Seishun 18 Kippu pass?

[TBone7281]

Seishun Juhachi Kippu (Seishun 18 Kippu)

Me and two friends from work are going to Japan for 10 days at the end of March and are staying in the Shinagawa area (Shinagawa Prince Hotel). We'll be flying into Narita and plan on taking trips to both Kyoto and Mt. Fuji. We were originally thinking about getting a 7 day JR pass but found that this Seishun 18 Kippu pass might be a better deal since the three of us could buy 3 of them for 11,500 yen each. So that would be 34,500 yen, or about $325 using today's exchange rate. I think each of us buying a JR rail pass would be more like $800 so that would save us about $475 up front. Is that enough of a savings to just pay out of pocket for our trips around tokyo via subway for the other days? The majority of our trip is going to be in Tokyo and it seems like a two day subway pass is pretty cheap. Additionally, maybe 3 Seishun 18 Kippu passes are too many since each one is good for 5 days of unlimited usage? I mean if that's true, and assuming our trips to Kyoto and Mt. Fuji are only one day, does that mean we could go there and back using only one "day" on our pass for each of us? I don't know the logistics of getting to Kyoto and back in one day but I think it seems pretty doable for Mt. Fuji at least. If anyone has any experience or opinions on this pass please let me know. Also, is it possible to get them in advance, while we're still in the States or is this something that we could just do once we get to Tokyo?

TIA,
Tony

[samurai007]

Originally Posted by TBone7281

Seishun Juhachi Kippu (Seishun 18 Kippu)

Me and two friends from work are going to Japan for 10 days at the end of March and are staying in the Shinagawa area (Shinagawa Prince Hotel). We'll be flying into Narita and plan on taking trips to both Kyoto and Mt. Fuji. We were originally thinking about getting a 7 day JR pass but found that this Seishun 18 Kippu pass might be a better deal since the three of us could buy 3 of them for 11,500 yen each. So that would be 34,500 yen, or about $325 using today's exchange rate. I think each of us buying a JR rail pass would be more like $800 so that would save us about $475 up front. Is that enough of a savings to just pay out of pocket for our trips around tokyo via subway for the other days? The majority of our trip is going to be in Tokyo and it seems like a two day subway pass is pretty cheap. Additionally, maybe 3 Seishun 18 Kippu passes are too many since each one is good for 5 days of unlimited usage? I mean if that's true, and assuming our trips to Kyoto and Mt. Fuji are only one day, does that mean we could go there and back using only one "day" on our pass for each of us? I don't know the logistics of getting to Kyoto and back in one day but I think it seems pretty doable for Mt. Fuji at least. If anyone has any experience or opinions on this pass please let me know. Also, is it possible to get them in advance, while we're still in the States or is this something that we could just do once we get to Tokyo?

TIA,
Tony

I used them all the time in Japan, so I can help you. First, you may not need 3 Juhachi Kippus. The JR Rail pass requires 1 per person and may not be given to others, etc. But the Juhachi Kippu contains 5 all day passes that can be used any way you like... 5 people could each use 1 for 1 day, 1 person for 5 days, etc.

Next, another difference is that the JR rail pass, once activated, runs 7 consecutive days whether you use it or not. If you spend 1 day just looking around Tokyo, it still counts off the Rail Pass. The Juhachi Kippu, though, lets you use a ticket only on the days you actually want to, and feel it's worth it. If you use 1 pass each to get to Kyoto, look around in Kyoto for a couple days, you then each use another day pass to return to Tokyo... no passes were wasted on the days looking around.

Next difference is that the JR Rail pass works for the bullet train and all express trains, while the juhachi kippu does not. This means that instead of a 2 1/2 hour trip on the bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto, you're looking at about 12-13 hours by local trains, using up pretty much a whole day each way getting to and from Kyoto.

If you have plenty of time in Japan, and the money is a bigger issue, then the juhachi kippu is the better deal. If your time is more limited than your money, then the JR rail pass (or just buying tickets on the bullet train, which is about $130 per person each way to and from Kyoto) is what you need.

