Rental of MPV and driving in Hokkaido during winter

[Atrecord]

On 12/30/2019 at 11:46 PM, t0y0ta said:

Much appreciated your sharings!

From the pic of all your barang barang, I think you guys are over-packed. For 7 pax, can do 4 pieces of formal luggage (sharing basis) and additional back-pack each for misc such as laptop and cold clothing. 

Then you can easily fit into Alphard and the overall experience will probably be better, except for higher cost.

Next round lor...

Ha ha ha... i admit we kiasu/kiasi.

We have not been to so cold place before, so thought better be safe than sorry and brought more clothes. In the end, indeed we didn't need so much, but critically it was becos we had laundry/washing machine access at two places, making 3-4 rounds of washing.

And we also buffered some space for shopping stuff. The kids bought 2 pairs of shoes (could have been more, but son couldn't find his size) and other stuff. In the end it was just nice, when we stuffed all the thick jackets into the luggage before boarding the plane.

One grouse that I had was that i saw some Singaporeans didn't pack their warm clothings into check-in luggages, and ended up bringing cabin bags, last-min shoppings, and their jackets, up the plane, and taking up excessive space in the overhead luggage compartment. This caused a problem for us as we didn't have any luggage space at all for the 4 of us. That was extremely inconsiderate of these people.

Two of the large luggages were my bro-in-law's family, cos they had a 6 yo kid.

I still dun know whether with these, was there any way at all to fit all the luggages into an Alphard. If so, it would have been so much more spacious. We were prepared to pay more, but was just afraid we'll be stuck if it doesn't fit. Think it'll be tough, as luggages need to stand straight, but leaning them just behind the respective rows of seats is difficult cos seats need to be slanted for passenger comfort 😓

Now I'm thinking of getting a license to drive a 10-seater van if we ever go on similar trips again

[Shibadog]

12 minutes ago, Atrecord said:

Ha ha ha... i admit we kiasu/kiasi.

We have not been to so cold place before, so thought better be safe than sorry and brought more clothes. In the end, indeed we didn't need so much, but critically it was becos we had laundry/washing machine access at two places, making 3-4 rounds of washing.

And we also buffered some space for shopping stuff. The kids bought 2 pairs of shoes (could have been more, but son couldn't find his size) and other stuff. In the end it was just nice, when we stuffed all the thick jackets into the luggage before boarding the plane.

One grouse that I had was that i saw some Singaporeans didn't pack their warm clothings into check-in luggages, and ended up bringing cabin bags, last-min shoppings, and their jackets, up the plane, and taking up excessive space in the overhead luggage compartment. This caused a problem for us as we didn't have any luggage space at all for the 4 of us. That was extremely inconsiderate of these people.

Two of the large luggages were my bro-in-law's family, cos they had a 6 yo kid.

I still dun know whether with these, was there any way at all to fit all the luggages into an Alphard. If so, it would have been so much more spacious. We were prepared to pay more, but was just afraid we'll be stuck if it doesn't fit. Think it'll be tough, as luggages need to stand straight, but leaning them just behind the respective rows of seats is difficult cos seats need to be slanted for passenger comfort 😓

Now I'm thinking of getting a license to drive a 10-seater van if we ever go on similar trips again

ask rental company if they can do this - 4 roof boxes on top of a KL-plate Starex mpv  Spotted in Hatyai last year

[Atrecord]

On 12/31/2019 at 12:16 AM, Heartlander said:

My opinion is that for 7pax, it is really tough to be able to pack for fitting into a Alphard/Vellfire if travelling during winter with need for warm clothings, unless all using the uniqlo/decathlon type of winter clothes with down feathers that can fit into a ball. Even then the thermal/inner wear would still take up more space. I have tested the effectiveness of this jacket recently while in USA to test its effectiveness. I have a layer of inner wear then put on this light down jacket and stay outside hotel lobby for 10min to see if it works, then replace the jacket with a traditional thick winter jacket that i normally rely on. Surprisingly, the light down jacket won by a narrow margin despite it being so much smaller when packed. And it can adjust easily when worn from street into a warm place without making you feel like being roasted, just unzip and flap abit to let the air ventilate will do. Very versatile. The outside temperature was close to zero degree celsius then.

