Japan Rail Pass EXPLAINED - Worth it for 2024?

you're right in the middle of planning your perfect trip to Japan every video is recommending the Japan Rail Pass that golden ticket to savings that unlocks almost every part of the country hey you've got it you've got the last Jr take it you go to order one online but wait what's this A 77% price increase how could it be instead of zooming across the country sampling wagu you'll now be exclusively eating family M Ramen not that there's anything wrong with that no of course not I mean it's fine if that's who you are absolutely How Could You Japan what was once unquestionably the biggest single factor in a cost-effective trip is now useless or is it in this video I'll show you what the JR Rail Pass price increase actually means and how to use Regional passes to effectively pay the same price as before let's get into it starting from October 2023 the JR Rail Pass can now be bought for 7 14 or 21 days and cost 50,000 80,000 or 100,000 Yen respectively for unlimited travel on Jr lines including all but the fastest of the shinkansen bullet trains the 2E pass was the most popular for travelers visiting the Golden Triangle of Tokyo Osaka and Kyoto and at the previous price of $47,000 Yen or $315 at the time of recording this was a no-brainer not only for the hundreds of dollars in savings but also for the flexibility in that you could travel to any part of Japan on a whim without having to pay an additional Fair let's evaluate the new price of 80,000 yen around $542 using my 2 weeks in Japan video as a guide Jr pass cators are a great tool that you should always use before ordering a pass and I'll link one in the description and the comments so you can check them out for yourself and be sure to like the video while you're down there as we can see from this we are basically breaking even on the price it really only makes sense to buy one if you either condense the entire trip down to 7 days or add two or three more long train Journeys into an already tight trip buying the Jr National pass is now almost a coin flip on whether it's worth it or not but there are ways to travel at close to the odd prices which are I'll talk about in a moment first let's look at who the new Jr pass is now for the Jr pass's main advantage is the flexibility of being able to take advantage of the all you can ride bullet trains that connect the majority of the country with the price of a typical bullet train being over $100 this pass can still be used to save money for travelers making multiple return trips to distant regions of Japan a wellin traveler that's Crossing Japan from north to south and then back to Tokyo will still find some great savings on this pass the Jr pass also has a few hidden features such as being able to use it on the set of Sunrise sleeper Express train speaking from experience this train is a lot of fun and a unique way to see the country provided that you book weeks in advance as this train is particularly popular the Jr pass only covers the fair and not the rims but I do believe that the basic Noby knobby seats can be used for free on the pass so a creative and experienced traveler on the Jr pass can get some real value here but a typical first-time traveler visiting just the three major cities will save almost half of their transport costs by not buying the pass and for those Travelers it's fine to pay for tickets on the day when you're in Japan but if your Japanese journey is localized in a certain area then you might be better served by the Lesser known Regional passers there are dozens of regional passes which can also offer benefits that the Jr National past does not such as allowing you to travel on all rail networks in the region including the private njr lines going through each of these would take hours but here are a few that really stand out after the national pass price increase the Tokyo wide pass previously known as the Kanto pass really punches above its weight for 15,000 Yen it provides 3 days of unlimited travel in not only in Tokyo's urban area but also parts of Nagano nigata yamanashi and shisa including the shinhan and eight Jr operated Railways this pass would be great for someone who's taking a short trip to Tokyo but also wants to get out of the city for a day or two and perhaps taking a side trip to KATU onen or around Mount Fuji and the Fuji 5 Lakes the Hokkaido Rail Pass can be bought for 5 7 or 10 days for between 20,000 to 32,00 ,000 Yen and provides unlimited use of all Jr trains except the shinkansen that links hakaida with the mainland this pass also extends to the Jr buses in the region and also allows you to use the reserved seats for free making this pass great for someone who's keen on exploring Japan's most northern Island for a ski trip or experiencing the beautiful national parks of Hokkaido the East tohaku Pass can be bought for 30,000 yen and provides 5 days of unlimited travel from the U Peninsula all the way up to Alm morti the last stop before HW kaido this pass is perfect for a weekl long trip exploring Eastern and Northern Japan allowing you to switch between the local Jr bullet trains Jr buses and several of the non Jr operated lines that Jr trains run on such as the iwat Ginga Railway between moroka and alori this one sounds particularly handy as when I was traveling in this area myself I was confused about this policy and found myself forced to pay an additional fee in my previous Rail Pass video I did not recommend the Jr West 7-Day pass since it was only slightly cheaper than the one we National pass this pass is now incredible value provided your trip is located in Western Japan the range of this pass can take you from Toy all the way through Kyoto and Osaka down to Hiroshima and even to the beginning of kushu the only thing missing from this pass is Tokyo what this really means is that if you're doing a point-to-point trip which is ending in either Tokyo or Osaka you can enjoy traveling at close to the price of the original Jr pass by simply adding one additional shinhan send ticket this actually might be the very best way to Trav in Japan from now on the all shikaku pass is another winner after the national price increase it can be used for between 3 and 7 days and is now 60% cheaper than the national Jr pass not only that it's just the plain best pass in chicagu because it allows you to transfer between the eight njr networks on this island making it an absolute steal for anyone visiting this breathtaking and mysterious part of Japan I was able to travel across shikaku last summer and the region has to be one of the most underrated destinations in all of Japan be sure to subscribe to my channel to see those future videos for what to do in shikaku the kushu rail pass can be a bit confusing because you can purchase it for either just the South just the North or the whole of kushu it's now a flat 50% discount over the Jr National pass which makes it great value but the issue with the kushu pass is that most Travelers will arrive in either Tokyo or Osaka so the price of getting to cuu and activating the pass May outweigh