From Okayama to Tottori

hi,
im planing to have a trip from Okayama to tottori. can i ride Super Inaba or Super Hakuto by using San'in & Okayama Area Pass?

No. the only north-south line on which the pass is valid is the Hakubi Line (whose southern terminal is Kurashiki), while those two trains use other lines. You can take the Yakumo from Okayama to Yonago, and then the Super Matsukaze to Tottori.

By the way, here's the pass pamphlet:

http://www.westjr.co.jp/global/en/travel-information/pass/pdf/en_sanin...

The Super Inaba and Super Hakuto run roughly in a straight line between Okayama and Tottori, so they are outside the validity area. You need to go westwards a little bit from Okayama before you can go northwards.

I suppose the pass does not cover JR San-in Line Rapid Aqua Liner and LTD. EXP SUPER OKI, does it?

Thanks :)

It does cover rapid trains on the San'in Main Line, inside the coverage area (between Higashihama and Masuda). Likewise for the Limited Expresses (including the Super Oki), but on unreserved seats only.

Really?!? I'm so glad to hear that.

I thought, like LTD. EXP SUPER INABA and LTD. EXP SUPER HAKUTO, LTD. EXP SUPER OKI is operated by a different company or on a different track, as I have read somewhere. So I thought the pass does not cover any of them.

I was not sure for JR San-in Line Rapid Aqua Liner though. I could not find it anywhere.

I thought it would cover only Yakumo, Matsukaze, and local trains.

Good to hear that! Thanks.

I thought, like LTD. EXP SUPER INABA and LTD. EXP SUPER HAKUTO, LTD. EXP SUPER OKI is operated by a different company or on a different track, as I have read somewhere.

In this case, what determines whether a train is covered is not really the name of the train but the line it travels on. The pass is valid on :

* The San'yo Main Line between Okayama and Kurashiki
* The Hakubi Line between Kurashiki and Hoki-Daisen (which is the entire line)
* The San'in Main Line between Higashi-hama and Masuda
* The Sakai Line between Yonago and Sakai-minato (entire line)
* The Kisuki Line between Shinji and Yuki

Any local or rapid train running on those sections is covered, as well as limited express trains on unreserved seats (this means that if a limited express has only reserved seats, it is not covered). So even the Super Hakuto is covered but only on a small section between Tottori and Kurayoshi where it runs on the San'in Main Line. For the rest of the route, it uses completely different lines, and so it is not covered, regardless of whether those lines are JR or not, because they are not in the coverage area anyway.

Wow! That's even more tricky. o_O