Back to this luggages issue, if travel in summer should be able to fit into Alphard with 7 pax in my opinion.

It's great that you shared about your field test of the light down jacket. I saw them when we were shopping for jackets, and frankly i didn't believe that they are that good - and didn't dare to rely on them as we're going to Hokkaido. Their ads of course claimed wonders, but I wouldn't have believed them. Now that's a revelation coming from a consumer. Maybe we should have bought those instead then... The ones we bought were bulky, to say the least. And on a train ride back from Otaru to Sapporo (we rented the van for only the first 7 days), it was so stuffy and warm inside the packed train, that i was perspiring a lot inside the thick clothes.

Oh, yes, if summer, definitely will bring fewer stuff, and will try to squeeze into an Alphard. This 9-seater van should really be a last resort, for anyone who's thinking of it.

[Atrecord]

On 12/31/2019 at 11:49 AM, Tohto said:

This is really a van seat.

Not like those I seat in Thailand as hotel transfer, very comfortable seat.

And those seen on local road used by tour agent I think also much better. 

For the one you rent, after sitting hours on the seat sure back ached. 

Yes... like you we also sat in those hotel transfer vans before, that have standalone seats that have headrests (in one tall piece). And we thought this 9-seater hiace van is also like that...

And we were taken by surprise when we saw this. Unfortunately the Budget rental doesn't have any other suitable alternatives. They only have Voxys or camper vans, in terms of big-looking vehicles. So we stuck with this lor.

My son complained cannot sleep comfortably 😂

[Atrecord]

8 hours ago, JohnSHL said:

ask rental company if they can do this - 4 roof boxes on top of a KL-plate Starex mpv  Spotted in Hatyai last year

Wow!

Is this a 3-row or 4-row Starex? If 3-row, the luggage space is already a lot, and won't need any of the roof boxes liao. Tried it in 3 different trips previously in Taiwan and Aust. If 4-row, then maybe no more luggage space and need to resort to this.

And hor, i wonder how they put/take things in the roof boxes... The vehicle is v tall one leh 😅

[Volvobrick]

12 hours ago, Atrecord said:

 One grouse that I had was that i saw some Singaporeans didn't pack their warm clothings into check-in luggages, and ended up bringing cabin bags, last-min shoppings, and their jackets, up the plane, and taking up excessive space in the overhead luggage compartment. 

You should always have 1 warm jacket with you, in case flight delay or cancelled due to bad weather and your luggage already checked in.  Last time my friend and and family spent 2 nights at the airport with all the shops closed at night .....

 

[Atrecord]

27 minutes ago, Volvobrick said:

You should always have 1 warm jacket with you, in case flight delay or cancelled due to bad weather and your luggage already checked in.  Last time my friend and and family spent 2 nights at the airport with all the shops closed at night .....

Wow, good point there!

Must count our lucky stars that nothing out of the ordinary happened...

We packed all the jackets into the spare space in our check-in luggage at the airport. The weather was fine then, but we didn't think about contingency like you mentioned. And I do remember reading that Hokkaido airport was closed 1-2 days 3 yr ago... just after a friend's family flew out to Tokyo...

Wah, if all bring jackets, then i foresee big problem with luggage space in the plane leh 😥

[t0y0ta]

4 hours ago, Volvobrick said:

You should always have 1 warm jacket with you, in case flight delay or cancelled due to bad weather and your luggage already checked in.  Last time my friend and and family spent 2 nights at the airport with all the shops closed at night .....

 

My own recommendation and belief is to always carry on at least

- own acceptable jacket if flying to cold climate

- 1 set of minimal clothes change for sleeping (underwear + socks + 1 comfortable T-shirt + berms)

This is to prepare for worst case scenario that luggage delayed and did not arrive together with flight.

[Shibadog]

8 hours ago, Atrecord said:

Wow!

Is this a 3-row or 4-row Starex? If 3-row, the luggage space is already a lot, and won't need any of the roof boxes liao. Tried it in 3 different trips previously in Taiwan and Aust. If 4-row, then maybe no more luggage space and need to resort to this.