any savings the best option here is to use a domestic flight after landing in Japan to fly to kushu and start your journey from there domestic flights in Japan are usually quite cheap from between 5 to 15,000 Yen there is one other option which is if you are on a multicountry trip consider taking the fair from Busan to fukoka instead of flying because this costs just around $80 there is one more pass I feel I should mention and that is the Jr SE shinui kipu or the youthful 18 ticket now this is a very special ticket for travelers on a budget it allows you to ride for five non-con consecutive days on Jr trains not including the shinkansen at a cost of 2,410 Yen or around $16 a day but it can only be used during the spring summer and winter incredible value can be found on this ticket as I have used it to travel from the southernmost part of kushu to the northern tip of Alm Mori over 3 days for less than $100 but I already have a video focusing on this ticket so you can check that out here if that's what you're interested in most passes need to be activated before you can use them for the regional passes this is of course going to vary so check their individual information if you decide to pick one up for the national ji pass it's important to make sure that you buy it before entering the country because first you'll receive a voucher that needs to be presented at an activation point before you can use it fortunately this can be done at any Jr office and also at Narita or Heda airport and this is what I would recommend you do as the first thing after clearing immigration from your flight from the day that you activate your pass is when the period of use is valid for example if if you arrive on Japan on June 1st at 1:00 p.m. and activate it on the same day as a 2E pass it will be valid between June 1st and June 14th at midnight the departure time of the train is what matters here if you take a train on June 14th before midnight and arrive at 1:00 a.m. the next day you will still be covered by your pass you are also allowed to choose the date of activation for up to 30 days after you exchange the voucher so if you are planning say a 2E trip with one week in Tokyo and the second week traveling all across Japan using expensive bullet trains it might be better value for you to buy a onewe pass that will activate 7 days after you exchange your voucher if you choose this method however please remember that the dates can only be used consecutively and once it has been activated the dates cannot be changed in previous years the Jr pass was a small booklet that needed to be presented to The Ticket Masters to pass through the gates but this has been replaced by an actual ticket that can be used in the automatic machines which is much faster and more convenient but cannot be used on the IC card exclusive Gates and also you should remember to pick up the ticket on the other side of the gate or you'll have made a very expensive mistake you are also allowed to use any of the unreserved seats on the shinkun sent with the Jr pass which is what I tend to do but since you are paying for it you can also reserve the more expensive seats to ensure that you can sit where you like you can reserve these seats online or do so at the green window ticket office you can also purchase the premium Jr pass to use the first class green seats which are approximately 40% more expensive these I do not recommend because they only slightly more comfortable than the regular seats and provide no additional benefit but the option is always there if you do reserve a seat you will receive a ticket to show this but you do not need to put the seat ticket in the machine just the Jr pass for navigation apps while in Japan there used to be a very helpful one called hyperia which has been changed in such a way that it is now useless so I mostly use Google Maps to get around I have been told that Apple Maps is good too but I've just never tried them however there is one app that I actually really recommend which is called Navi time while on the Jr pass the fastest shingun Zen the noomi and mizuo cannot be used on the pass which is fine but they do not show up as a filter on many map apps which can make things a touch confusing nav time however allows you to select the rail pass as a filter and it will update accordingly making it incredibly useful and the app is also free for travelers with children anyone aged 12 years or older will pay an adult fair for trains in Japan children between the age of 6 and 11 may use a child pass for 50% of the adult Fair young children up to years old in Japan can travel for free provided they sit in your lap however if they would like to sit in a seat then they will need to pay for a child's fair and one adult May travel with up to two children using this system so for example two parents could bring four children under the age of five for free but a fifth child would require buying an additional child's Fair the various passes can also be combined for further discounts if your travel plans are well researched and you activate them correctly just make sure you don't activate them all on the same day as the rules are very strict when it comes to rail passers in in one of my previous videos I mentioned the new luggage rule for the shinan send for oversized bags the general rule being that if the sum of the height weight and length adds up to less than 160 cm you do not need to reserve your bags luggage that adds up to between 160 or 250 require prior reservation or an 1,000 yen fine and Luggage that is over 250 cm combined cannot be brought at all there are luggage Services across Japan that you can use to ship these bags and there has also been some new clarification on this rule that it is not apply to sporting equipment musical instruments and strollers but if you wish to store them in the oversized baggage area please still make a reservation I know this is going to make a lot of winter sports travelers to Japan very happy as this was somewhat in question for skis and snowboards but don't worry in fact certain shinhan s that service snowy regions have a dedicated compartment for this winter equipment also after living with this rule for over a year I've noticed that the train attendants are quite forgiving when it comes to these rules so do your best to make the proper reservations but honestly you'll most likely be fine either way now that you know all that you need to on the new rules of Japan's rail passes it's time to put them to use and explore everything Japan has to offer and for that I recommend you check out Toba just 2 hours away from Osaka this amazing Seaside town which has some of the best freshly caught Seafood in the country caught by the legendary female armad divis you can even meet on your trip to TOA but to find out how you're going to have to check out this video here and I'll see you back in Japan very soon

Channel: Inaka Adventure

Views: 14,535

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Id: b8WPcBksVAQ

Length: 12min 24sec (744 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 06 2024