Or you can either stay closer to Tokyo, maybe visit Nikko and other places close by instead, or fly into Kansai International Airport and see the Osaka-Kyoto region instead of Tokyo.

The juhachi kippu is not purchased overseas, you buy it in the train station in Japan. The JR Rail Pass must be bought overseas and redeemed in Japan.

Edit to add: The $475+ savings is plenty of money to not only pay for all your other train rides, it would be enough to let you get food and a hotel room for another 2 nights to make up for the travel time.

[TBone7281]

Originally Posted by samurai007

I used them all the time in Japan, so I can help you. First, you may not need 3 Juhachi Kippus. The JR Rail pass requires 1 per person and may not be given to others, etc. But the Juhachi Kippu contains 5 all day passes that can be used any way you like... 5 people could each use 1 for 1 day, 1 person for 5 days, etc.

Next, another difference is that the JR rail pass, once activated, runs 7 consecutive days whether you use it or not. If you spend 1 day just looking around Tokyo, it still counts off the Rail Pass. The Juhachi Kippu, though, lets you use a ticket only on the days you actually want to, and feel it's worth it. If you use 1 pass each to get to Kyoto, look around in Kyoto for a couple days, you then each use another day pass to return to Tokyo... no passes were wasted on the days looking around.

Next difference is that the JR Rail pass works for the bullet train and all express trains, while the juhachi kippu does not. This means that instead of a 2 1/2 hour trip on the bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto, you're looking at about 12-13 hours by local trains, using up pretty much a whole day each way getting to and from Kyoto.

If you have plenty of time in Japan, and the money is a bigger issue, then the juhachi kippu is the better deal. If your time is more limited than your money, then the JR rail pass (or just buying tickets on the bullet train, which is about $130 per person each way to and from Kyoto) is what you need.

Or you can either stay closer to Tokyo, maybe visit Nikko and other places close by instead, or fly into Kansai International Airport and see the Osaka-Kyoto region instead of Tokyo.

The juhachi kippu is not purchased overseas, you buy it in the train station in Japan. The JR Rail Pass must be bought overseas and redeemed in Japan.

Edit to add: The $475+ savings is plenty of money to not only pay for all your other train rides, it would be enough to let you get food and a hotel room for another 2 nights to make up for the travel time.

Ouch. Yeah, 12-13 hours is way too long for us since we'll only actually be IN Japan for 8 days. (2 of our 10 days is spent traveling to and from Japan) Glad you pointed out they aren't good on the shinkansen before we decided that was the way to go! I just reread the info on the pass and it definitely says that... I guess we were just excited and skipped over it. Welp, back to the drawing board. If (when) we come up with more questions, I'll be sure to ask. Thanks for the info!

[TBone7281]

Originally Posted by samurai007

Edit to add: The $475+ savings is plenty of money to not only pay for all your other train rides, it would be enough to let you get food and a hotel room for another 2 nights to make up for the travel time.

Yes, but unfortuantely we bought our hotel/plane tickets in October.

[samurai007]

Originally Posted by TBone7281

Yes, but unfortuantely we bought our hotel/plane tickets in October.

Ah, too bad then. Well, you may want to consider looking around Tokyo, or going to places closer by. Nikko has a very beautiful temple and is just 2 hours by local trains north of Tokyo. It is the home of the famous "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" monkeys. And Mt Fuji/Hakone isn't too far from Tokyo. You might also like Mastumoto and hiking in the Japan Alps, or Nagano.

[yukiya]

Osaka <-> Tokyo lowest fares by Bus / 123 bus Japan

You can try using that night bus....I'm thinking of using this so I won't waste another 8.5 hour from Kyoto to Tokyo
(I'm also planning to use the seisshun 18 kippu)
Check out my plan here :
Japan trip itinerary (advice needed)
maybe you can give me some inputs too....