Hakone Free Pass

Old May 19th, 2015, 02:18 PM
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Hakone Free Pass

Our family (DH, 3 kids, and myself) will be traveling to Japan in early June. We are booked at a ryokan in Hakone from the 8th to 10th (coming from Tokyo). We did not purchase a rail pass because we did not think it would make $$ sense, but could be wrong...We are going to Kyoto after Hakone. We are considering purchasing a Hakone free pass, but trying to figure out if we should purchase in Shinjuku or Odawara (we are not returning to Tokyo--or do we need to in order to catch Shinkansen to Kyoto? I want our kids to ride the bullet train). I know if we purchase in Shinjuku it includes round trip fares. FYI, we depart from Osaka Intl.
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Old May 19th, 2015, 09:26 PM
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The Hakone Free Pass that we bought was good for the multiple kinds of transportation (cable cars, boats, toy trains, buses etc.) within the Hakone sightseeing circuit. It did not include transport from other cities to or from Hakone. We bought ours in our ryokan in Hakone.
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Old May 19th, 2015, 09:44 PM
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From Shinjuku Station 5,140 yen

Purchased inside the free area
(e.g. Odawara Station) 4,000 yen

So, the difference is 1,140 yen which pretty much covers the one-way base fare. Pay another 890 yen to get reserved seats on the "Romnnce Car" limited express.

So for 2,030, you get a one-way limited express train trip (not using the return option). That price is better than what you will probably find for a one-way trip on JR.

The only complication is that you have 4 travelers and the RC is all reserved. Not a big deal, maybe, esp if traveling on a weekday. ?

Where are you starting from?
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Old May 19th, 2015, 09:50 PM
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My point being that going from Shinjuku the 5,140 yen price is a good deal, even if you just use it one-way, and not both ways, between Shinjuku and Hakone-Yumoto. And it is worth it to spend the extra 890 yen for the RC.
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Old May 20th, 2015, 10:04 AM
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I took another look at this on hyperdia.com this morning after figuring out the best search. Changing your destination to be Odawara instead of Hakone-Yumoto makes a difference.

The one-way base fare on Odakyu from Shinjuku to Odawara is only ¥880.

For that price, you can make the trip with no change of trains:
93 min, Odakyu Odawara Line Exp.
88 min, Odakyu Odawara Line Rapid Exp.

There are no reserved seats on those trains.

For another ¥890, you can take:
72 min, Odakyu Ltd. Exp. Hakone
I think reserved seats are required on the L'Ex trains, but no additional cost.

So, you WILL save if you just pay the regular fare from Shinjuku and then get the ¥4000 HFP in Odawara, because you aren't returning to Tokyo.

Your cost would be ¥4880 that way (so ¥260 savings pp).

If you come back to the thread then I will give advice about the train(s) to take to Kyoto.
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Old May 26th, 2015, 10:02 AM
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Hi mrwunrfl, thank you so much for your advice and calculations! Our ryokan in Hakone tells us to get off at Hakone Yumoto station, but I'm guessing that doesn't really matter since we can get the Hakone pass at Odawara and use that to get to Yumoto from there? In Tokyo, we are staying in Akasaka--not sure if that makes a difference?

As for getting to Kyoto, a couple of students we hosted earlier this year live in Hamamatsu. We are hoping to stop off to take them to dinner on our way to Kyoto. They asked us to get there by 5pm. Any advice? We were then told that in Hamamatsu, if we get on the shinkansen leaving at 7:37, we will get to Kyoto at 9:03 p.m...
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Old May 26th, 2015, 07:05 PM
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You got good advice for the Hamamatsu-Kyoto trip. That is a Hikari train and there is no change of trains. It actually arrives Kyoto station at 9:01 PM. It departs Kyoto for Shin-Osaka at 9:03 PM.

There is a Hikari an hour earlier with a slightly shorter trip (two fewer stops) and another an hour later at 8:37 with the same stops. So you have some good options.

Here is the timetable:

http://www.hyperdia.com/cgi/en/inter...chday=20150526
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Old May 26th, 2015, 07:41 PM
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>>In Tokyo, we are staying in Akasaka--not sure if that makes a difference?

It makes a difference as far as figuring out a good root at a low cost and short travel time. Not easy to do for this.

You can take the subway for cheap to get to Shinjuku station and then find your way to the Odakyu station for their train tho Odawara. That is probably the best option for price and ok as far as travel times and train changes.

The best for travel time is by JR but the price gets up around ¥3600.
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Old May 27th, 2015, 08:52 PM
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Thank you, mrwunrfl!
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Old May 31st, 2015, 01:30 PM
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Hi mrwunrfl, do you know if we can get shinkansen tickets from Hakone to Kyoto and get off in Hamamatsu for a couple of hours?
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Old Jun 2nd, 2015, 09:42 AM
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From Odawara, you mean.

Yes, see Validity here: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2359_001.html

I haven't done this but I think you can buy one fare ticket from Odawara to Kyoto. You would need two reserved seat tickets, of course, one for each leg. ¥320 each. Or you can go unreserved on either/both trains. I would definitely get reserved seats and do it in advance.
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