I'm a little confused about the JR pass thing.

Here's what we're doing: we're flying into Narita, spending 6 nights in Tokyo, catching the train to Kyoto/Osaka, staying in Kyoto for 3 nights, then flying out of Osaka. We're planning on getting around by subway most of the time.

Does a JR pass make sense for us? Which one/how many days?

No, you don't need a JR Pass. Not even close.

13520 Tokyo -> Kyoto by Nozomi shinkansen
3490 Kyoto -> Kansai Aiprot by Haruka Limited Express
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17,010

28,300 = cost of 7-day JR Pass

hi paa3838
We are planning to do a similar trip and i leave tomorrow.

I agree with mrwunrfl if your only going to tokyo and kyoto it works out cheaper not to buy the pass. However we purchased a 7day JR pass as we are using it to travel from NRT to tokyo and then for travel around tokyo and then to mt fuji & hakone plus to kyoto. This overall saved us money as I found out on mon from Japan Tourist office that a half day trip to mt fuji and hakone is £75! You can use the pass to travel around tokyo city as well. JNTO (Japanese Tourst office) also said that travelling around kyoto is not that expensive. It is all dependent on where you want to go. If your stayin in these three areas then i would opt not to go for the pass. See your nearest JNTO for more advice or visit a JAL office.

I think that JNTO gave you bad advice. The price, 75 GBP, is about 15,000 yen which is exactly the cost of the full day Fuji-Hakone tour offered by Sunrise Tours. The only part of that tour that is on JR is the shinkansen ride back from Odawara (cost of that would be about 3600 yen).

I am not saying the the tour is not worth the 15,000 yen only that using a JR pass is not going to say you that amount of money.

It costs 4000 roundtrip from Shinjuku to Odawara on Odakyu rail. About 3500 roundtrip on JR local train from Tokyo. About 7200 roundtrip from Tokyo on the Kodama shinkansen. Your JR Pass covers only the rail costs to/from Odawara.

You will still need to pay for transportation in the Hakone area. From Odawara, you can use an Odakyu Rail company Hakone Free Pass for a cost of 4130 to get around Hakone (3410 weekday).

Even better, could take a subway to Shinjuku (if you aren't already staying in that area) and use a Hakone Free Pass that includes the roundtrip train travel between Shinjuku and Odawara and the travel around Hakone. That is 5500 yen (4700 on weekdays).

Contacting JAL for JR info is a bad idea.

Best info is at www.japan-guide.com and hyperdia.com

and the JR Pass would not be useful in Kyoto.

OP would have to make 40 to 50 trips on JR trains in Tokyo in 3 days for the pass to break even.