Hi guys,
I have not seen any jr pass deal in last few weeks So which WOuld be best place or website to buy it
Thanks
JR Pass - where to buy?
pyramid on 18/05/2016 - 22:57
Comments
In kanazawa right now - I got Flight Centre to match online price, I paid $330 for 7 day JR pass.
On a side note, I have been to Kanazawa twice, once for a one day visit and the most recent one we stayed overnight to enjoy more than the garden. The train station is magnificent architecture and our My Stays hotel rooms were simply enormous, but I found the rest of the town underwhelming. The hop on, hop off bus is a great idea, but none of the stops really made me think it was worthwhile. Even the supposedly impressive gold leaf district was disappointing.
Agree about the gold leaf district but Kenrokuen Garden was really impressive. Kanazawa castle was OK (the bits left of it). The Ninja Temple (Myoryuji) was definitely worth a visit too.
Waiting for a JR Pass deal, leaving in about 3 weeks. Anyone know if you can get it cheaper than $356 at sachitours or japan explorer?
Thanks!Leaving in 2 weeks. Let me know if you find something cheaper. I will do as well.
Studenflights website suggest price $349…And this is cheapeast i have seen in last few days….Not sure if flightcentre will price match this or pricebeat this and by how much?
Finally, after doing the calculations, I won't be using national JR Pass, but maybe the JR West (Kansai area) because it seems to be cheaper than buying the individual tickets for my last 4 days in the area. Have you got yours?
Student Flights quoted me $412. I think i might just buy from Sachitours or Japanexplorer as they provide free shipping.
Hi Everyone,
We are traveling to Japan as well at the end of June for about 10 days. Never been there before. Traveling with wife and two kids 7 years and 4 years old. I am very nervous as it seems so hard to plan, weather to but JR pass or not, from where, how much etc etc. If its a good idea to stay the first couple of days in Tokyo first (we are arriving in Tokyo (Narita) ) and then travel to other places, where to go, what to do etc. Then spend 7 days out traveling and then may be stay the last day and a half again to Tokyo before flying out? Sorry for all these questions.
My BIGGEST concern is to find a place to stay, I have NO IDEA where to stay, where to start looking.
So it would be really helpful if one of you good people who have already traveled there or are traveling in the next couple of weeks to give me a few pointers, please.
Really appreciate,There are couple of Japan thread here on OZB as well as on whirlpool. You need to start thinking about what would be your places of interest like shrines/castles/night life/museums/mountains etc..and from there you can use google/trip advisor/OZB and whirlpool to plan…..
I wouldn't recommend the JR Pass if you're going to stay mainly in Tokyo. I guess it will be only be worth it if you're travelling to different cities. You can use Pasmo or Suica card which is cheaper for Tokyo. Plan your travels through Hyperdia to calculate the cost of the travel fares. I would recommend Airbnb for accommodation. Shibuya and Shinjuku would be the place where i would stay but might be expensive.
Hey Ozieboy,
I will try to answer your questions as best as I can. If you would like more info, feel free to PM me.
JR Passes, the easiest way to calculate if it will be worth it for you without planning out your train trips every day is this: 7 day JR Pass = >2 Shinkansens, 14 day JR Pass = >3 Shinkansens, 21 day JR Pass = >4 Shinkansens. The Shinkansens being the bullet train. So basically if you are planning less than 2 Shinkansen trips on a 7 day JR pass, it would not be worth it. And this is one way trips so Tokyo to Osaka return on a Shinkansen would be two trips.
In terms of accommodation, if you would like something budget and with space to accommodate a family, Airbnb would be a good bet. Keep in mind though residentials in Japan are fairly small compared to a western home so have a look at reviews and pictures before deciding.
In terms of area, with kids I would recommend not basing yourself in Kabukicho, Shinjuku. Everywhere else is fine. Even Kabukicho is fine if you don't mind explaining what a red light district is haha. Japan is an extremely safe place, however general common sense still applies. If you were after a recommendation, Asakusa is a lovely area and the temple their is highly recommended.
10 days, a nicely paced itinerary through Tokyo and maybe one or two surrounding areas would be ideal. I wouldn't recommend Osaka unless there is something specific drawing you there. I did Osaka and Tokyo + surroundings with 21 days and would have liked to stay longer in only one place.
Thanks Pyramid, Good Advise.
I have already started reading a few very long thread here on OZB. There is not much info on any places to stay. Any Ideas? Where did you look? I'd say Mountains, Shrines and Museums in that order. How close can/should you purchase the JR pass (after reading a fare bit, it seems JR pass is a must), possibly wait for a deal till the end?for accomodation, look at booking/agoda/expedia/airbnb etc….You really need to do your own research..I don't think anyone would be able to create draft itinerary for you…Better purchase your JR Pass atleast 10-12 days before you travel…
I got a JR East one (not sure which one you are after) on line from JR before I went to Japan in Feb and definitely saved money compared to buying it there in Japan $238 AU for any 5 days travel in 14 I did 2 shinkansen trips and another 2 short trips and worked out I save a little bit over buying individual tickets
On a side note some quirky things in Japan like No Smoking in the street in some places but smoking in restaurants is ok during specific hours !!!!!!!!!!!!!Hi everyone,
I'm wondering if anybody can give me any insight on whether the new Hokuriku Arch Pass is better then the JR pass. And whether its possible to do return trips from kyoto to tokyo(vice-versa) direct.
I'm planning to visit the areas as stated in the pass but want to know if its better just to get the normal JR pass.
thanks
From following link, it looks like you can use it kyoto-tokyo-kyoto.
https://www.japan-rail-pass.com/pass-regional/central/osaka-…
This pass won't take you to Hiroshima. And i could not figure out on which trains you can use this pass.
I'm currently writing this whilst sitting on a tatami floor from our hotel in Tsumago.
We ended up purchasing from here:
https://www.japan-rail-pass.com
They change in AUD (I don't believe the banks charge a foreign transaction fee for paying in AUD, however I was a bit paranoid so I paid with my Citibank fee free card just in case (note any travel money card with AUD should also be fee free). They ship express from Paris via DHL (took around 6 days to get to Sydney). Like most JR sellers currency dictates the price, however I found these guys to be more fluid in their pricing (updating every few days based on currency fluctuations) unlike the Australian resellers who sometimes take weeks (which may or may not work in your favor).
If you're game to play the exchange rate game you could wait to see if the price improves however the AUD is terrible at the moment so it's going to be pretty bad, wherever you buy from.
Regardless, good luck, hope you have a great trip. We've been here three weeks and have one more week to go and have loved every moment in Japan.