Which is Cheaper and Worthy

Please be advise which is worthy and cheaper to buy either Kansai Thru Pass or Jr Kansai Wide Area Pass or Hanuka&ICOCA.

Kansai airport-Osaka, day2 Osaka-Nara, Day3 Osaka-Kobe, days4 Osaka-kyoto, day5,6 & 7 visit Kyoto with 500yen all day Bus ticket, day8 Kyoto-Osaka-Mt.Koya.

It is so confusing, please help..
Hope to hear from you soon, your help is much appreciated.

Best regards,
Suzanne

I'm a newbie as well, but I'll give it a try. For your itinerary, the JR Kansai Wide Area Pass will not pay off. Are you arriving and departing from Kansai airport.

I don't know if you have flexibility to re-arrange your itinerary a bit. Here's what I suggest.

Day 1 - If arriving early, get the Yokoso Osaka ticket, it covers your transportation to Osaka and also include subway access in Osaka for that day.

Day 2 - Buy the Kansai Thru Pass(valid for 3 days), covers your transport to and from Nara as well as local transport in Osaka. I would visit Uji as well since it's also covered by the pass.

Day 3 - Use Kansai Thru Pass to travel from Osaka to Kobe. I would travel o Arima Onsen in the morning and Kobe in the afternoon. The Kansai Thru Pass covers local transportation (subway) in Kobe and Osaka.

Day 4 - Use Kansai Thru Pass to travel from Osaka to Mt. Koya. The pass covers the transportation from Osaka to Mt. Koya.

Day 5 - I would just buy a one way ticket from Osaka to Kyoto

Day 6 - Kyoto

Day 7 - Kyoto

Day 8 - One way ticket back to Osaka.

If you were not going to Mt. Koya, it might be better to buy individual ticket. But the Kansai Thru Pass really pays off if you go to Mt. Koya. To make it even more worthwhile, you can add Arima Onsen to Kobe and Uji to Nara.

I hope this helps. People with more experience might give you even better suggestion.

Hi Newbie2013,

Im very pleased and grateful for your useful information. I might consider your itinerary plan which is also a good idea. This is a BIG relief to me.
By the way where and how can i buy Yokoso Osaka Ticket and its price, does it cover round trip Kansai airport-Osaka-Kansai airport.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Best regards,
Suzanne

I would like to inform you about Yokoso Osaka Ticket. It is not possible to buy in Japan currently, sale place is limited to travel company that located in several countries of Asia. If you're living in those countries, it would be available for purchase. In addition, it is because they are, which contain the Osaka subway and one-way fare to Osaka from Kansai International Airport, it is not possible so to return to the Kansai International Airport.
http://www.howto-osaka.com.e.iv.hp.transer.com/top/ticket/railway/yoko...
http://www.howto-osaka.com/top/ticket/pdf/yotlist2.pdf

As an alternative if you can not use the Yokoso Osaka Ticket, there is a means to purchase the OSAKA Kaiyu Ticket. It also includes a ticket of Osaka Kaiyu Aquarium, with the exception that it is not possible to use a reserved seat in the Nankai Line, available range is the same as the Yokoso Osaka Ticket. The price is 3,010 yen. Since it is necessary to admission on the day you buy the ticket to the aquarium, if you plan to arrive at Kansai International Airport in the afternoon, this means it may be unsuitable.
OSAKA Kaiyu Ticket Nankai Railway version:
http://www.kaiyukan.com/language/eng/info/2014_kaiyu_ticket.pdf

TSuzanne71

According to the Kansai airport website, the Yokoso Osaka ticket (called Osaka Business Ticket) can be purchased at the Nankai Railway counter at Kansai airport. The cost is 1500 yen (may be a bit more now due to the recent tax increase).

http://www.kansai-airport.or.jp/en/otoku-access/index.html

Are you going back to Osaka on Day 8 simply to get to your airport? If so, you can just get a ticket directly to airport from Kyoto.

Please note that the Kansai Thru Pass doesn't cover certain routes. A good way to check is to use www.hyperdia.com. Under option, uncheck JR, and check "private line". Kansai thru pass is not valid on any JR lines. Also Kansai Thru Pass is not valid on "limited express" train on Nankai and Kintetsu railway.

This site gives more information on how to use the Kansai Thru Pass effectively including sample train routes.

http://jprail.com/travel-informations/other-rail-passes/rail-pass-for-...

http://jprail.com/travel-informations/other-rail-passes/rail-pass-for-...

Dear Passby168

Thanks for your valueble advise which had expand my horizon of knowledge. May consider that too.

You please tske care

Best regards,
Suzanne

Hi Newbie2013,

Thanks again for your reply, and i have gone thru the website you have given me, and it has been helpful to me too.

You please take care,

Best regards,
Suzanne