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14 day pass worthwhile?

Hi all, first post here and 3rd attempt to write it as the internet keeps eating what I've typed. Garrrghh.

My trip is going to be built around cities. Here is my itinerary so far:
Arrive March 28 22:45 Haneda, but obviously it will be after midnight by the time I get out of customs etc so I'll start from March 29.
Mar 29 Haneda - Yokohama
Mar 31 Yokohama - Nishi-Akashi
Apr 2 Nishi-Akashi - Osaka
After that point the dates are not set in stone for the following:
Osaka - Nagoya
Nagoya - Tokyo
Tokyo - Narita
Depart Narita Apr 12 21:40.

So bearing in mind that if I get the 14-day pass I will aim to build my activities in each city around where the JR lines can take me, if that even works, and that I will definitely be wanting to use shinkansen all the way from city to city, is the 14-day pass going to work out good value for me?

Appreciate any/all advice you may have to offer. Many thanks.

Comments

  • Hi,
    A 14 day pass would not pay off for your itinerary.
    You can see regular fares, routes and schedules on Hyperdia.
    http://www.hyperdia.com
    Under "More Options", be sure to uncheck the Nozomi box since you can't ride that train using the pass.
    You'd need to add more places to make it worthwhile - either day trips from the Kansai area, or Tokyo, or both. But there are many good places.
  • Thanks for the answer. So am I to understand that even for shinkansen, without the 14 day pass I'm just going to be buying regular tickets at the ticket office on each day of departure then? Is there any pre-booking to be done or special outlets I need to visit? I don't need green car or bells and whistles, I just want to get where I'm going ASAP with the best value I can.
  • Yes, that's right. Or if you like, you could save a bit using a Platt Kodama ticket, but it takes an hour or so longer.
    http://www.jrtours.co.jp/kodama/en/
  • Thanks for the advice my friend. Hugely helpful. :smile:
  • Hi again @Tenjin . Sorry for double-posting but your expertise on this forum is quite obvious so I would like to ask you one more question.

    Would a Pasmo or similar card be useful to me under the conditions I described above? I may be taking short hop trips from one part of any given city to another. I also am not feeling very confident with my language skills in buying tickets every time at the counter. So if there's a fast pass I can swipe or beep rather than having to embarrass myself with my dodgy half-baked Japanese speech skills, I might consider buying it.

    Thanks again. :smile:
  • Hi,
    You can use an IC card to get around, although there is no savings from it - it's just more convenient. However, you can't use one to buy bullet train tickets.
    You don't need to worry about language skills though since nearly all the ticket machines for major rail operators can be used in Japanese or English.

    You can see previews of some of the best places to see on:
    https://www.youtube.com/user/thejapanfaq/videos

    Good luck.
  • Thank you very much. It's not my first trip to Japan so I'm going to see people rather than for tourism purposes. But it will be my first time going alone without a Japanese person to help out so I'm just a little bit spooked about that. Many thanks again for your suggestions. <3
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