Originally Posted By DouglasDubh So, I have all the hotels for our trip booked, and now I have to figure out how to get around. We are flying into Narita and then going out to the Disneyland Hotel for 5 nights. After that we will go Kyoto then will spend about a week in Tokyo. I know that the rail pass doesn't work on the Tokyo subway but am thinking we might take a day trip to Fuji or Yokohama. My question is should I get 14 day rail passes or just 7 day ones. Does the rail pass work to get from the airport to the DL resort? Does it work from the DL resort to where ever in Tokyo we will need to go to catch the train to Kyoto? And if it does work, am I better off paying the extra $150 or so for the 14 day pass or is it a lot cheaper to pay for the short trips at the beginning and end of our trip individually?
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Great questions, and I'm in a similar boat for my trip. We could theoretically do all of our touring in 7 days, but it would be really tight; it would be great if there was a 10 day pass, which would give us enough time to see several different cities while we're outside Tokyo And my understanding is that the rail pass would actually cover the JR metro lines within Tokyo during the time that it's valid, but that it's not worth getting a pass just for the metro trips (since regular tickets are so cheap in comparison). It does not work on the Keio lines, though I hope one of our LPers with more Japan experience can confirm all this
Originally Posted By DouglasDubh Yeah, I just found a page that talks about the JR lines in Tokyo. It might be worth paying more for the 14 day and using those rather than the subway. <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://jprail.com/travel-informations/best-way-efficient-how-much-can-we-use-japan-rail-pass-in-downtown-tokyo.html">http://jprail.com/travel-infor...kyo.html</a>
Originally Posted By SuperDry The general advice is that the JR Pass is not a good value just for traveling around Tokyo. To answer specific questions: << Does the rail pass work to get from the airport to the DL resort? >> Yes. You can take the N'EX (Narita Express) train from the airport to Tokyo Station, then transfer to the JR Keiyo Line to Maihama Station, which is at the resort. The pass will not work on the Resort Line (Disney monorail). Your best bet is to buy a multi-day pass for the Resort Line since you'll be using it a few times a day. These are available from the vending machines at the station. <<< And my understanding is that the rail pass would actually cover the JR metro lines within Tokyo during the time that it's valid, but that it's not worth getting a pass just for the metro trips (since regular tickets are so cheap in comparison). >>> The JR pass works on any JR line in the country. It does not work on any private railway, subway, or monorail. The JR lines in Tokyo provide good coverage to use as a substitute for the subway, but it all depends on specific destinations. The general rule of thumb is that you should not get a JR pass just for Tokyo travel, or even extend one for that reason such as in your case. You'd be hard-pressed to save money, plus you'll end up restricting yourself to JR lines where one of the various subway lines might make more sense for particular journeys. I'd say it's roughly half and half between when the subway vs. JR makes sense when traveling in Tokyo. <<< We are flying into Narita and then going out to the Disneyland Hotel for 5 nights. After that we will go Kyoto then will spend about a week in Tokyo. >>> Here is what I'd recommend: - Get the N'EX special for foreigners. It's 1500 yen (about half price) and will get you from the airport to TDR with one change of trains at Tokyo Station. That's about half price, and all you need to do is show your passport to get the discount. This offer just started this month (there was a previous N'EX + Suica offer which is now gone), but they didn't give it to me until I asked, so be sure to ask. - Get the 7-day JR Pass. You know you have to buy this in the US before leaving, right? You get an exchange voucher which is then exchanged for the actual pass once you arrive in Japan. The best thing for you to do would be to get the 7-day pass, and exchange it at the airport ticket office when you arrive, but post-date the start of validity for the day that you'll leave TDR for Kyoto. Doing so in advance serves three purposes: 1) Once activated, you'll be able to make free seat reservations for the Tokyo-Kyoto and Kyoto-Tokyo shinkansen (bullet train) runs. 2) Since you'll already have your passes on your TDR departure day, you can use the passes to get from Maihama Station to Tokyo Station (Maihama Station does not have an office where you can activate the JR Pass, so if you wait until that day, you'll have to pay your own way to get to Tokyo Station to activate). 3) The ticket office at the airport will have the best English-speaking ability. - You don't say how long you'll be in Kyoto, but I suspect it's less than 6 nights. This will mean you'll have a day or two or three of pass validity left once you get back to Tokyo. Use it for what it's worth. If you venture to Fuji or Yokohama, do so early in your Tokyo visit while the 7-day pass is still valid. Then, just pay the regular fare for getting around town for the remainder of your stay.
