Haneda JR Pass Office Open

We arrive to Haneda at 5am and wanted to go directly to Kyoto as soon as we got through customs but if I read the website correctly the office that we would have to exchange our voucher for our JR Pass to isnt opened till 10am???? Is that true? What should we do, we really wanted to go as quickly as possible to Kyoto since this is our first time to Japan we wanted to try and avoid too many connections etc. with the fear of getting lost, etc. Is there another way to exchange the pass is there another office at Haneda?

http://www.japanrailpass.net/en/exchange.html

Go to Shin-Yokohama and do the exchange there. The cost of that trip is not very much.

Isn't that the JR EAST Travel Service Center at Haneda opens @ 07:45 ?

Yes, you can do exchanges starting 7:45, but waiting two+ hours for the office to open would be pretty dull, and then you still have to get to a shinkansen station to head south. A better use of time is spending 40 minutes and 620 yen and then doing the exchange.

Could you explain exactly what we would do from Haneda International terminal?

Get on which train to go to which station to exchange our passes?
and from that station what train do we take to get all the way to kyoto?

How long does it take to get through customs at 5am? In America it can be very long regardless of time.

Im still debating just taking the 7am domestic flight to Kyoto instead of hassling with figuring out the train so early but if we could leave by train before 7 it might be worth the effort to figure out the train. as with the plane/bus we wont get to our kyoto hotel until 9:30-10 anyway.

If you have a the option of a 7am domestic flight. Do that. It will be better than waiting around for said office to open 3 hours later or move onto a different office that is somewhere else.

By the time you arrive at Osaka, you'll find the JR offices open.

if we could leave by train before 7 it might be worth the effort to figure out the train

Departing before 07:00 with JR pass, knowing the exchange office only opens @ 07:45, that is asking the impossible.

Best option if you need to depart at that particular time :
After clearing the Customs, get a taxi to Shinagawa station, buy the shinkansen ticket and board your train.

Best option .... get a taxi to Shinagawa station

not best option

Get on which train to go to which station to exchange our passes?
and from that station what train do we take to get all the way to kyoto?

Take Tokyo Monorail to Hamamatsucho station and change to JR Yamanote line to Tokyo station. At Marunouchi North exit, there is JR EAST Travel Service Center to exchange your JR Pass from 7:30.

To Kyoto, you take "HIKARI" Shinkansen which covered with JR Pass. It takes about 3hours to Kyoto. Earliest one will be 8:03 so you will be there around 11:00.

My suggestion would be to go to Tokyo Station about 5:45am, which is probably the time you'll be clear of all airport routines (immigration, baggage, customs, etc.) At Tokyo Station, line up for the 7:30am opening. Remember, you won't be the only one trying to exchange your voucher. One person gets in line while the others go have breakfast and then you go back and let the one who was waiting in line go to breakfast upon your return.

We waited an hour in the queue at Haneda to get our JR passes. Not many staff and customers asking questions about their travel plans meant the queue moved quite slowly.

I think you just helped me make my decision. I can fly out on 7am flight and get to kyoto 8:15 am and then into Kyoto by 9:30 on bus. And exchange our JR pass there instead I am assuming. If we have to wait in Haneda until 7:45 am just for the office to open and then another hour for us to exchange passes then connect to all the different trains. Im guessing we wont get to kyoto until close till noon.

Thanks for your help. anyone know where to exchange JR pass in Kyoto assuming just at the station, right?

Flying to Osaka will be faster, but it will also cost you more money, as the pass would pay for the train to Kyoto.

True but the tickets are just 95 usd To fly and we are there for 15 days so we lose it on one day either way. Wish the pass just activated when you went to use it instead of needing to exchange such a hassle

What are your itineraries, including number of days (a) in Kyoto, and (b) after Kyoto?

I am asking because once you are in Kyoto, the JR Pass is of limited use (Kyoto runs on non-JR subways and buses, mostly). If Kyoto is all you are seeing, the JR Pass is slightly more expensive than buying RT ordinary tickets. If you buy the ordinary tickets you don't have to wait for the voucher exchange office to open. And buying ordinary tickets allows you to ride Shinkansen Nozomi, which is not valid with JR Pass. Nozomi will get you to Kyoto about 25 minutes faster, if that matters to you.

We go to osaka and back our second day, 4th day hiroshima and back..then to kanazawa, takayama, hakone, tokyo, haneda

My recommendation remains the same - head to Shin-Yokohama when you arrive and do the exchange there. With your final day or two in Tokyo you will not get as much value from the last day as you will from the first day.

Irrespective of what you choose to do on day one when you arrive you have to make transfers and do the exchange at some stage. The choice is when/where and if you want to make the most of your time or not.

It sounds like you're getting the 14 day pass. If you fly to Kyoto, and your other LONG DISTANCE rail travel won't start for a couple of days, AND you will be in Tokyo the last days of your trip, I bet you can get just a 7 day pass to make things efficient. We've gone on numerous 2 wk trips and have never needed the 14 day pass. Only the 7 day pass.

Of course, your itinerary may already be set, making this not doable.

Dale

I think you just helped me make my decision. I can fly out on 7am flight and get to kyoto 8:15 am and then into Kyoto by 9:30 on bus.


If money is not object, trains ( IMO) would be a better option than airplane, with only one transfer and you could even arrive at Kyoto station before 09:00

KEIKYU AIRPORT EXP to SHINAGAWA STATION, 19min, ‰~ 410 ( train departs every few minutes)
SHINKANSEN NOZOMI to KYOTO , 122min, ‰~13,710 (train departs every few minutes)