Toni’s Spring 2023 Japan Trip

[chadbag]

4 minutes ago, Tony Galiani said:

Mira's initial try did not work as the card had not been used for a certain time period.  4 or 5 months does not seem like a long time but maybe it just needs to be reactivated?

 

I often find tech issues frustrating as the error messages don't indicate what the issue is.  It could be something simple but you just don't know.  Saying that after I had to spend 20 minutes this morning messing with my VPN link to the university to get it working properly.

 

Tony

 

The question is, how do you reactivate it?  I've been trying to find something to do this in the Wallet or on the watch or in settings

 

[Tony Galiani]

I asked my tech consultant - my wife - she said that adding money to it reactivates it.  Which is not helpful for you as are trying to do that.  So maybe there is another issue.  Sorry - I had hoped she would have more insight into this.

Tony

[Guest]

34 minutes ago, Tony Galiani said:

Mira's initial try did not work as the card had not been used for a certain time period.  4 or 5 months does not seem like a long time but maybe it just needs to be reactivated?

 

I often find tech issues frustrating as the error messages don't indicate what the issue is.  It could be something simple but you just don't know.  Saying that after I had to spend 20 minutes this morning messing with my VPN link to the university to get it working properly.

 

Tony

My “eSuica” was idle for 3 years, no issue when I used it again last November… “just worked”. 😜

[katoftw]

Cards should be good for 10 years. Unless she had one of those zero deposit tourist only versions.

 

I don't believe they can be re-activated.

[chadbag]

15 hours ago, katoftw said:

Cards should be good for 10 years. Unless she had one of those zero deposit tourist only versions.

 

I don't believe they can be re-activated.

 

We're talking the virtual Suica that is available in the Apple Wallet with Apple Pay.

[chadbag]

19 hours ago, Tony Galiani said:

I asked my tech consultant - my wife - she said that adding money to it reactivates it.  Which is not helpful for you as are trying to do that.  So maybe there is another issue.  Sorry - I had hoped she would have more insight into this.

Tony

 

After multiple failures, yesterday, across phone and watch (2 different Suica), I tried again last night and it worked.  Both AMEX and MC.  Visa, of course, did not work.

 

Edited May 25, 2023 by chadbag

[Tony Galiani]

Chadbag wrote:  "After multiple failures across phone and watch (2 different Suica), I tried again last night and it worked.  Both AMEX and MC.  Visa, of course, did not work."

 

Ah the joys of tech and the mystery glitch.  I will spare everyone a description of my car's tech weirdness!

 

And this is why when I head to the airport on Saturday I will have our boarding passes on both my work and personal phones as well as printed copies. Overkill maybe but certainly stress reduction for me.

 

Tony

[Yugamu Tsuki]

21 hours ago, Bob Martin said:

Anyone else notice Tokyo hotel rates have skyrocketed?  Booking now for November travel, and every one of the hotels I stayed at last November (booked April ‘23) have either doubled or even tripled.  I have to wonder if they’re pricing themselves out of business. $1500-$2500/night (excluding taxes and fees), and that’s just the starting prices.  I guess the 70% increase is JR Pass was the precursor of things to come.

I'm looking at APA and Toyoko Inn and everything seems to be the same rates as in the past. Where are you looking at?

[chadbag]

10 minutes ago, Tony Galiani said:

And this is why when I head to the airport on Saturday I will have our boarding passes on both my work and personal phones as well as printed copies. Overkill maybe but certainly stress reduction for me.

 

Yes.  Printed everything, e-copies on phones, etc.  I feel the same way when we go anywhere.

[Guest]

36 minutes ago, Yugamu Tsuki said:

I'm looking at APA and Toyoko Inn and everything seems to be the same rates as in the past. Where are you looking at?

I usually stay at a the Andaz, Mandarin Oriental, Palace, Peninsula, and Tokyo Station Hotel.  I go for 3 weeks and spend 4-5 nights at each from that list.  I booked at the Palace as of now for a “reasonable” ¥1M for 5 nights. It was the cheapest of that list so far.  It is what it is, and I’m still figuring out logistics for the others.  I’ll go to Hakata for a few days so that I can ride Kamome, etc.

[Tony Galiani]

We tend to prefer small hotels and we will be at a Mitsui Garden Hotel in Tokyo and Kyoto then at the My Stays Premier in Tokyo for our last few days there.  Rates are in the $200 per night range.  Not sure how Solo Travel Japan gets those US$50 a night rates!

 

If you join their frequent guest plans you get a slightly lower rate.  Some of my bookings include breakfast but can't remember which off the top of my head.  And those rates are for a couple.

 

Ciao,

Tony

 

[Beaver]

18 minutes ago, Tony Galiani said:

Not sure how Solo Travel Japan gets those US$50 a night rates!

 

Hostels and bunkhouses? Sleeping in dormitory style accommodation in a hostel is often cheaper than any hotel, but you do have to account for buying all your own meals. I always stayed in a hostel when spending a night away from Tokyo. I would also have a hostel as my first choice in future. Check reviews carefully though. There are a few respectable chains such as Hostel Wasabi but the independent places vary a lot, from near-hotel to stinky flophouse.

[Tony Galiani]

I was referring to Solo Travel Japan's videos where he actually stays in nice hotels but the prices are significantly lower than I am finding.  Though most of these videos were before Japan reopened to tourists so maybe prices were artificially low due to lack of demand.  I actually learned of the Mitsui Garden hotels watching his videos.

