Japan trip - JR pass or not?

[MJ_/\_]

The IC cards expire 10 years after last use. I've had my Suica and ICOCA cards since 2008 and both are still usable.

Good to know

I figure that in 10 years you'll probably just be able to tap with a standard cc anywhere like they are starting to do here with trains now... I made my decision purely for the Astro Boy card though, the non-expiry part sounds cool, even though it may not really be by the sounds of things

 

[boblee]

Good to know

I figure that in 10 years you'll probably just be able to tap with a standard cc anywhere like they are starting to do here with trains now... I made my decision purely for the Astro Boy card though, the non-expiry part sounds cool, even though it may not really be by the sounds of things

hey where'd you find the astro boy design? I only have the standard design

 

[MJ_/\_]

hey where'd you find the astro boy design? I only have the standard design

KANSAI ONE PASS

kansaionepass.com

*even though it talks about the Kansai region, it is just an ICOCA card and can be used anywhere

 

[boblee]

KANSAI ONE PASS

kansaionepass.com

*even though it talks about the Kansai region, it is just an ICOCA card and can be used anywhere

wow it looks so nice. I'll get one when I come back to Kansai.

 

[encryptededdy]

Another tip is to look into booking Tokaido/Sanyo Shinkansen tickets early using Smart-EX to get their various discount products.



My favourite is the Hayatoku-Green 3 Wide, which lets you book a Green Car incl. Nozomi for a good discount (near that of a regular ordinary car) 3 days or more in advance (although in practice it's often sold out if you wait until 3 days prior before booking). There's also discounts for ordinary tickets booked 7/21/28 days out.

The full list of discount tickets is here: Fare Overview | Tokaido Sanyo Kyushu Shinkansen Internet Reservation Service

There's also discount tickets on the JR-East shinkansens called Tokudane tickets, but I've never tried them myself. Seems instructions are only in Japanese.

 

[MJ_/\_]

early using Smart-EX

yeah, but for what seems like most people - it won't accept your credit card to register for a Smart-ex account before you leave to Japan (I was able to register when I was physically in Japan, same card that was previously rejected when I tried in Aus).

The discounts can be quite good (especially on green car tickets), but it locks you into a specific time and if you're going between Tokyo-Kyoto/Osaka then a Shinkansen leaves every 10 minutes and 95% of the year you don't have any issues with cars being full... so a trade off between locking in a saving and getting to Tokyo station at the right time, or just letting your day unfold and get it when you get there. Before we left for Japan I wanted to go the Smart-ex route... when we got there I appreciated the 'get the when you get there' option more.