JR Pass increases from Oct 2023

[Yugamu Tsuki]

Japan Rail Pass will be increasing from October, but now some of the non included Shinkansen will be added at discounted rates (rates TBD).

 

https://japanrailpass.net/pdf/JRP_pressrelease_230414.pdf

[Guest]

That is a pretty hefty increase.  Average increase 67%…Ouch!!   Seems overly excessive.  Previously I’d just automatically buy a 21 day green pass, but now I’d have to really think hard about which pass to buy, if any.  Maybe tickets as-needed basis.

 

Edited April 14, 2023 by Bob Martin

[Yavianice]

For this enormous price increase they should include Mizuho and Nozomi for free at least….

[Yugamu Tsuki]

16 minutes ago, Yavianice said:

For this enormous price increase they should include Mizuho and Nozomi for free at least….

This is why I think the prices are TBD. I'm hoping that if they get enough push back it'll be included flat out.

[Kamome]

Wow, what a jump. I guess with the declining ridership over covid, that still hasn’t recovered, it was inevitable that companies would get the sudden influx of overseas visitors to help foot the bill. 

 

Current one way Shinkansen fare examples

 

Tokyo-Hakata Nozomi ¥23,810

Tokyo-Osaka Nozomi ¥14,720

Tokyo-Osaka Hikari ¥14,400

Tokyo-Aomori Hayabusa ¥17,670

 

I think with this price increase,  you’d really need to plan out your travel itinerary to make sure you get value for money. Certainly if you’re intending to be based around one area, it may not worth it. 

 

[katoftw]

10 hours ago, Bob Martin said:

That is a pretty hefty increase.  Average increase 67%…Ouch!!   Seems overly excessive.  Previously I’d just automatically buy a 21 day green pass, but now I’d have to really think hard about which pass to buy, if any.  Maybe tickets as-needed basis.

 

Calcs might be wrong. 4000-8000 yen increases won't average 67%.

 

Raises are between 9-13% depending on the pass.

Edited April 15, 2023 by katoftw

[Guest]

39 minutes ago, katoftw said:

Calcs might be wrong. 4000-6000 yen increases won't average 67%.  Looks more closer to 15%.

Yikes, what school did you go to?!?  Your teachers should be fired.

 

For example, 21 day green pass

 

¥83,399 * 1.67 = ¥139,261 

 

Each of the others fall within the 66-68% increase as well (you made me dig out the spreadsheet 😜)...
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 15, 2023 by Bob Martin

[katoftw]

3 minutes ago, Bob Martin said:

Yikes, what school did you go to?!?  Your teachers should be fired.

 

For example, 21 day green pass

 

¥83,399 * 1.67 = ¥139,261 

 

Each of the others fall within the 66-68% increase as well. 

Lolz I read the buy in Japan prices.

 

Yes yikes at the increases.

[katoftw]

I wonder if the regional passes will follow suit? Right now they look like great value.

 

Tokyo to Kyoto to Hiroshima and back to Tokyo won't even pay off now for  7 day pass.

 

Better of that if you are travelling and end yp changing company regions, might as well pay for a one way ticket.

Edited April 15, 2023 by katoftw

[Guest]

The increase seems completely out of whack.  JR must be trying to recoup losses from 3 years lost revenue.  I have to think new prices will have a huge impact on pass sales.  I wonder if all JR ticket prices are increasing as well.

[maihama eki]

That's a huge increase all at once.

 

Domestic airfares are pretty cheap in Japan anymore. They are going to push tourists toward air instead of rail.

[Yavianice]

It makes more sense with these prices to fly directly into Osaka, Fukuoka or Tokyo from outside Japan and then get regional passes from there. JR Central shinkansens become almost irrelevant then because you’re probably better off with a Kintetsu rail pass for the JR central region (except for Takayama). Would be nice if certain JR companies would offer a JR pass together; a JR East + JR Hokkaido pass would make sense. Otherwise everyone from outside of Asia will just stop going to Hokkaido. Too expensive for the handful of trains that actually do run.

[Yavianice]

3 hours ago, Bob Martin said:

The increase seems completely out of whack.  JR must be trying to recoup losses from 3 years lost revenue.  I have to think new prices will have a huge impact on pass sales.  I wonder if all JR ticket prices are increasing as well.

I would guess that the price increase is because of 3 reasons:

 

- recoup losses on decreased ridership because of COVID

- more pressure/negotiations to have Nozomi/Mizuho services included, which inevitably lead to JR central complaining that the JR pass is too cheap in the first place

- ever since JR pass transitioned from a booklet to a paper, it allowed tracking of where the JR pass was used and how often, leading to the realization that some crazy tourists doubled the value of a JR pass easily

 

Just thinking. Not founded by anything.

