Gran class Shinkansen

[love_the_life]

Anyone tried this. Its a class above the GreenClass. while green class is marketed as F, its more like a J (according to friends Ive spoken to)

prices about double that of Green and only 6 rows in a carriage of 3 seats per row

I’ve been tempted but we use a Green car JR pass so didn’t try it. We thought the meal offering did not look as good as what you get on the Eurostar. We’ve had to travel in an ordinary car once and much prefer the larger seats and room of Green car.

 

[bigjobs]

interesting thread. in for tips on Japan.

Going up again on Sunday for 11 or so days chasing snow.

 

[Quickstatus]

interesting thread. in for tips on Japan.

Going up again on Sunday for 11 or so days chasing snow.

WTF JAL measured my skibags and charged me USD $100 per oversized ski bag (dimensions > 200cm in L+W+D)

I reckon Gran Class limits the options for Shinkansen travel - if you only want to travel Gran and not Green. I’ll stick with Green Class but not fussed if I only get reserved standard seats

Practically, reserved seating is likely to be important (apart from travel during peak periods) if origin of travel is down the line from the origin of the train service. Likely to get a group seated together or an actual seat if boarding at the service originating station.

 

[rbjhan]

I tried Gran Class in Feb, Hokuriku Shinkansen.
Very nice seats.
The one I took had no meal service so it's slightly cheaper than the normal fare.

 

[Quickstatus]

@rbjhan,

We did that line in Feb.
Stopped off at IIyama
We slummed it in the Green class. Though I went forward and like a true AFF gatecrashed the Gran Class toilets

How much cheaper is non catered Gran class?


There was lots of leg room.



Some kind of hot pot. Reasonable. I’ve heard they are phasing our the trolley service.



The Iiyama train station is the biggest structure in that town. I wonder if it was a quid pro quo in return for some votes

 

[rbjhan]

@rbjhan,
How much cheaper is non catered Gran class?

Tokyo to Karuizawa, it's 10k v 12k Yen roughly. Methinks it's a good deal as you can get a lot of food for 2000 Yen!
BTW the pictures you took it's not green class?

 

[Quickstatus]

Excellent pickup @rbjhan !!.

Correctly that’s regular class . Will post the Green

 

[DC3]

I wouldn’t bother too much about the on-board food. Just pick your own bento box at the platform.

 

[rbjhan]

Excellent pickup @rbjhan !!.

Correctly that’s regular class . Will post the Green

Ha the 2+3 seating is a dead giveaway
Personally I think the green car is not that special...
Gran Class otoh...def worth the money.

 

[rbjhan]

I wouldn’t bother too much about the on-board food. Just pick your own bento box at the platform.

F&B included in Gran Class.
Unless you get one without the service, not too many of those I believe.

 

[DC3]

F&B included in Gran Class.
Unless you get one without the service, not too many of those I believe.

Yes, I took the Green. It came with food but chose to pick up our own bento boxes anyway. No Gran on those services. It’s just that there are some pretty good bento box offerings at some platforms.

Edit: No issues with Green. Very quiet, but I found Japanese to be very quiet and courteous, anyway.

 

[Quickstatus]

Green Class - one of several different colour schemes:

All immaculate - as is regular class

 

[rbjhan]

Yes, I took the Green. It came with food but chose to pick up our own bento boxes anyway. No Gran on those services. It’s just that there are some pretty good bento box offerings at some platforms.

Yes I've had many Ekibens....best place to buy is probably the one inside Tokyo Station. Good ones sold out quickly though.
This is by far my favourite:

 

[Quickstatus]

What did you do with the clay pot?

 

[Quickstatus]

Gatecrashed the Gran Class toilets.
Immaculate!. It much the same as Green or regular loos (except less people use it)

As the Shinkansen is super smooth at 280km/h, it is easy doing business in there!

 

[rbjhan]

What did you do with the clay pot?

Proudly stands as a pen holder on my desk!

 

[Blinky]

My wife and have a 9 day Green pass for next month. It looks pretty decent. Is it possible to upgrade to Gran Class and at what cost?

 

[rbjhan]

Smooth it is.
This bottle stood the whole time...

 

[rbjhan]

My wife and have a 9 day Green pass for next month. It looks pretty decent. Is it possible to upgrade to Gran Class and at what cost?

Yes you can upgrade but I'm afraid it won't be very cost effective. The pass will only cover the basic fare, means you'll need to pay for the Gran Class part of the fare, it won't be just the difference between green and gran.
You can easily work out exactly how much using Hyperdia.
But my advise would be, if you have a green pass, stick with green car...BTW, there isn't a 9 day pass, you might want to double check that.

 

[Quickstatus]

My wife and have a 9 day Green pass for next month. It looks pretty decent. Is it possible to upgrade to Gran Class and at what cost?

I don’t know.
If @rbjhan doesnt know maybe @drron may have an answer.
What does the ticket conditions say?