Tickets for Sapporo Snow Festival still available

Hi. My name is Japandra and I'm a last-minute travel planner. I'm telling you how I got an air and hotel package for the Sapporo Snow Festival this February in case you are another one of those people who waits til the last  minute to buy tickets, even for things you really want to do - even for things you've wanted to do since you missed the JET trip in 1998.

I've been trying to find air and hotel packages (almost always a good deal) online for a week or two and running up against a different kind of obstacle on each of the many travel sites.

On one, I couldn't tell where any of the hotels were and had to skedaddle when I realized I'd almost booked myself someplace quite cheap that is in the middle of nowhere.

On another, I found something, but then had to fill out three pages of forms to register for the site so they could send me availability confirmation. It all timed out somewhere in the middle.

Another kept saying that the number of people didn't add up right and I couldn't find my mistake among the seven different drop-down fields for number of people, number of people per room, number of males, number of females, number of rooms, etc.

One had notation that I am sure is clear to Japanese people, but was worrying to me - how would a one-night, four-day package work?

A twitchy woman at the sprawling HIS in Shinjuku told me a week ago that they only had two openings left and that they were actually very expensive. I felt like she was trying to talk me out of it. She also was hesitant to give her name when I asked if I could check dates and call back.

I went to Yurakucho yesterday, which is lousy with travel agencies. A patient agent at JTB (the first agency I saw) walked me through lots of options. All was well until she got out the calculator - the total was about a jillion dollars per person. When I said that was over my budget, I swear I saw her mouth "Lord, help me not strangle this white girl."

Then she pulled out the "o-toku," or "value," flier. She ran the numbers and got the same flights and same hotel for half the original price. She said it might not include amenities like a "snow festival lounge with complimentary coffee." I'll manage. Booked.

Once I knew what I was looking for, I found similar packages online easily. (Arrrgh.) Just for the hell of it, you know.

And so I could tell you: there are still openings. Outside of the opening weekend, Feb 5 - 7, there seem to be plenty. And there are still some then, too. (The snow sculptures are only viewable from Feb. 5 through 12. Would it hurt anyone if these festivals extended through the second weekend instead of always ending on Fridays?)

Either search  札幌雪祭りツアー and work through the Japanese* or go to a travel agent. (You can call, but I find it helpful to have them show you a brochure with a map of where the different hotels are, which have what amenities, and just how far one stop on the subway is.)

People say if you don't book this thing by the previous summer, it is no giant snow palaces and ice princesses for you. I'm here to tell you, my last-minute brothers and sisters, you can still do it. But do it now.

*There's a decent amount of Sapporo snow festival information in English online, but I couldn't find much English package info for people already in Japan. This is Sapporo tour package information based on US departures, but if you live in the US and are toying with the idea of a jaunt to Hokkaido in two weeks, you probably have people making these arrangements for you.