Originally Posted By DouglasDubh Thanks, SuperDry. We are just spending one night in Kyoto, so we should have several days where we can use the seven day pass to take the JR trains around Tokyo or to one of the nearby towns. I need to get a map of Tokyo and mark where things are so we figure out which things are near train stations and which aren't, as well as to visit sites close to each other on the same day and minimize travel times. The information that you can exchange the JR rail voucher but delay it start is really helpful. One of the websites I was reading earlier today had a list of stations where they could be exchanged and didn't list Maihama, so that was a concern. Now I just have to figure out where is the best place to buy the rail passes.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Great info! Thanks! When activating the pass, does each person need to be there? I have some friends landing in Narita about an hour before my flight. Seems like this could might be something they could do during that time, so we can head straight into the city once I land >>Now I just have to figure out where is the best place to buy the rail passes.<< I'm wondering about this too. After doing a couple Google searches, I got some ads on LP for significantly discounted rail passes (~35% off), but I was under the impression that they had to be bought directly from JR And vaguely related: is a Mt Fuji hiking day trip feasible? It looks like there are various trains and buses that run there from Tokyo, but I'm not sure how much time we should allot for actual hiking, or if we're even going to attempt to get all the way to the summit. I found an organized tour that goes to Mt Fuji, but it only spends about 15 minutes for hiking, so it seemed like a waste to me
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< When activating the pass, does each person need to be there? >>> Yes. A condition of getting the rail pass is not only your nationality, but also your visa status. You must be admitted to Japan as a "Temporary Visitor" and not be there on a work visa, student visa, spouse visa, or anything else. So, they must see each person's passport to see what kind of stamp you have. Actually, that might be important to DouglasDubh: aren't you going there because one of your kids is studying there? If they are getting a student visa, they will not be eligible for a JR Pass. IIRC, it's some sort of short-term program that they're in. You should know based on the paperwork you already have whether you're applying for a student visa. The good news is that the Tokyo-Kyoto run on the shinkansen is the classic "break even" point for the JR Pass, so if some in your family are not eligible, it won't be that much of a cost difference. In that case, you might want to just forgo the passes since the students will need to buy individual tickets anyway. <<< I got some ads on LP for significantly discounted rail passes (~35% off), but I was under the impression that they had to be bought directly from JR >>> They are ONLY available through travel agents, and not JR directly. I'd be suspicious of anything offering 35% off. My understanding is that they are standard commissioned travel agent product, meaning that the travel agent gets a 10% commission. I don't see how someone could sell them at 35% off. It could be a generic banner ad for someone that sells all kinds of rail passes, and where they have some for another country at such a discount. If you live in a big city, then the best place to buy is from a local Japanese-owned travel agency. They will be set up to sell them and know exactly what you are talking about. Alternatively, you can go through JTB (Japan Travel Bureau), which is the largest travel agency in the world. They have several offices in the US and you should be able to buy from them over the phone. I think there's one or two companies that specialize in the rail pass that do everything by mail as well. I prefer to get them in person locally if there's that option. If you happen to be flying JAL to Japan, then you can buy them from JAL.
Originally Posted By SuperDry Oh, and the 1500-yen N'EX deal IS available to foreign students - the eligibility is based solely on nationality.
Originally Posted By DouglasDubh My daughter said Japan doesn't require a visa for trips less than 3 months, and their program is only three weeks, so they won't be on a student visa.
Originally Posted By DouglasDubh Ferret, from what I recall skimming through a Fodors book, climbing Fuji takes most of a day, and from reading about the JR trains, I think you have to switch to a private train to get to the base of Fuji. So it might be pretty hard to start in Tokyo and get to Fuji and climb it and get back in a day.
Originally Posted By DouglasDubh I ordered my rail passes today. I ended up ordering them online from JTB - <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://online.jtbusa.com/JRpass.aspx">http://online.jtbusa.com/JRpass.aspx</a> They were a couple of dollars more per pass than some places were advertising, but shipping was free, so it ended up only costing $3 more and they are an authorized seller, so hopefully more reputable. If you are in a major city you can buy them in person, but the closest branch to me was in Seattle. We decided to spring for green passes, so that we would have more room for luggage. I will have to see about reserving seats once we get there.
Originally Posted By Mr X ***They were a couple of dollars more per pass than some places were advertising*** That could be due to the fact that sales tax increased from 5% to 8% in April (just guessing). That's also something to keep in mind when planning your vacation budget. It's not *so* different, really, but some establishments have taken the opportunity to raise their own prices at the same time (some places increased their prices by 8% even though the hike was only 3%...figuring they could sneak it in I suppose).
Originally Posted By Mr X ***I will have to see about reserving seats once we get there*** When are you coming? The green cars are generally not very full, even when the rest of the train might be (so you might be able to just toss your luggage onto the seat next to you and not even bother with the luggage racks). You shouldn't have any trouble at all, even without a reservation, although of course better safe than sorry is always a good policy.
Originally Posted By Mr X Oh - in that case, yes making reservations as soon you can is probably a smart idea.
Originally Posted By DouglasDubh Our rail passes came today! They included maps of the lines and some of the stations.
Originally Posted By SuperDry In case you haven't already found it, this website is your friend for rail transport in Japan: <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.hyperdia.com/">http://www.hyperdia.com/</a> You can put in any two stations, and a date/time of either arrival or departure, and it will spell out the route for you. It will provide timetables between any two stations in Japan, and will cover all public and private rail lines. For example, you can put in a From station of "Bayside Station" which is the stop on the Resort Monorail at your hotel, and To of Kyoto Station, and it will give you the route, including the initial part on the resort monorail and the two connections you'll need to make. Under Search Details, UNcheck the box starting with Nozomi and it will exclude trains that are not valid on the JR Pass. There's an iOS version of this app, and perhaps an Andriod one, so I suggest that you put it on your smartphone to use when you're there. It's made train travel in Japan 1000% easier since this has been available on a mobile device.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I used that the other day to get a general idea of how long each trip would be. It's definitely an incredible resource (though I also had to uncheck airplanes, since a couple popped up for me). In addition to being generally useful, I was surprised to see how frequently the trains run; it seemed like the Tokyo-Kyoto line had a train about every 10 minutes!
Originally Posted By FerretAfros This isn't a rail-specific question, but does anybody know how far in advance the Keio highway buses can typically be reserved? I'm looking at the Shinjuku-Mt Fuji 5th Station line, and it's only gone through June 15 for a while. Given that the peak climbing season doesn't start until July, I'm getting a little antsy to try and make my reservations for July 10/11 Do they typically release a whole month at a time? Or is it updated weekly, etc?
