MISTAKES TO AVOID with Japan Rail Pass, Riding Local & Bullet Trains

we're going to share mistakes to avoid while using the Japan Rail Pass we made a couple of these mistakes on our recent seven-day Adventure we're experienced full-time Travelers but we still mess up sometimes not ordering your Japan Rail Pass soon enough when you order online through an agent they ship to you an actual physical exchange order it is not a digital instant email confirmation you need time to receive that exchange order we recommend ordering at least two weeks in advance however if you missed the cutoff time and you're not going to be able to purchase it before your trip you can currently purchase a Jr pass in Japan we were able to do this at Osaka station you can do it at Major JR Rail stations not getting a temporary visitor stamp if you do not get a temporary Visa stamp when you enter Japan you will not be issued a Jr pass so if you see the automatic gauge you may want to bypass those and go to an actual person to be sure that you get the temporary visitor stand amp if you do not just go see a clerk and tell them that you need that stamp in your passport as you'll be able to swap your Exchange for your Japan Rail arrive at the airport there's AR office may be closed when you arrive perhaps your flight's delayed you arrive late and it's already closed if that's the case I'd simply wait till the next day and go to a major train station to pick up your Jr pass getting on the wrong train this is easier than it sounds actually let me give an example if you're traveling from Tokyo to Kyoto the most common shinkansen train is the nozomi however it is not part of the Jr pass so if you happen to get on the nozomi get off right away if it's too late and the train is left go see a conductor and tell them your situation hopefully they won't charge you and will let you get off at the next station then you can catch the next train which would be either the Hikari or Kodama if you're heading from Tokyo to Kyoto and just make sure you check the name of the train before you get on another mistake we've made actually a few times is getting on the train going the wrong direction if this happens it's really not a big deal just hopefully the next station isn't too far out then you can just get off switch platforms and get on the right train getting into the wrong car of the train if you reserve a seat on the train make sure you get into both the correct car and the correct seat number we've been on a train before sitting in our seats thinking we're in the right seat and then somebody comes along with a ticket for that seat and we realize we're in their incorrect car if you did not reserve a seat in advance make sure you get into one of the unreserved cars there are also special first class green cars only riding a green car if you have the green Jr pass not if you have the normal Jr pass getting on a reserved only train without a reservation we actually did this too on our last trip now this can happen on either a shinkansen Express train limited Express train and Rapid trains in our case it was a rapid train and we just got on the train because it was part of the Jr pass we've realized right away that this was a reserved only train so we went and talked to the conductor he whipped out his phone and found some empty seats for us and we were set now the worst case scenario since this was part of the Jr pass is if there were no seats available you'd have to stand waiting too late to reserve your seats now this depends on the situation if it's not a busy time of year and you're not going on a busy route you may be able to reserve your seats the day before or even the day of your train however if you're traveling during a busy holiday season or you want to take a specialty train we recommend reserving as much in advance as possible which is up to 30 days in advance for instance our kids saw the anpanmann trains they really wanted to take one we looked into it and they were fully booked avoid traveling during rush hour we did this too [Laughter] sounds like we've done it all if you are traveling unreserved and if you have a lot of luggage and or kids it can be really crowded and uncomfortable try to avoid traveling between 7 and 9 30 a.m and also between 5 and 7 30 PM a assuming that you will only be riding on shinkansen bullet trains now when you imagine your Japan ship you may be thinking about taking one bullet train per day but chances are you will also be taking quite a few local trains imagine you arrive at the major train station get off of the shinkansen you still may need to take two to three local trains just to get your accommodation over packing keep in mind that train stations have lots of stairs yes there normally is an elevator but you may have to go out of your way and wait in line to use the elevator which means it could take you longer to get to your platform and you don't want to miss your train while shinkansen trains are set up to accommodate luggage the local trains are not so keep in mind you're going to need to get those bags onto the shinkansen and then onto the local trains as well it is also not easy to roll a suitcase through the train station or on many of the bumpy sidewalks we thought we packed light with two rolling carry-ons with bags on top and then each having one small backpack however it would have been nice to have even less luggage for our seven day train trip for packed itinerary this was especially a problem for our kids by the time day six are rolled around but actually the entire family was a bit cranky too so try not to overstuff your trip because you're going to be too tired if you're single or if you don't have kids it might not be a problem being too set on your travel plans unexpected events can happen this happened to us recently as the G7 Summit was going on right in the middle of our trip we had plans to visit peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima and miyajima Island however both of those places were closed luckily we did have some alternative places to visit just in case traveling with the Jr pass is very fast and efficient and that's how we were able to have a full day in Kobe even though we started our morning in Hiroshima now that you know how to avoid these mistakes it is the best time ever to buy Japan real pass as the prices are going up by almost 70 percent in the fall of 2023. we'll leave our Link in the description below where you can buy the Jr pass and get free fast shipping we share lots of tips for traveling by train throughout Japan next you may want to watch our guide to buying and using the Japan Rail Pass or our recent seven-day Adventure Please Subscribe for more travel tips our family is traveling long term we're currently in Japan

Channel: Kensho Quest

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Keywords: jr pass mistakes, jr pass tips, how to use the JR pass, japan travel, japan rail pass, japan rail pass mistakes, bullet train mistakes, shinkansen trains, jr pass 2023, jr pass how to use, japan rail pass explained, family travel, family travel tips, traveling family, travel hacks, bullet train japan, shinkansen tips, JR Pass activation mistakes, Common JR Pass errors, Avoiding JR Pass pitfalls, JR Pass dos and don'ts, Common mistakes with JR Pass

Id: m24cC8qNOpM

Length: 6min 20sec (380 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 17 2023