Japain Rail Pass
 

Hi guys!
I'm Italian and I'm a new user. This is my first post in this forum :ywave:
At the first..sorry for my bad English... :o

I would like to go to Japan next Summer (in August).

I have planned my itinerary but I post it after.:rolleyes:

I have a question about Japan Rail Pass.

Which is the difference between Ordinary and Green ? I don't understand..

In both cases Can I reserve my seat?

Many thanks for your help!

bye

Ordinary vs. Green
 

It looks like the main difference between ordinary and Green is the accommodation.

Green cars are "first class" - more legroom/ less seats, that sort of thing.

If I'm not mistaken, there's no difference in what trains you can ride, which to me would be more important, since the Nozomi class bullet train is faster (i.e. fewer stops) than the Hikari or Kodama class trains.

HTH.

PS. Reservations - I think you can reserve regardless of what type of rail pass you have, with the exception that you can't reserve a Green car seat w/out the Green rail pass, and you have to pay more if you want to ride the Nozomi class bullet train.

OK! Now it's clearly! :)

Aboour "ordinary" ticket..where I can do my reservation? By internet or by office in Japan :quesballoon:

Many thanks for your kindness

Have a great weekend :ywave:
:marusmile:

"Seat reservations can be made without additional payment.To make a reservation, go to any Travel Service Center or a Reservation Office (Midori-no-madoguchi) at a JR station, or to the sales office of a JR-associated travel agency. There, show your PASS, and obtain your reserved-seat ticket before boarding."

JAPAN RAIL PASS << Information in 7 languages!

Thanksssssssssssssssss!!!! :D

Isthe seat reservation ok the same or one day in advance?

it says one day in advance, but in my experience just 5min before the train leaves is okay. They never said anything about that.

Your answers are great for me!
Thank you!

:ywave:

I don't know if you've heard about them, but you may want to consider a Ju-hachi Kippu instead of a rail pass. It's far less expensive... it was 11,500 yen for 5 all day passes.

The nice thing about the Ju-hachi Kippu is that you don't need to use the tickets consecutively. You can use 1 all day pass, get to where you're going, look around for a few days, and then use another pass to either keep going or return. The Rail pass, on the other hand, is a set number of consecutive days, meaning if you spend a day or 2 looking around in a location, they are wasted from the pass. Also, you can buy the tickets from any train station in Japan, while the Rail Pass can only be bought overseas.

The drawbacks of the Ju-hachi kippu is that you can only ride local trains and a few Express trains if they are the only train that travels that route. You can't ride most other Express trains, or the bullet train. Also, they only sell the tickets during the Japanese holiday seasons, and that season's tickets expire when the season is over, so you'll have to watch the dates on them.

Here's more info on them... Seishun Juhachi Kippu (Seishun 18 Kippu), Japanese Railways Page

I used them all the time, it's far cheaper and more versatile than the Rail Pass, if you have the time to take local trains instead of the bullet trains and express trains.

Hi! samurai, if you see my post "My idea of trip" you can see my itinerary.

I have thought to take a JRP for 14 days and the first three days, I use a single tickets "valid all day".

Is it a good idea?

I have a question: Can I use a JRP for Tokyo metro also and the others metro places?

:ywave:

I beleive the Japan Rail Pass only works on JR trains.

I will give you a more detailed breakdown in that thread then, but the quick answer is that I think that with that itinerary, a 14 day Rail Pass will be a waste of money for you. If I were you, I'd get either a 7 day pass and activate it only when you head west, or get a ju-hachi kippu.

And both the ju-hachi kippu and Rail Pass are for JR trains only... other company lines, including subways, will not accept it. However, JR also has buses and I believe they work on those.

In this case, I have to plan my itinerary and then, to realize that it's better for me!

I have thought that JRP covers all transport means...:confused:

Just to be clear, JR trains are very, very common. The great majority of train lines in Japan are JR. JR also has a few bus routes. JR doesn't operate subways, though, as far as I know, and there are some private train lines here and there. In general, traveling from city to city will nearly always be on JR lines. Traveling within a city often won't be.

IMO, you should probably get either the 7 day regular JR Rail Pass and activate it when you head for Kyoto, or get a ju-hachi kippu and only spend the passes on the days when it's worth while, possibly buying either a plane ticket or bullet train ticket seperately to get back to Narita Airport quickly.

Or, check and see if it is possible for you to simply fly home from Osaka's Kansai International Airport instead of returning to Narita at all. That would save you a lot of time and money instead of getting back to Tokyo! I believe that it's possible to get a round trip ticket that allows you to leave from a different airport than the one you arrived at.

Yes Samurai, your idea is good! :rolleyes:

Its' very difficult to calculate every journey to understand what's the best choise.


If I have well understand:

for all days that I will stay in Tokyo, I can buy a singol all ticekts (it's ok for subway and buses).

Can I go to Kamakura and Disneyland with this type of ticket?


Then, when I will go to Takayama to Kyoto, I use a JRP (if is it cheap) that I can use it for 7 days.
After, the last day, you recommend me to leave to Osaka.


many thanks!

:ywave:

uhm.... :(
I have seen the difference for th retur trip from Osaka to Milan and...it's very expensive.


The best solution as economy flight is roud trip (Milan/Tokyo/Milan).

Now...I don't know what can I do with these means tickets... :confused:
It's very complicated!

Check the price of a 45 minute Domestic flight from Kansai International to Narita... it is probably cheaper than the bullet train, though if you decide to go with the Rail Pass, you can ride the bullet train for free.

I don't know what you mean by "single all tickets". If you mean the ju-hachi kippu, it is a JR ticket only, not usable for subways either. There may be an all-day ticket just for the Tokyo subways... I'm not sure, as I simply bought individual tickets for each ride when I was there. I'm pretty sure Osaka's subway has an all day pass, but you'd need to ride it quite a bit to make the cost worth it. A normal subway ticket is $2-5, so depending upon the cost of an all day pass, it may or may not be worth buying, depending upon how much you plan to ride it. Personally, I preferred taking the subway somewhere and then walking around that area most of the day, so it wasn't worth it for me. I only ever bought all day passes for traveling between cities.

It can be hard to figure out everything in advance. But because the JR Rail Pass can only be bought outside of Japan, and the other tickets can only be bought in Japan, you need to simply decide if you want a Rail Pass or not, and then fill in the rest of your trip with individual tickets and/or a ju-hachi kippu. If you're going to need to ride the bullet trains at all, then a 7 day Rail Pass may be a good idea, especially for the return trip from Osaka back to Tokyo. That trip takes over 12 hours by local trains, but only about 3 hours by bullet train (and less than 1 hour by domestic flight). But, as I said before, with the $170 savings you get by buying a ju-hachi kippu instead of a Rail Pass, you should be able to pay for a ticket back to Tokyo easily. Either way, you should be fine.

oh yes, I spoke about "all-day ticket just for the Tokyo subways"...

I think to use these tickets for 3 or 4 days in Tokyo and after, I buy a JRP for the others 14 days.. :)

bye :ywave:

I am planing on going to japan with a girl I meet at the japanese english socal club in Bostion. one of the japanese there crcamended IACE trael agency. a lot of members have crcamended it to me.

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