travelvoice.jp/english/ana-and-jal-will-raise-fuel-surcharges-again-to-the-highest-levels-ever-from-july-2026)
- [JAL/JTA announces international fare fuel surcharge for tickets issued between July and August 2026](https://press.jal.co.jp/en/release/202606/009573.html)