Shinkansen (Japanese Bullet Train) Sans JR Pass

The Japanese Railway group increased the price of the JR Pass that covers all of Japan in Oct. 2023.  This increase came after many years of stagnant pricing that had historically made the pass a no-brainer and a great deal.  After the price increase, it's equivocal whether you will save any money in obtaining it.

Of note, not all pass types increased in price in Oct. 2023.  I spent the better part of one day trying to anticipate prices and calculate whether or not I should get the Hokariku Arch Pass for my April 2024 trip.  Unfortunately, not only did the price increase in April 2024, but it stopped being sold as widely as before.  To make matters worse, the JR East and other JR websites I tried would *not* for the life of me take my American Visa and Mastercard debit or credit cards!  I wasted so much time entering and re-entering these cards and signing up for these JR accounts.  

Long story short, I ended up buying JR tickets as I went along without getting any pass.  Since others may be doing the same post-Oct. 2023, I figure sharing my trials and tribulations may help someone out there!

If you've decided to travel in Japan without any JR Pass, here are my tips, in no particular order:

1) Save your tickets and stubs!

In all my travels throughout Europe and North America, I've never, ever been asked for an old ticket when trying to buy a new ticket.  Yet I believe since the pricing may be different when transferring within the JR system, I was asked to show whatever ticket I used to get to a particular station when trying to buy the ticket to my next destination.  Full disclosure: I was traveling from Tokyo Station to Nagano.  I had taken a local train to get to the Tokyo Station, so I presume I had ended up inside the station within their transfer zone.  It was some lost in translation trying to understand what I was being asked to do, but luckily the staff have a tablet that can robotically recite the intended message in multiple languages.  

It was a close call for me, as just before getting into the ticket line at Tokyo Station, I had a Mari Kondo moment and had contemplated jettisoning my old tickets into the closest trash can.  They brought me no joy and seemed to have served their purpose.  Thankfully I had not done so, else I would've created trouble when trying to buy my next set of tickets.

2) The ticket gates may want multiple tickets for long-haul journeys with transfers

Only in Japan have I ever experienced a ticket gate that wanted me to feed it multiple tickets.  If you don't feed it the right tickets, it will not let you go pass.  The gates will blare and flash if you push through them illegally in your confusion (don't ask me how I know).  

Now the question is, which tickets do I feed it?

The busy staff at Tokyo Station did zero explaining to me when handing me a bunch of tickets.

The very nice woman at the much less busy Nagano Station JR tourist office wrote out on each ticket the numerical order in which I was to use them and explained which tickets to feed at which station.

3) The ticket gate may eat your ticket prematurely, but the staff can help

During the journey from Nagoya to Tokyo while transferring to the local train near Tokyo, I was confused when, after leaving the shinkansen, I was deposited within the transfer area without a clue how to get a ticket to the station I wanted in Tokyo.  I knew I needed a ticket to be able to exit at the final station in Tokyo, yet there no barrier to me entering the JR platform for the local train.  So they'll let me get on without showing my fare, but how will I be able to exit?

After inquiring at the information line, I found out that the ticket gate when I had recently exited the shinkansen had inappropriately eaten my ticket!  I guess if you don't promptly take the ticket that pops up before the person behind you does their business, or due to other malfunction, the machine ate it before I had a chance to grab it.  

Luckily the info desk person told me to talk to the ticket gate staff.  After explaining to them the situation and showing them my companion's ticket that didn't get eaten by the gate, they were able to pinpoint on their computer exactly which gate ate the ticket.  The staff person went to empty a canister towards the bottom of this gate and returned to me the exact ticket stub that got swallowed by the gate!  Now I could use this ticket to exit the local JR train gate once I arrived at my final stop in Tokyo.

4) The ticket gate may be crazy?  Or I am missing something?

Back to the nice woman at Nagano JR Station.  I followed her instructions to a T, and everything worked fine until I got to my final destination in Osaka.  When I tried to exit the shinkansen gate, I deposited two tickets but only got one back along with an error message asking for me to insert all of my tickets.  However, I had no other tickets left besides this one ticket!  I used all my tickets in the preceding parts of the journey, and the previous gates had swallowed them.  I showed the gate staff my one ticket left, and the staff let me walk past them to exit the station.

I have heard there are different gates, like transfer gates versus other gates.  Not all gates are the same.  Perhaps I should've taken some other gate to exit the station if I only had one ticket left.  