[matt_d10]

This is definitely a hefty increase! And for your average tourist I'm not sure they'd get their moneys worth from it!

 

I've just got back from 2 weeks in Japan and added up my theoretical spend... I travelled from Tokyo-Kyoto-Osaka-Fukuoka and side trips from there to Kagoshima and Hiroshima. All in it would have cost just under 110,000 for all the main journeys. That makes the current 2 week pass a bargain! But not sure there are many people travelling as much as that (even for me that was a bit much!)

 

I wonder if the other passes will follow suit and increase? The Hokuriku Arch pass will be half the price if you fancy the scenic route to Kyoto and Osaka! Will definitely consider that for my next trip...

[mojo]

12 hours ago, Kamome said:

Wow, what a jump. I guess with the declining ridership over covid, that still hasn’t recovered, it was inevitable that companies would get the sudden influx of overseas visitors to help foot the bill. 

 

 

When I did Oyama to Ueno in January the train was packed, standing room only. I was actually a little surprised they sold me a ticket, I mean what happens if there is no room? It's not like you can just wait for the next one.

 

Still, I imagine overall ridership is down. I did some numbers for that trip and it worked out cheaper not to buy the pass, although I only used the Shinkansen once. I did use some express trains going down to Chiba and over to Yamanashi. I think unless I did at least a couple of longer journeys on the Shinkansen it wouldn't really be worth it.

[Guest]

6 hours ago, Yavianice said:ever since JR pass transitioned from a booklet to a paper, it allowed tracking of where the JR pass was used and how often, leading to the realization that some crazy tourists doubled the value of a JR pass easily

ever since JR pass transitioned from a booklet to a paper, it allowed tracking of where the JR pass was used and how often, leading to the realization that some crazy tourists doubled the value of a JR pass easily

^^ this.  I’ve been able to extract 4-5x the value of the pass on some trips.  

[nscalestation]

I think the new style of pass also helps them with staffing as for the most part the pass is scanned through the gate instead of having someone actually looking at it.  On our recent trip we got 1 week passes and did all of our trips outside Tokyo within that week.   I've always been one of those crazy train loving tourists who get there moneys worth from their pass.

[Wolf]

I have read a lot about this on reddit and other travel forums, as we are going to Japan in October and want to know wich prices apply to us.

 

For those that wonder: general consensus atm is that the 90 day rule applies that you can buy the pass until late September for the curent price and redeem it later. Would make sense with the choosen date october as it would mean at the change of the year in January they no longer need to deal with the old pass.

 

Most funny, and probably most true comment on one forum when ppl where going crazy about canceling their japan trips and wondering if the tourims industry will die on this was (quoted freely out of memory)

 

"I doubt the japanese tourism industry will be very affected by ppl that will (or even must) cancel their trip because a 250$ increase"

[katoftw]

Cost is when you buy the voucher. Not when you exchange the voucher. Dunno how this is up for discussion. I've seen this also elsewhere.

[Yugamu Tsuki]

Taking my mum in November of next year (2024) so we'll be stuck with the 3 week pass at the high rate regardless, but we're planning Tokyo>Hakodate>Kumamoto>Tokyo return trip through Yamanashi so even with the increase I think it will be worth it (stopping at various places along the way). Wasn't expecting the increase but at least we have enough time to save up for it.

[bill937ca]

Apparently if you buy a pass from an outlet other than JR the grace period has been 3 months, but if you buy direct from JR the grace period has been 30 days. Full details have not been announced yet.  There is legal language in the Japanese language release saying the increase could be before October.

 

There may have been capacity issues on the JR Central Shinkansen line and the Japan Rail Pass may have been victim of its own success.

 

There are other rail passes which are discussed in the video by Only in Japan and at the Tokyo Cheapo link below.

 

https://tokyocheapo.com/travel/transport/the-complete-guide-to-japans-regional-rail-passes/

 

 

Edited April 19, 2023 by bill937ca

[Guest]

I wouldn’t call it a “grace period” per se, it’s just that the voucher must be exchanged for the pass within 90 days of issue.

Edited April 20, 2023 by disturbman

[katoftw]

Validity date for exchange.

 

The online version has always been one month / 30 days, as it allows online reservations of trains. Self explanatory...

 

The exchange voucher version has always been 3 months / 90 days.

[katoftw]

https://www.westjr.co.jp/global/en/ticket/pass/

 

I see no update or confirmation about Nation wide passes for October yet.

 

But the above link is the passes for JR West. They went up about 10% in cost in March.

 

Haven't checked other JR companies for their regional passes prices.  But would assume all have followed suit recently.

[Guest]

I just got a 21-day Japan wide green pass for an upcoming trip in Oct. It was actually the cheapest I’ve ever paid for one (by far) thanks to the weak ¥.