1st and last day of 7 day rail pass

[Steve4031]

I will be in Japan for 8 days. I will arrive Tokyo on Sunday and depart from Osaka (KIX) the following Sunday. Is it better to use a day of the pass to get from NRT to Tokyo station or use a day of the pass to get from Osaka to KIX?

Is there a transit pass for Osaka that allows one to use the subways and trams to get around Osaka, and then take the train to KIX? I did some research and it appears that there is such a pass that allows transit from KIX to Osaka, but it is not clear if this can be used in the reverse direction.

Thank you.

[katoftw]

The railpasses aren't really cost effective when ti comes to airport transfers.  For example Narita into Tokyo costs 1320 yen for a normal rapid service or 2820 for a reserved N'EX seat.  I think the 7 day pass averaged out works out to be 4300 yen per day. 

 

Use http://www.hyperdia.com/en/ and find the best cost effective option for yourself.

 

As a side note.  I find the 7 day pass very expensive.  Or about 30,000 yen.  For example a Toyko to Osaka trip on the shinkansen is about 14000 yen. On average about 1000 yen max per day to travel. So 1000 by 8 days.  You have about 22,000 in travel costs.  8000 yen cheaper than a 7 day rail pass used over 8 days.  Sometimes you can get 500 or 700 yen all day passes. Even cheaper again.

 

Unless you are using the railpass to do side trips on the shinkansen ie Himeji, Hiroshima etc using a shinkansen.  You might be better bypassing the railpass. (Pun intented).

Edited November 11, 2015 by katoftw

[bikkuri bahn]

Is there a transit pass for Osaka that allows one to use the subways and trams to get around Osaka, and then take the train to KIX?

 

This is good, but it can't be used on the Hankai tramway, nor JR:

http://www.surutto.com/tickets/kansai_thru_english.html

[katoftw]

Osaka to Kansai Airport on a JR Rapid is 1,190 yen.

 

I also found some days I'd use private companies trains and/or buses, especially in Kyoto.  And my JR pass didn't get used for the day.  If you don't use it for the day, that is 4,200 yen gone.

 

In Tokyo, you can buy a all day pass that covers subways and JR lines, 1,590 yen from memory.  Much cheaper than the 4,200 per day the JR railpass costs.

 

Just do some sums and see what comes out best for you.  If you ain't good with that stuff.  Shoot me your itinerary and I'll give it a go.

Edited November 11, 2015 by katoftw

[Das Steinkopf]

If your'e just hanging around in Osaka and Tokyo then I would suggest going for SUICA and ICOCA cards, you can top them up as you go and cover a fair range of services, if you are going to travel long distances then go for the JR Pass but bear in mind you will still have to pay when using private lines. We used a mix when we were over there, when we were in Osaka we purchased the Amazing Osaka 2 day pass which covers private lines and it also included entry to quite a number of tourist sites and discount for others, we then used ICOCA after that for travelling on services until we activated our JR pass. When we activated our JR pass in Kyoto we used it to do day trips using the Shinkansen to Himeji, Kobe and Hiroshima as well as travelling on JR local services around the Kyoto area, we then caught the Shinkansen to Tokyo and did a day trip when there to Matsumoto using the Azusa as well as JR services around Tokyo. When the railpass expired we then used SUICA cards for travelling around Tokyo, overall if you are doing a lot of long distance travel the JR pass is the go, if not go for the cards as you can also use them at some retailers and vending machines if you need to burn off whats left on them.

Edited November 10, 2015 by Das Steinkopf

[JR 500系]

Depends on your flight into Tokyo and out of Osaka also.

 

Say if you enter into Tokyo late, you'll be wasting the pass when you exchange it on that day... Besides, there is a wide range of one day passes you can use in Tokyo using the Metro an subways, apart from using the JR Pass (I assume your 7-day pass is referring to National JR Pass)... Also, there seems to be a combination ticket for the N'EX and Suica cards which is very good to cover your transfer and 1 day without pass in Tokyo...

http://jprail.com/travel-informations/other-rail-passes/rail-pass-for-visitors/suica-nex-ticket-very-flexible-and-good-deal-for-tourist-who-stay-in-tokyo.html

 

Say if you leave Osaka early, likewise, you're wasting your Railpass last day in Osaka.. There is also some day passes for the subways in Osaka, and also the equivalent of the N'EX + Suica is also available in West Japan; Icoca + Haruka:

https://www.westjr.co.jp/global/en/travel-information/pass/icoca-haruka/

[Steve4031]

Thank you. This was helpful. Can suica be used to pay for train to Kix?

[Das Steinkopf]

Thank you. This was helpful. Can suica be used to pay for train to Kix?

SUICA is for use in the Tokyo area, with the Kansai region you use ICOCA, I am not sure if you can use the ICOCA for the KIX service as we caught a limousine bus from there to Umeda when we first arrived in Japan.

[railsquid]

SUICA is for use in the Tokyo area, with the Kansai region you use ICOCA, I am not sure if you can use the ICOCA for the KIX service as we caught a limousine bus from there to Umeda when we first arrived in Japan.

 

The various regional cards should now be interchangeable between regions (not that I've yet had reason to try it).

[katoftw]

[spacecadet]

Say if you enter into Tokyo late, you'll be wasting the pass when you exchange it on that day...

Just to clarify this - you absolutely *should* exchange it on the day you get to Tokyo, even if it's late, because you can't do it everywhere... only at select hubs. You don't need to start the pass on the same date you exchange it; just tell them the date you want to start it. But if you don't exchange it when you get there, you will need to go to Tokyo Station or back to one of the airports to do it on the second day.

[JR 500系]

Just to clarify this - you absolutely *should* exchange it on the day you get to Tokyo, even if it's late, because you can't do it everywhere... only at select hubs. You don't need to start the pass on the same date you exchange it; just tell them the date you want to start it. But if you don't exchange it when you get there, you will need to go to Tokyo Station or back to one of the airports to do it on the second day.

 

I think you might be mistaken there...

 

http://www.japanrailpass.net/img/purchase/file/exchange_station.pdf

 

There are a lot of exchange offices...

 

But you might be right, exchanging first saves the trouble later...