Are Airline Tickets Between Korea and Japan Really Less Than $10 Now?

Via a reader tip comes news that airline tickets between Korea and Japan are supposedly less than $10:

 If you’ve ever wanted to travel between Japan and South Korea, there’s no better time than now — air fares are as low as $8.38. 

As a trade spat between the two countries drags on, travel between them is dropping — and so are flight prices.

It costs as little as 10,000 South Korean won ($8.38) to fly one-way from Seoul to Fukuoka on budget airline Eastar Jet right now, and only 1,000 Japanese yen ($9.35) the other way. 

This is excluding tax and fuel surcharges — but still, added up, the prices are far lower than normal. The Eastar flight from Fukuoka to Seoul costs 7,590 yen ($71) with all the additional fees.

CNN

You can read more at the link, but I looked up the ticket prices on the Eastar website for flights between Seoul and Fukuoka and this is what I got:

It is accurate that Eastar is offering 10,000 won tickets, but the article fails to mention you must have membership with Eastar Airlines and that the ticket does not include the ability to check in bags.

For people with this cheap ticket who want to bring a bag it will cost 10,000 won per kilogram. If someone brings a 10 kilogram check in bag would add 100,000 won to the ticket, so that is where the airline will be making up costs.