About Suica.
 

Hi guys, thanks to you guys' new and past threads I'm doing well on my Japan trip planning.

I'm thinking of getting a Suica card so to make life more convinient and stuff. And I'm aware that I can get them right at Narita Airport or most stations.

But one thing is, I've checked on the stations that allows the use of Suica. Some web says not all stations in Tokyo while some say all accepts Suica.

My hostel is in Tawaramachi, and I plan to travel from Narita T2 to Keisei-Ueno thru their JR Keisei Honsen. I'll mostly be around Tawaramachi <-> Shibuya area. The furthest I'll go is Shin-Yokohama.

So my question is (sorry I'm naggy XD) is the Suica card usable in ALL stations in Tokyo and surrounding areas aka Yokohama even the private lines like Keisei Honsen which I'll be taking or only selected? Or maybe just the JR lines etc?

There's a map at the end of this guide by JR East:
http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/suica-nex/s_users_guide.pdf
am I correct to say that it shows ALL the stations that accepts Suica?

After 2 days of research I found my own answer!

JR

^ The map provided by JR East.

Basically it's all the stations. Now I know why some people say Suica is accepted in all stations in Tokyo and surrounding areas. =D

You can also use the Suica pass on many buses, even those in somewhat out of the way places.

How long are you planning to stay in Japan? If your stay is 3 weeks to one month, you should just get a JR railpass. It is good for 30 days and allows unlimited use of all JR trains as well as the Shinkansen.

It's an excellent deal if you want to see all of Japan. The cost is about $300, but if you consider that a reserved seat on the Shinkansen going from Tokyo to Osaka and back runs about $360, you get the idea,

Nope it's just a short stay, less than a week actually. My friend and I just wanna get one as a souvenir for ourselves. XD

Plus in our country we're too used to using these smartcards for transports so we wanna get one, convinient~ =D

I'm not sure you can get a Suica pass without a residency card. My GF got one for me 3 years ago because I was visiting as a tourist and couldn't get my own. I'm still using it.

But it's possible that I'm mistaken, or that the rules have changed.

My friends from Sweden visited Japan last month and got their's. The unregistered ones from the vending machines. Just slot in 2000 yen and the card pops out. YouTube even has a video about it. XD

What is a Suica card? I'm planning to go to Japan as well in a year, and this is something I've never heard about before.

Man, if there's one thing I have yet to research, it's the rail system over there...

Is the suica card actually cheap enough for a one week use.. ?

I thought suica was like a credit card so getting one without some sort of permanent residency would be pretty hard, right?

Suica is kinda like touch and go card.. nothing special with it, since it is pretty convinient people like me like to have it.. if you just staying about a week or so in Japan, then it is up to you to buy it or not coz the deposit is quite high 500 yen if I'm not mistaken..

You can buy a Suica card at Narita airport if you are coming into Tokyo from there. You will get a special deal - it's called NEx - this means you can use thge Narita Express train from the airport into Tokyo and then continue to use the Suica as you travel round using the trains or buses. All you do is swipe the card as you enter and leave the ticket gates at each station and it deducts the amount of money your journey costs.

You can 'charge' your card with as much money as you like and then add to it when you need to using the ticket machines in the stations. Each ticket machine has a button on the top right that lets you choose English as your language and then it's easy from there.

You can also use the suica card in some convenience shops to pay for goods. It is not a credit card though - you must have the funds on the card to pay for the items.

Regarding the 500 yen deposit. If you hand the card in at a JR office when you leave Japan - you can do this at Narita airport again if you are leaving that way - they return the deposit to you.

The Suica card is the most efficient way to pay for travel in Japan now. It works on JR trains, city buses, subways, and now many private train lines are beginning to accept it.

On my last trip to Odaiba there was a 15 minute line in front of the ticket machines for the Yurikamome line. Having the Suica card meant I could just pass through the gate without having to go to the trouble of buying a ticket.

You can recharge the Suica card at many ticket or "fare adjustment" machines located at the various train stations.

I don't recommend taking the Narita Express train to Tokyo. It's expensive, and it can be hard to get seats on depending on which time you arrive. Carrying luggage on the train is a nuisance too. You should take the airport limousine buses which leave every 5 minutes or so from the terminal.

The good thing about taking the bus is that it doesn't take any longer than the train, it is generally less crowded, it's less expensive, and it has room for large or heavy bags. What's more, the bus leaves from the sidewalk just outside the terminal where you exit customs, which is much closer than the train platform for the Narita Express. You don't have to go down the stairs, or twist your luggage around to get it through the luggage barriers like you do when you want to use the train.

You can buy your tickets inside the terminal after you leave customs. You can't miss the big orange "limousine bus" sign, nor can you miss the large airport limousine buses. They'll take you to Tokyo Station or Roppongi, or you can take special buses which go directly to many of the larger hotels, or even Disney.

Sangetsu is absolutely right about the airport limousine bus... and I don't want to complicate this but there are actually 2 cards that you can now buy in Tokyo. One is called Suica as we've been talking about - it is run by JR train company. The other one is called Pasmo run by the Metro subway company.

If you take the airport limousine bus from the Narita then in exactly the same way as JR has a deal on Suica that gets you a discount on the Narita Express, Pasmo has a deal that will get you a discount on the airport limousine bus. In every other way the cards are identical and can be used in exactly the same way.

I'm a Pasmo user because my home train line station is on a subway line. The deposit is the same and you can get it back in the same way when you leave Japan.

Hope it helps :)