buying JR Pass
 

Has anyone bought the JR Pass through the link on japan-guide.com which takes you through to japan-rail-pass.com? It's coming out as $400 cheaper than the official jrailpass.com, those are hugely different prices so I wondered if anyone had a prefered vendor?

I usually buy from either KKday or Klook. You also earn Cathay Asia miles or Singapore airlines Kris flyer miles.

You can pay in many currencies, which save you foreign exchange fees charged by credit card companies.

Which type of JR pass are you looking at?

japan-rail-pass $435 ~ ¥46,201
japanrailpass .net ¥52,000 ~ $490
japan-guide ¥46,390 ~ $437

Those are the quoted prices and converted values for an adult 14-day pass at the three sites. I think al three are prices through Sept 30. From Oct 1 the prices are less than ¥1000 higher.

The pass is half-priced for children aged 6-11, so the cost for 2 adult + 2 children would be the same cost as 3 adult passes.

The only way to get a $400 difference for 4 passes would be to compare 2 adult + 2 child vs 4 adult.

The largest difference in the prices above is $55 per adult. That would be $165 for 2 adult + 2 children.

The site japan-rail-pass.com has a good rep for selling rail passes. Less so for their SIM cards. You also didn't give the ages of your kids. If they are 5 or younger they don't need to pay anything to ride - passes or tickets. As for agencies, there is no "official" place - there are many agencies selling them, and the online places are mostly sub-agents selling them. You can go to all the Japanese travel agencies (JTB, Kintetsu, IACE, HIS, etc) and get them there too if you want. As for a $400 difference in prices you must be miscalculating it. You will only see a minor price difference, unless you choose to get the pass after arriving in Japan (sales just extended to 2021) but there is no reason I can think of why someone would ordinarily do that. Prices will change according to the exchange rates. Of course nobody can predict that.

The other big question is if you actually save money with a rail pass at all. Did you make an itinerary and check to see if you are at least breaking even? Many make a foolish error that they'll be in Japan for about 2 weeks so the 14-day pass is the one they buy - and they can lose a ton of money that way.

I just found another japanrailpass .net page that give the price of ¥46,390 for a 14-day adult ordinary JR Pass if purchased by Sept 30. That is the same as the price shown at japan-guide, This is the link:
About JAPAN RAIL PASS | JAPAN RAIL PASS

The 52,000 price came from a pdf linked to the blue oval labeled "For details, please see the following" on this webpage at the same site:
JAPAN RAIL PASS: From purchase to travel | JAPAN RAIL PASS

Both of those links are at the same website which is a JR Group website. I don't understand why they differ. I believe that the correct price is ¥46,390 given that other sites give a price of around $435.

I think I will probably buy from japan-rail-pass because they offer a free digital guide. One of the guide topics that sounds interesting is "Feature on "Ekiben" regional bento boxes" and another is top 10 views from JR trains.

Prices will go up from October due to the consumption tax going up to 10% - actually all passes will go up, which stinks. But I can't see why someone would charge 52,000 yen - that makes no sense. It is either some error, or somebody is getting very greedy.

thanks everyone!