Is the JR pass worth it

Hi,

I'll be going to Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, and maybe some day trips from Kyoto for three weeks.

I was wondering if it's worth getting a JR pass the whole time or when I leave Tokyo to go to Kyoto.

Please let me know when you get a chance.

Thanks.

More info is needed in order to determine if a JR Pass is worthy.
Give us your day by day itinerary, like: Day1&2Tokyo, Day3 Kyoto, etc.

When using Hyperdia, to check whether a JR Pass will pay off do the following
1. uncheck gNozomi...h etc box, as you cannot use Nozomi on a JR Pass, and uncheck gprivate railwayh as you only want the JR costs
2. A 7 day JR Pass is 29100 Yen, 14 day Pass 46390Yen, 21 day Pass 59350 yen, so add up all the individual trip costs, and work out the relative values compared to the cost of the Pass.
You need to gthink in Yenh so to speak.
3. The gfareh column is the base fare for a seat in one of the unreserved carriages. So you take your chance that you can get a seat: you may have to stand.
In both Shinkansens and Limited Express trains there is a supplement to pay over and above the actual cost of the seat. So the gfareh you see in the gfareh column is the minimum you would have to pay without reserving a seat.
4. The gseat feeh is the fee you pay to Reserve a seat in one of the gReserved Seath carriages.
This fee is free with a JR Pass: in other words, you can book a Reserved seat for no extra cost when you have a JR Pass.
5. Good luck!

That's great help.

Now I'm wondering if I would need a JR pass while traveling in Tokyo. I'll be there my first seven days, and my last four. All the other days I'll be traveling to Kyoto, Osaka, and back to Tokyo.

The JP pass would definitely be an advantage for your Tokyo stay.

Work out what JR lines you would use; check costs on Hyperdia; do the Math.

4. The gseat feeh is the fee you pay to Reserve a seat in one of the gReserved Seath carriages.

No, that is wrong.

The JP pass would definitely be an advantage for your Tokyo stay.

Don't necessarily agree with this, as it fully depends on where you're staying and where you'll be going while in Tokyo to determine if it is worth the extra cost of getting a longer pass and activating while in Tokyo. We spent two weeks in Japan but only had a 7-day pass, which we did not activate until we left Tokyo.

Since the JR Pass is not valid on the Tokyo Metro or Toei Subway, you need to figure out if you'll be using the JR Yamanote Line or other JR lines within Tokyo enough to justify buying a longer pass period to cover while you're in Tokyo. I don't think we used more than 5000 or 6000 yen worth of JR travel while in Tokyo, which included a trip out to Tokyo Disney Resort and a one way trip on the Narita Express. The large majority of our travel within Tokyo was on the metro lines, but we were also staying a few minutes from a metro station (Shinjuku Sanchome), whereas it was a much longer walk to reach JR Shinjuku Station to take any JR train. So for example, it was much quicker for us to hop on the metro to get to, say, Tokyo Station, than it was to walk to Shinjuku Station and take the JR Chuo Rapid line.

So again, it depends on where you're staying and where you're going within Tokyo. I suppose if we had stayed much closer to a JR station we may have used the JR lines more, but for us we definitely would have lost money had we purchased a 14-day pass instead of the 7-day to cover our time in Tokyo. You will need to figure out the math, but I'm sure we can help on here if you post more of your itinerary and let us know what area you are staying in.

Also to add to my answer above, your potential use of the Narita Express during the valid period of your pass needs to be included in your calculation.