Shinkansen seat reservation without ticket

We will have visitors from overseas during the Golden Week who have bought a JR Rail Pass. We plan to travel from Tokyo to Kyoto and Hiroshima with them during that week. The trains seem to be pretty much booked out by now - so we are wondering if we can make a seat reservation right now and buy the tickets as soon as our visitors + their Rail Passes have arrived. Any advice on this issue is very much appreciated!

The whole point of a JR Pass is that you don't have to buy your tickets; you get them for free. If you want to buy tickets before, help yourself, but then what's the point of having JR Passes?

Hi Firas, thank you for your reply. It seems that I failed to clearly state my question - sorry for that. I want to make a seat reservation for my guests now and let them fetch their free tickets in May when they arrive in JP. I am afraid that most of the trains will be booked out on May 2 and thus their JR Rail Passes won't help them much.

I am guessing that you want to book seats for yourself (not eligible for JR Pass) and your guests (eligibe for JR Pass) together, correct?

That may not be possible, as you will need to pay for and purchase the Shinkansen limited express supplement tickets ("tokkyu-ken") with the seat reservation on them. And when your guests come with the JR Pass, you will need to cancel and refund the "tokkyu-ken" once and let them book their seats with the JR Pass - in the process you may lose the seats.

If you (and your guests) are traveling from Tokyo, you always have the option to queue up for the non-reserved sections of Shinkansen trains.

As far as I understand, you can reserve seat via ekinet and then get the reserved seat ticket at JR-East Midori no Madoguchi if you have credit card, address in Japan and deal with ekinet's Japanese website.

https://www.eki-net.com/pc/personal/yoyaku/wb/Common/ReserveTop/Reserv...

You might better consult with Ekinet Support Center 048-645-1703.

http://goo.gl/ET18Xa

http://www.japan-guide.com/forum/quereadisplay.html?0+46149

http://oshiete.goo.ne.jp/qa/7226460.html

You can check the status of reservation at cyberstation.

http://www.jr.cyberstation.ne.jp/vacancy/Vacancy.html

At present there are some vacant seat on 2nd May.

if you use your credit card to reserve a seat, they will charge the limited express fare at that time.
if you don't pay it, the reservation is temporary, and not completed.

if you use your credit card to reserve a seat, they will charge the limited express fare at that time.

I thought as you wrote, but the link I posted previously tells you will not be charged at the time of reservation via ekinet or charged when you receive the ticket, if you have Japan Rail Pass.

http://goo.gl/ET18Xa

予約段階でクレジットカードに請求されることはありませんし、切符の受け取りに際しても請求されることはありません。（ただし、受け取りの際に、使用したクレジットカードの提示は必要です）下の画像のように、実際に発券された指定券を見ると、金額が0円になっていることからもお分かりいただけると思います。

(If you have Japan rail pass) You are not charged on your credit card when you reserve or charged when you received the ticket (at a Midori no Madoguchi). You must show your credit card you used for the reservation when you receive the ticket. As shown in the picture below the actual ticket issued shows the fare is 0 yen.

I am not sure whether this information is reliable, so I suggest the OP to consult with Ekinet Support Center.

The problem here is that the original poster will not have a JR Pass, and the guests will have them, but they are not in Japan yet. So the only way would be to buy Limited Express supplement ticket, isn't it? (Please correct me if I am wrong)

The problem here is that the original poster will not have a JR Pass, and the guests will have them, but they are not in Japan yet. So the only way would be to buy Limited Express supplement ticket, isn't it? (Please correct me if I am wrong)

Sorry, AK, I don't think so. The link I posted previously

http://oshiete.goo.ne.jp/qa/7226460.html

describes identical situation and the poster of the link seems to be able to reserve the seat via ekinet without buying additional supplement ticket. So, I guess the OP also can manage to get the reserved seat before his friends land in Japan. I am not sure whether the credit card can be for the OP or for his friends though, so I suggest the OP to consult with the support center.

http://www.japan-guide.com/forum/quereadisplay.html?0+46149

This thread also deal with the identical situation I think.

Got it, thank you, frog1954.

thank you very much for the detailed help. I will check on ekinet and/or with their support center if we can find a possibility to make a reservation with a credit card before our guests arrive in JP. thank you!