5) Reserved vs. unreserved cars

For some shinkansen journeys you are not required to pay for a seat reservation.  In this case, for an unreserved ticket you are limited to sitting in the cars marked unreserved.  Where are these cars?  They are at the boondocks of the platform.  If you are running late, have heavy luggage, or can't walk far, get a reservation and strategically pick which car you want to board.  If you have a lot of time, want to save some money, and are able to build in time to walk all along the very long platform to find the unreserved car, then by all means do so.  The unreserved cars may be marked via the lighted sign on the car itself and/or at the sign overhead on the platform near the boarding area for that car.  If you keep seeing only reserved cars, and your train truly has an unreserved option, that means you haven't walked far enough.  Keep walking!  If not one direction, try the other.

Some trains like the ones to/from the airport require reservations all of the time.

6) Minimize luggage.  I had minimal luggage: backpacks and 1 small carry on size luggage for 2 people.  If you don't have the ability to make seat reservations in advance so that you can increase chances of sitting near the larger luggage storage areas, then you need to plan for not having access to that space.  Folks with the JR pass purchased online in advance direct from the JR site may be able to make seat reservations online in advance unlike the rest of us peons.  

I found the overhead racks were pretty small and maybe ok for backpacks.  However, the seats were spacious enough for me to roll in my little carry on next to me and still have leg room.  Also note the Nozomi train has luggage size rules and restrictions!

Now if you're still trying to decide whether to get a JR Pass, here are some tips:

1) Learn the JR rail system if you are not already familiar with it.  I really enjoyed reading and learning about it from a book called Japan by Rail.  This book lets you know what destinations are found near each station featured in the book which covers multiple geographic areas of Japan.  It is fascinating to learn the history of how the JR rail system came to be.

2) Once you understand the components of the different JR companies and what geographic areas you want to visit, calculate the estimated costs.  The aforementioned book recommends some transit websites like Jorudan for researching these routes.

3) IC cards are only good for local trips.  They don't work for transferring different JR companies to traverse from one JR region to another.

4) Not all shinkansen costs are covered by the JR pass.  For example, for Nozomi trains, which are the fastest way to get from Kansai region to Tokyo region, you have to pay a 'supplement' fee even if you have the full JR pass.

5) If you buy the JR pass directly from the JR website and not a third party, you may be able to make seat reservations in advance directly through the JR system.  The caveat is that you may not be able to do this as I had mentioned before that the JR website would not take my US credit cards for the life of me.  Also, read the details about seat reservations.  If made in advance, you may have a deadline to pick them up in person.  If made at the train station, you may need to stand in line.  

 

BritRail Pass

My only previous rail pass experience was Eurail, so I thought ok, let's use the same affiliated company (ACP rail's Britrail.net website) since it was a good experience.

Bad idea.

ACP travel company's price is NOT necessarily the best deal for Britrail.  After I stupidly bought the pass from them, here are my lessons so you don't make the same mistake:

• Price shop.  Surprisingly the rail pass price is not the same from one company to another.  I found out Rail Europe would have saved me 30 USD vs. ACP travel/Britrail.net because their pass was cheaper, they didn't charge an extra handling fee, and shipping was free if I spent over a certain amount (which was true for me buying two flexi passes).
• Check travel books for legitimate recommendations, but still price shop.  After I already bought the pass, then I realized Fodor's, Rick Steves, etc. had different recommendations for how to buy the pass, and the prices were different!  You don't want to buy from a bogus company that will steal your credit card, but you don't want to get ripped off, either.
• Beware of timing restrictions.  The pass I bought must be validated within 6 months of purchase even though the flexipass is technically good for longer than that once it is validated. This doesn't make any sense if you, like me, don't live near England or happen to travel enough to conveniently drop by England to validate your pass and tuck it away for future use.  So in total, 6 months time is all I get from time of purchase to start using it, so luckily I didn't buy it too early.  However, all flexi days, once the pass starts being used, must be used within 1 month.

The only positive thing I can say was the pass arrived in 2 days via Fedex and came with a free magazine on Britain.  Nice but not worth 30 USD!

Of note, the pass can be validated at the Heathrow Express main ticket office if it is open.  It is right before the elevators to the Heathrow Express on-boarding.  That way you can use your rail pass to pay for the Heathrow Express if you were planning to use it for other train travel upon arrival.  Use for Heathrow Express alone may not be worth it since you will likely save money by buying Heathrow Express tickets in advance (i.e. 30 days or more online) or if you take the London Underground or train.

Train and Ferry Travel

I have traveled with and without a train pass.  If you plan on hopping from city to city, especially in a country that does not require train reservations, the train pass may save you a lot of money.