Though in South American I would run into the gringo pricing which was often much higher than native pricing.  Sort of understandable considering the economic differences I suppose.  Didn't think that really applied in Japan though.  Gaijin pricing?  Also, the pricing is by the number of guests so I knew my rates would be higher than his in any event.

Tony

[Guest]

42 minutes ago, Tony Galiani said:

I was referring to Solo Travel Japan's videos where he actually stays in nice hotels but the prices are significantly lower than I am finding.  Though most of these videos were before Japan reopened to tourists so maybe prices were artificially low due to lack of demand.  I actually learned of the Mitsui Garden hotels watching his videos.

Though in South American I would run into the gringo pricing which was often much higher than native pricing.  Sort of understandable considering the economic differences I suppose.  Didn't think that really applied in Japan though.  Gaijin pricing?  Also, the pricing is by the number of guests so I knew my rates would be higher than his in any event.

Tony

You do realize virtually EVERY travel video on YouTube contains “paid promotion”.  So ‘tubers are not reflective of actual market prices in my experience.  Hence I never watch them.

 

I do generally join whatever club card hotels have to collect points and perks.  As an example, I once got upgraded to the Sky Suite at the Andaz Tokyo, which runs about ¥1,400,000/night.  It’s hard to go back to a “regular” ¥200,000/night room after that.

 

Edited May 25, 2023 by Bob Martin

[katoftw]

Not travel in April and weekends will seriously net you savings. Solo traveler has the time and expertise to get $50 nights. But it's for YouTube, so some glam and white lies, and it seems like he can do it whenever.

[Beaver]

4 hours ago, Bob Martin said:

You do realize virtually EVERY travel video on YouTube contains “paid promotion”.  So ‘tubers are not reflective of actual market prices in my experience.  Hence I never watch them

 

Ah yes, every now and then there is a news story about some youtuber/influencer type kicking up a massive stink because a hotelier refused to give free or cut price accommodation 'cos I is influenza and every1 wanna go where I been'.

[kuro68000]

On 5/24/2023 at 5:11 PM, Tony Galiani said:

For those of you who are high tech, I thought I would mention my Suica card follies.  Ordered our SIM cards and one Suica card for me - my old one is somewhere in the house but can't find it and my wife use the eSuica version on her phone.  Package arrives several weeks ago but I never bother to open it until this past weekend - at which point I discover my Suica card is on back order.  No problem really - just got a refund processed and I can pick one up at Haneda when we arrive.

 

Who did you get the SIMs from? I always head to Yodobashi Camera these days, but last time had some issues with their SIMs.

 

16 hours ago, Bob Martin said:

You do realize virtually EVERY travel video on YouTube contains “paid promotion”.  So ‘tubers are not reflective of actual market prices in my experience.  Hence I never watch them.

 

I do generally join whatever club card hotels have to collect points and perks.  As an example, I once got upgraded to the Sky Suite at the Andaz Tokyo, which runs about ¥1,400,000/night.  It’s hard to go back to a “regular” ¥200,000/night room after that.

 

 

Wow, I usually pay about 4000-5000 yen/night for hotels.

 

If you got off season you can often get really nice ones quite cheap.

[Tony Galiani]

I purchased my SIMs via Japan Experience and have them mailed to me.  Worked fine the last time I did this so expecting the same this trip.  They are based in France but have offices in various countries so my cards were sent from their USA office.

 

Not fully packed yet but I am checked in.  Which was a bit of a struggle - I can see inexperienced travelers having difficulty and getting very frustrated.

 

In my case, I had entered and verified all my TSA PreCheck and Passport info weeks ago and received confirmation.  Went on line to check, confirmed the info during the process, got to the end and only my wife was checked.  I was not due to missing TSA PreCheck info.  Went back using the app, gave me the opportunity to re-enter that number and this time it worked and I have all our boarding passes.

 

I have seen a number of instances were the PreCheck number has fallen off the trip info.  I thought it was a Delta issue but now I am seeing it on other airlines.  At least I know to double check now.  On my last trip to Germany I did not realize this could happen and Delta did allow me to print a boarding pass - thankfully I caught it before getting in line and having to go back and get it added at the check-in desk.

 

Tony

[Guest]

Has anyone come across a visitor eSim yet?  I specifically bought a new iPhone out of country just to retain the sim tray.

[chadbag]

2 hours ago, Bob Martin said:

Has anyone come across a visitor eSim yet?  I specifically bought a new iPhone out of country just to retain the sim tray.

 

We all used data eSims on our last trip to Japan.  Several apps offer them -- we used Airalo.  They worked fine.  

[Guest]

13 minutes ago, chadbag said:

 

We all used data eSims on our last trip to Japan.  Several apps offer them -- we used Airalo.  They worked fine.  

Er, more specifically, looking for one (QR code) I can just buy at a store, travel agent, etc.

 

update: I found some on Amazon.

 

Edited May 26, 2023 by Bob Martin

[chadbag]

59 minutes ago, Bob Martin said:

Er, more specifically, looking for one (QR code) I can just buy at a store, travel agent, etc.

 

update: I found some on Amazon.

 

 

Same result.  The "Apps" just make it easier to manage and install.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, chadbag said:

 

Same result.  The "Apps" just make it easier to manage and install.

And collect personal information.

[disturbman]

Guys, please, stop clicking on quote when answering the entirety of the last message. Use the reply field instead 🙂

Edited May 27, 2023 by disturbman

[chadbag]

re: collecting personal information

 

And Amazon doesn't collect personal information? I think Amazon has a lot more of my personal information than I was required to sign over to the eSim app we used for our data eSims in Japan.