And hor, i wonder how they put/take things in the roof boxes... The vehicle is v tall one leh 😅

I dunno how many row

 

my friend brings along a plastic stool in his SUV when he needs to load/unload his bikes from the roof rack

[inlinesix]

4 hours ago, Atrecord said:

Wow, good point there!

Must count our lucky stars that nothing out of the ordinary happened...

We packed all the jackets into the spare space in our check-in luggage at the airport. The weather was fine then, but we didn't think about contingency like you mentioned. And I do remember reading that Hokkaido airport was closed 1-2 days 3 yr ago... just after a friend's family flew out to Tokyo...

Wah, if all bring jackets, then i foresee big problem with luggage space in the plane leh 😥

Long time ago, I landed in Melbourne Airport on 23rd Dec night. My jacket inside checked-in luggage. 
I was hopping around while waiting for my luggage.

[Shibadog]

1 hour ago, inlinesix said:

Long time ago, I landed in Melbourne Airport on 23rd Dec night. My jacket inside checked-in luggage. 
I was hopping around while waiting for my luggage.

isn't that summer?

 

I landed in Wellngton, NZ in june (middle of winter). Almost froze when the airplane doors open to the outside air (no aerobridge)

[Tohto]

8 hours ago, Volvobrick said:

You should always have 1 warm jacket with you, in case flight delay or cancelled due to bad weather and your luggage already checked in.  Last time my friend and and family spent 2 nights at the airport with all the shops closed at night .....

 

Agreed.

I will always hand carry my warm jacket. Just in case luggage never arrive on the flight.

[inlinesix]

3 hours ago, JohnSHL said:

isn't that summer?

 

I landed in Wellngton, NZ in june (middle of winter). Almost froze when the airplane doors open to the outside air (no aerobridge)

It's summer.

But Melbourne is notorious for temperature swing btw day and night.

[Atrecord]

7 hours ago, t0y0ta said:

My own recommendation and belief is to always carry on at least

- own acceptable jacket if flying to cold climate

- 1 set of minimal clothes change for sleeping (underwear + socks + 1 comfortable T-shirt + berms)

This is to prepare for worst case scenario that luggage delayed and did not arrive together with flight.

wah you either is si bey meticulous planner, or kanna suay before izzit? 😂

i never thought of it this way before... but maybe should have. Another BIL based in UK took a connection flight back last Jul. Their luggage missed the connection flight and was delayed for a day...

Again, looks like someone up there quite took care of us 😁

[Atrecord]

7 hours ago, JohnSHL said:

I dunno how many row

 

my friend brings along a plastic stool in his SUV when he needs to load/unload his bikes from the roof rack

Wah well prepared...

but i think the Starex will actually need a ladder instead hor

[Atrecord]

7 hours ago, inlinesix said:

Long time ago, I landed in Melbourne Airport on 23rd Dec night. My jacket inside checked-in luggage. 
I was hopping around while waiting for my luggage.

i hope it wasn't the year that Aust actually had a white christmas!

But seriously, inside airport got so cold meh? My father actually reminded us to have our warm clothes on-hand when we land, but my wife - who did the planning with my BIL - said no need, cos our first night on reaching Hokkaido, was going to be in the airport hotel, and she was confident the airport was going to be warm...

[Tohto]

7 hours ago, Atrecord said:

i hope it wasn't the year that Aust actually had a white christmas!

But seriously, inside airport got so cold meh? My father actually reminded us to have our warm clothes on-hand when we land, but my wife - who did the planning with my BIL - said no need, cos our first night on reaching Hokkaido, was going to be in the airport hotel, and she was confident the airport was going to be warm...

Some of the airport inside is quite cold during winter, like Shanghai and Frankfurt airport. Their heater is set quite low , so basically still need to wear sweater overall.

Japan is OK. 

[Thangdon]

Hi all, just searching for the vellfire/alphard to purchase for big family 3 adults and 3 kids( need child seats for 3), and came to this thread. 

wondering if you guys can confirm it has isofix or child anchor for 3? I am interested in model 8 seater year around 2016