flyingbaran

I'll be traveling for a few months and am wondering if I can get the rail pass on the road? Or should I just buy it before I leave? My concern is if I don't end up going to Japan, I have a rail pass sitting around. I have every intention of going but the road can be bumpy. : )

BigRuss

What are you on about? What is "home"? What is "the road"?

You cannot buy a JR pass in Japan. Period.

You cannot buy a JR pass outside of Japan either.

The transaction that nets you a JR pass is the exchange of a voucher for the pass. <b>You cannot buy the voucher for the JR pass in Japan.</b>

Outside of Japan, you purchase a voucher for a JR pass. Once you reach Japan, you exchange the voucher for the JR pass. This is how you procure a JR pass. No matter what, if you buy the voucher and do not go to Japan, you will have an unused voucher. No matter what, if you do not obtain a voucher before going to Japan, you're not going to have a JR pass when you're in Japan.

Kathie

If I wasn't absolutely positive I was going to Japan, I wouldn't buy the pass. Ok, Big Russ is right, what you buy is a voucher, but I wouldn't buy that unless I was positive I was going and positive I was taking enough trains to make a pass worthwhile. If you go to Japan without the pass, just buy individual train tickets. In my experience you have to take a lot of trains in order for the pass to make sense.

russ_in_LA

For what it's worth, both times I bought the voucher it was shipped the next day via overnight service, so I had it within 48hrs. I wouldn't cut it that close, but I assume you will know if you are going at least a couple weeks before departure, which will give it plenty of time to arrive.

janisj

>>if you are going at least a couple weeks before departure, which will give it plenty of time to arrive.<<

But it sounds like the OP will be traveling -- perhaps he won't have a snail mail address.

Kavey

I don't think you can get refund if you don't use it, but would check that before deciding. But as the others have said, unless you're doing a lot of train trips within the 1, 2 or 3 week validity, it won't necessarily be worth it, to be honest. You can really only work it out if you plan your itinerary, look at train journeys, price them out and compare. Given that you don't even know if you'll get to Japan let alone your itinerary once there, I'd not bother buying it.

NoFlyZone

Are the vouchers transferable? If so, that reduces the risk significantly.

mrwunrfl

What would your Japan itinerary be? A JR Pass can be a great bargain and convenience but it depends on your plan.

You can get an exchange order on the road outside of Japan. There are sales offices all over the world where you can buy it and have it issued on the spot.
http://japanrailpass.net/en/purchase.html

You can get a refund for an exchange order. You can get a refund from JR or the agent that issued it. There would be a 10% fee.

Before I would purchase an exchange order on the road I would find out if I could refund it at my home or other location of the agency that issued it.

For example, if I bought it at a JAL office in Beijing can I refund it at the JAL office in Los Angeles (at LAX)? I would call the office in L.A. to find out..

If you go to Japan and do the exchange and actually get a JR Pass issued then it will be stamped with a validity date. That date could be today or tomorrow or another future date.

You can get a refund for an actual JR Psss, minus the fee, as long as you do it before the validity date. Do that in Japan.

mrwunrfl

Am pretty sure that there is a time limit for getting a refund of an exchange order (voucher). Assume it is from issue date and could be 30 days, but find out (could be 60 or 90 days or 6 months, IDK).

There are other passes that could be more useful than a Japan Rail Pass, depending on your itinerary. Some can be purchased in Japan.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2357.html

russ_in_LA

>>But it sounds like the OP will be traveling -- perhaps he won't have a snail mail address.<<

If the OP is traveling leading up to entering Japan, the voucher can still be purchased on-line and sent to a hotel in any country EXCEPT Japan via overnight service such as FedEx (much faster than a snail). As I mentioned, both of mine went out the next day and I had it 24hrs after that. For some reason they both came to me in Los Angeles from France.

I agree that if the OP wakes up one day and says, "I think I'll fly to Japan today", that might not work; but with at least 3 days advance notice, that might eliminate all the stress of if, how, when and where to refund (unless of course plans change again in the 3 days from purchase to departure). Personally, I would still not cut it that close.

mrwunrfl

One more thing: JAL and ANA both issue JR Pass exchange orders but they might require that you fly on their airline to Japan.

Reading54

For help in purchasing JR Rail Pass, see
http://www.japanrailpass.net/en/purchase.html#step_01

In STEP 1, there are links to Japan Rail pass sales offices around the world. Click on the region you have in mind, scroll down to a particular country, then see a list of agents.

JAL and ANA's overseas offices sell them. You can go to one of their offices near you to purchase JR rail pass, you are not required to fly with them.

Reading54

Oops, I meant purchasing the JR Rail Pass "exchange vouchers", not the actual pass itself.

Reading54

Another oops, after re-reading the text in STEP 1, it says JAL and ANA will sell them to you only if you book a "group flight" with them. Whatever the "Group flight" means.

flyingbaran

I'm aware I can't purchase the pass/voucher in Japan, which is why I'm trying to figure it out now.

Here's the situation. I'll be leaving USA soon to travel for 4 months. My plan is to visit a few countries in Asia, Japan being one of them. Timing wise I should be in Japan in November. I'll probably be in Hong Kong for a week or so before Japan.

The tentative itinerary for Japan was posted: http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...es-forests.cfm

mrwunrfl

Your itinerary does need some firming up. As it is, I think a 14-day pass might do you some good. If you dropped Miyajima then the equation would change and you could pay as you go for some travel and a regional pass for other parts of the trip. That LONG leg from Nikko to Kiitanabe/Shirahama is abou 22000 JPY (www.hyperdia.com)

Here is the JTB page for rail passes:
http://online.jtbusa.com/JRPass/AllJRPass.aspx
"Refunds for vouchers can be obtained <b>at the place of issue</b> within one year of the date of issue." I would still call the 800 number and ask "If I buy the exchange order at a JTB office in Hong Kong can I refund it at a JTB office in the USA? or do I have to refund it in Hong Kong? Seems pretty clear that it would have to be HK.

Buying it in USA before you leave won't work because you have to do the exchange within 90 days and it sounds like you won't be in Japan in time.

mrwunrfl

"Group flight" means (am pretty sure) a flight on an airline in the airline group. For example, ANA Group includes ANA, ANK, and a couple other airlines.


Am starting to think that a JR Pass won't save you much money, if any.

Here are regional passes to consider. I think that all can be purchased in Japan.
JR Kansai Area Pass
JR Kansai Wide Area Pass
JR Sanyo Sanin Area Pass
JR Kansai Hiroshima Area Pass
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2357.html
There are also non-JR passes for Nikko and Koyasan to consider.

Those last two Sanyo passes seem to fit your itinerary pretty well. They cover Wakayama/Shirahama, Nara, Kyoto, Himeji, and Miyajima.

flyingbaran

This is the worst part of trip planning-- finding all the trains and calculating tickets vs passes. I haven't heard much about regional passes so thank you for that.

I did read that there's a two day pass for Nikko but didn't look into it as I was considering the JR pass.


I don't have Miyajima on my itinerary at the moment but everyone keeps suggesting it. Maybe I should go now. haha

mrwunrfl

From your most recent plan:
Kyoto (7 nights?)

Day trips:
-Miyama
-Uji
-Himeji Castle

I assumed that "Miyama" meant Miyajima. ??

mrwunrfl

Oh, you mean this site which someotherguy recently mentioned:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3985.html