Japan, surprise flight vending machines emerge

I vending machines crowd the world and really do sell a little bit of everything: once reserved for snacks, they were soon installed outside pharmacies and then came to sell gadgets, comic books, books, toys, sneakers and gold bars. The dispensers arriving from the Japan Are, however, one step beyond that. Within them are in fact hidden... surprise flights! Let's find out together what it is all about.

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The idea comes from Peach, a Japanese low-cost carrier. The carrier, taking advantage of its corporate color (a bright, unmistakable fuchsia) decided to install Flight vending machines at Tokyo and Osaka airports. He did so by pursuing what, in Japan, is a real trend. Here the gachapon (our distributors) are widespread, and companies love to use them in their marketing operations. Exactly as Peach did, inserting in those tall columns dozens of fuchsia balls each containing a surprise flight. You don't get to choose where you go, then: you pay for the "token" (which costs 5,000 Y, equivalent to about 38 euros) and prepare to fly to a "mysterious" destination. The value of the tickets, which are of course round-trip, is 6,000 Y. The destinations are all within Japan's borders and, inside each ball, a pin with a mission to be accomplished in that destination is hidden in addition to the tickets. To date, about 3,000 trips have been sold. A testament to the fact that, the surprise effect, is always popular.

The trend of surprise travel

After all, that of surprise travel is nothing new. Sure, flight vending machines may be new, but the formula roulette has existed for a long time now. And it is not just a way to save money. In fact, it fits into the trend of experiential travel, chased by more and more start-ups and apps. The most popular ones in Italy? Flykube, Oniva, Waynabox, Toratora Travel and Blindfol Travel. All you have to do is indicate the period you intend to leave, the budget you have, the type of trip you would like to take and whether there are any destinations you want to exclude. At that point, a team of experts gets to work to build a tailor-made offer. The destination is made known only a few days before departure, sometimes even upon arrival at the airport by opening a high-suspense envelope.

But what if one wanted to go to Japan, and experience a flight vending machine? For the time being, one has to wait. When the situation seemed to be improving, Omicron variant came along to mess up all the plans. In late November, the Japanese government announced the closure of its national borders to all foreign travelers (bans had just been relaxed for business travelers, students, and interns). Instead, Japanese returning from Africa will have to undergo strict isolation measures depending on the country of origin.

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