Save money and book individual bullet train tickets on Klook! Klook's got you covered with over 2,900+ direct routes including between popular cities like Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and major airports. Why book individual tickets online? VBook 90 days ahead and plan your trip with ease /Reserve seats for lst class and 2nd class skip the queue and receive your physical train ticket by scanning your digital QR code voucher*
Not valid for JR Passes
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Definitely need the T&Cs. Can't find this code/details on Klook. Important to know whether it applies to the seat reservation fee which can form a substantial part of the total ticket cost.
I got JR pass as the travel agent was pimping it heavily. In Tokyo most routes are via subway which isn't covered by the pass, you can use the JR covered routes but they take much longer to get around.
It was good that the Shinkansen was covered by JR pass but I found the local rail was so cheap to get around it's not worth it for the regular routes.
I would say get JR pass only to cover the period where you'll catch bullet trains and not your entire trip period.
This will come in handy after the october 50% price hike for JR rail pass.
Oh damn, we go in Dec.
I'd already calculated that the JR Pass wasn't worth it for us but that sucks
Not sure sorry.
You can buy it in October and activate it up to 3 months later. If you already calculated it's not worth it then doesn't affect you I guess
Yeah that's true - I actually think it's 6 months.
@theguyrules: You can buy up to 3 months prior to activation. But also you can activate up to 30 days prior to actual use (if you're in Japan for a bit before you start using the pass).
If travelling in Dec you should be able to get a pass at current rates but be aware it may be a small window of opportunity. Definitely with doing the maths on because it's a huge price increase.
@mattman: Sorry, yes I mean jrpass.com will let you buy more than 3 Months in advance but will just ship it to you when you're within 3 months of activation.
careful cutoff date is actually September 28. source
-> cutoff for exchange would be December 27 (someone fact check me here)
—> cutoff for activation would be January 26
Is that a for real 50% price hike that's happening or like a "it'll go up"? Is it announced somewhere? Ouch.
Anyway to get any further discount on JR pass?
Is klook the best option?
Unless a discount voucher appears before you travel, Klook does appear cheapest at the moment. Currently the 14-day "ordinary" pass for all of Japan is 333 USD, which currently equals 488 AUD if you have a good credit card. Cashrewards has 3.5% cashback, so the all-up effective price looks to be about 471AUD.
Wait as long as possible before ordering, in case a voucher deal appears.
Edit: I can't get back the page that offered me 333 USD, now it says 340.65 USD. Now it's the same price when converted to AUD, irrespective of which currency is chosen. 47250 JPY = 340.65 USD = 498.10 AUD.
Is it possible to get this if im travelling in november? Can you only purchase if your travelling 2 months in advance?
Same, I'm going in November, unable too book 😪
Does that mean no international travel deals can be posted here in your opinion?
excludes JR Pass
Not valid for all Japan trains. Just tried for Skyliner Narita express and code doesn't work.
The OP did write "bullet trains" (ie, Shinkansen), but it would certainly be helpful if the whole post were edited a bit to explain better.
You cannot use JR pass on the fastest trains - mizuho, nozomi, that greatly reduce the frequency. Also there is advance reservation discounts and return discount up to 50% off if you book direct at the respective JR sites e.g. JR West, JR Kyushu
The Nozomi is hardly faster speed wise
Oops. Just got back from a wonderful two weeks in Japan. Used the pass extensively. Caught the Nozomi - it was incredible. Didn’t realise we weren’t allowed! Must have caught about 10 Shinkansen as well as even more local trains and never got asked to show a ticket except scanning it through auto gates.
Wow 17 downvotes. You people are pathetic.
I have heard of many horror stories via r/japantraveltips & /japantravel with purchasing rail tickets and especially JR pass via third party agents + you can’t even prebook seats for Shinkansen. Just like buying plane tickets, I’d recommend buying directly from the official site
Usually fair point and agree with the airline tickets. However have used Klook many times including twice for the JR pass and they are very reliable. Easier to navigate for English speakers and often a good saving on official sites across Asia, particularly with cashback offers.
You can always reserve Shinkansen seats with a JR pass
you can’t even prebook seats for Shinkansen.
With JR pass, you should be able to pre-book seats, but it appears you can only book seats in-person in Japan, and bookings only become available one month before the date of your Shinkansen travel.
Just got back from Japan. Bought JR vouchers from Klook and had no problems. Only thing we did wrong was try to redeem it at Shinjuku first thing Sunday morning and the queue was about an hour.
Anything for South Korea? The kpass seems to only be 5 days any one know if there's any kind of unlimited?
I saw JR pass around 10% discount. Time to make a call.
Where?
Yea, where?
Klook are currently showing a crossed-out price that is 10% higher than the current price. But Klook is currently on-par with one other seller I checked, so I think that discount is an illusion.
It looks like you can save about 2% on Klook if you have a good credit card and select USD as the currency, I wonder if it's even better if you select JPY.
There's also the cashback from CashRewards, 3.5% at the moment.
Seems like if going to more than 1 location/taking more than 1 trip the JR pass is the way to go? (Eg Tokyo to Osaka or vice versa and then day trip to like Sendai or Hiroshima)
Yes, in terms of cost. They changed the rules where you can only book max 1 ticket when you exchange the pass (at the traveling center?), then you will need to book the rest of the tickets in another ticket office. We spent more than 1 hour to queue up, exchange the pass, then queue up again to book more tickets.
Not recommended if just break even or slightly on top. Could have just buy all the tickets at the blue machine in 10 mins
You don't need to queue up to book tickets for JR trains on the pass.
Just use the reserved seat vending machines, it take literally a couple of mins and there is usually little to no queue to use them.
Yes, just got back from Japan and can confirm booking reserved seats with a JR pass is very easy. Also, for most trains we didn’t bother as heaps of room in non reserved cars.
that 10% fulfilment fee on top really sucks
Thanks. Going in a couple months and needed to get Tokyo to Osaka tickets for the family. Considering the Klook fulfilment fee this is around 10% real saving I guess.
Damn another discount missed.
Should post T&C
Only applicable to Japan Shinkansen tickets. Max discount $100 AUD. One time use only. Cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer. Valid for AU & NZ residents only. Expires 17 July 12PM AEDT or until sold out.
Before anyone asks.. not valid for JR Pass