Getting those front seats

[scott]

I'm curious--in all those Japanese trains that have front windows for a forward view, how do you arrange to get the "good" seats? Are they reserved separately, or do they have higher fares, or do you just stampede, or.....?

[disturbman]

If I'm not mistaking, they have higher fares than normal seats and need to be reserved in advance, a long time in advance.

[westfalen]

Often they are green car seats, you could try pointing to a diagram of the train when you book your seats to see if you can get them if you don't know the car and seat numbers. Sometimes you can get lucky, in 1994 a friend and I rode the Yufuin Forest Express from Beppu to Hakata and had the front car to ourselves because of light ridership on that leg. Another trick could be to try the rear of the train and get the view out the back. Often the all stations local trains have almost as good a view as well.

[scott]

Yeah--if I had the time, the money, and the choice, I'd probably take the locals wherever I could.

 

We once went from Milan to Verona on an Intercity (I think), and it was crowded and uncomfortable, not much different than an overbooked airplane flight. On the return trip, we took a regional train and we had more room, bigger windows, and plenty of baggage space. Plus we had more stops where we could look at the towns and stations. (Why I didn't take more pictures on that trip I don't know.)

[to2leo]

You can get the front seat with a regular ticket + reserved ticket price.  I got that for my Superview train ride because only the front end of the train is green seat while the back end is regular seat.  However on the way back to Tokyo, the back end becomes the front end so in a way, you do get a front seat ride using regular price ticket.

[scott]

Did you reserve the trip some amount in advance, or did you just pay the fee at the station before getting on the train?

 

And can you do this with a regular-fare railpass by just paying the excess?

[to2leo]

Nope just 3 days ahead for a weekday ticket for the Superview Odoriko back in Nov.

 

Feel free to print the diagram from the link below as booking the front seat may be challenging for the JR ticket agent for Car #10.

 

 

http://izu-sakuraya.jp/english/travelinfo/superviewodoriko/superview00000.jpg

 

Yes, you can get it with the regular Japan Rail Pass without additional charge.

 

[GrahamH]

We came back from Shimoda to Tokyo at the front ,but one row back. It was about 5 years ago and off season (April). The train  was really empty. We just booked on day and the rear was also available. The front seats were taken by two Japanese girls-who fell asleep after 20 minutes! 

Graham