Where to purchase JR Pass voucher from?
 

I plan to purchase my JR Pass voucher in a few weeks (my trip starts in mid October).
There are so many sites that sell them over internet. Which site did you purchase yours from and would recommend? I live in east coast of USA if that matters.
Thanks in advance.

I got mine from the NY-area office of JTB. I don't think it matters much were you buy it from, as long as you use a US-based seller. See http://www.japanrailpass.net/05/en05_2.html for a list of No American sellers.

I get mine from the NYC office of IACE....very convenient for me and no shipping costs - where do you live?

i get mine from clarence at tohoku travel, here in honolulu

Thanks to all your responses.
I'll order pass from a JTB office in the east coast. I do not live close enough to a metropolis to make a trip in person worthwhile.

Is there an advantage to buying this in person, vs. over the internet from a reputable seller? I also will be purchasing a 7 day pass in the next month or two. I'm in Minneapolis.

Quicker gratification. No shipping fee (one site wanted $10 to ship). If there are any errors then they can be resolved instantly when done in person.

MINNE INTERNATIONAL INC.
400 Groveland Ave.,
#1808 Minneapolis, MN 55403
TEL(612)331-1755
FAX 612)872-8205

I agree with mrwunrfl - in person I can go the day before I leave....not that I recommend that or actually wait that long, but just in case of a too long to-do list. ;-) And with the vendor I use I can give the info over the phone and just walk in and pick it up. :)

Wonderful, mrwunrfl! Thank you for that information.

lol, MinnBeef, I could hear Lawrence Welk saying that!

So I did an, albeit very quick, search on Japan Guide to see how much I'd save buying a 7 day pass vs. individual tixs but didn't see an obvious search vehicle. I'm interested in a pass for the second 1/2 of my trip and would anticipate using it over a 7 day period on the following routes:

Day 1: Matsumoto to Kyoto
Day 5 Kyoto to Hiroshima
Day 7: Hiroshima to Tokyo (via Shinkansen)

Can anyone advise on the best site to search to see what those individual legs would cost me vs. a 7-day, first class pass?

That is basically Matsumoto to Tokyo via Hiroshima, so that one search will do it: ¥48,450.

A 7-day JR Pass for green cars is 37,800

I used http://www.hyperdia.com

You can do the search there for the three legs, but remember to un-check the boxes Airplane and for NOZOMI ...

Green cars are available for the whole trip, including the Matsumoto-Nagoya limited express. Green cars on the Sanyo shinkansen are somewhat limited (half of one car).
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2018_sanyo.html

That webpage mentions the Hikari trains that go from Tokyo to Okayama, so you might want to use that as your transfer point (instead of Shin-Osaka or elsewhere) as it would have more green car seats. Then use the Sakura trains between Okayama and Hiroshima. With the JR Pass you would have to transfer at some point both ways between Kyoto and Hiroshima.

Actually finding connections at Okayama is more easily said than done.

There actually are some Hikari shinkansen that go from Kyoto to Hiroshima in the morning and no train change would be required:
http://tinyurl.com/n8verp8

The third and last of those trains departs Kyoto at 08:23 (and has many stops).

There is one early morning (06:14) Hikari from Hiroshima to Tokyo. Changing trains makes the trip 20 minutes longer.

We found a place in Boston ..google jr pass where to buy

Is it perfectly OK to purchase JR voucher from a business not listed on the linked below?
http://www.japanrailpass.net/05/en05_2.html
Because the only one in Boston on that list is in downtown Newbury Street, while Google search tells me there are businesses in Brookline and in Cambridge selling them.

Reading54, my first question for those places would be: if I come in will you be able to issue the voucher while I wait?