Advantages of train pass:
 - flexibility of not being tied down to a particular departure time
 - flexibility to hop on and off trains without paying for another ticket if you happened to go in the wrong direction or change your mind about where you want to go
 - Substantial discounts to attractions, for example, the Suisse pass comes with a discount for the Matterhorn Glacial Paradise and similar trips up the Alps
- Considerable cost savings if you use it enough.  For example, I had sticker shock from the several hundred Euros I shelled out for round trip tickets for two from Berlin to Leipzig via the DB train.  A six day pass covering Austria and Switzerland, 2nd class for 2 adults, cost me 490 Euros.   I used the pass to travel to two Austrian and 9 Swiss cities covered by the pass.

Disadvantages of the pass:
- The Eurail pass must be activated in a set time, so if you bought it in advance and changed your travel plans, you lose money
- Substantial up-front cost, and no refunds for lost or damaged passes (unless you buy some insurance that covers such a loss)
- Must be activated correctly; for Eurail pass, an error would mean finding the nearest Eurail office to straighten things out.  I luckily have not run into this problem although I did give the agent a post-it note with begin and end dates written European style for my flexi-pass activation.
- For countries that require train reservation, such as Italy, the pass may not make financial sense, so you must calculate the cost of your trips plus train reservation vs. the pass plus train reservations.

Train passes may not cover all trains you plan to use, so use the trip planner app or website to plan accordingly and buy your ticket separately when necessary.  For example, in Switzerland, the scenic trains and train to Zermatt are not covered by the Eurail pass.  I still found the pass useful for transiting between the various cities I was visiting.

What about first vs. second class?
I only traveled first class when there was no other option, for example, the Chocolate Train in Switzerland.  Otherwise, I was perfectly content with second class and had no problem getting a seat or having luggage space although the caveat is I do not travel during the peak summer months.

Advantages of first class:
- more room in the seats
- cabins often closer to where you first enter the platform which means less distance to haul your things. It does not impact distance to sprint if you are late because you can usually enter the first class cabin and gradually make your way through the connecting doors to the second class cabins.
- no upstairs trek for some trains, which have second class seats upstairs
- clientele and concomitant noise level.  I encountered rowdy teenage crowds in both Italy and Switzerland while traveling second class.  It is not to say that first class is immune to this; it is just practical economics that teenagers, most of whom have limited income, would be traveling in second class.

What about optional train reservation?
- In countries with optional train reservation, like Austria and Switzerland, even though the seats do have numbers, I have not yet had someone displace me because they bought that seat.  Even if they did, the advantage of traveling during non peak season is that there are plenty of seats to be had, and relocating is not a big deal.  My fellow passengers and I generally had enough room to place bags on adjacent seats (aka 'seat hogs') on the uncrowded trains.

What about luggage?
Luggage can be placed in several places depending on the train:
- underneath/between rows of seats not blocked by a metal bar
- overhead racks (if you can lift your bag that high)
- near your feet (if the train is not crowded; otherwise you are blocking other seats)
- racks near the door (generally larger long-distance trains)

You must be able to lift your luggage up the couple of steps to the train.  As mentioned, some second class trains have seats upstairs, so you would need to lift your luggage up a flight of stairs.

You will be hauling your luggage all over the train station when changing trains.

Although not related to train travel, note that many European smaller hotels do not have elevators.

In Venice, there are limits on how much luggage you can bring on the Vaporetto, and there are surcharges for exceeding the limits.

For all of the above reasons, I travel with a smaller sized roller bag and a backpack whenever possible.

How do I get tickets?
- I have found the machines in Italy, Canada, Germany, France, Austria, and Switzerland to all be very intuitive and to offer English instructions.
- I have bought tickets from a human in a booth in Italy en route to Pompeii.  Most agents speak at least some English.
- I encountered problems with my credit and debit cards in the machines in Venice which required a credit card pin.  Luckily a human was on duty.
- Likewise I encountered problems with my credit card with no pin at another train stations in Italy and had to buy tickets in person.  Most of the time, though, I had no problem using my credit card in the TrenItalia machines.
- Machines may let you buy tickets in advance.  Advance purchase saves money and guarantees you a seat if you are concerned about the train being crowded.  However, depending on the class of ticket you buy, it may restrict you timewise such that you lose your money if you are late, unless you bought a flexible or refundable fare.

Ticket validation:
- Remember to validate your train tickets when required, usually before entering the train!
- Validation boxes vary in color; I have found mostly orange and yellow boxes on the platform or just before entry to the platform
- In Rome, I ran into boxes that had jammed or run out of ink.  Do not be late for your train- give yourself enough time to run to alternate boxes if you encounter a problem with the nearest one.
- Train passes i.e. Eurail pass for trains not requiring reservation will be validated on board by the ticket agent, who will often check for passports, too.