Travel in the Fuji-Hakone area

I am planning to spend 4 days and 3 nights in the Fuji-Hakone area during the first week of March. I have booked myself a room in a ryokan in Hakone for the first two nights as initially I thought 3 days and 2 nights would be enough. Now I decided to stay another night (third night) somewhere near Mt. Fuji (Kawaguchi ko) before going back to Tokyo on the 4th day. Here are my questions:

1. Do you think the best travel arrangement would be to buy a Fuji-Hakone free pass? I understand that that would cover the designated travel routes for the first three days but for the fourth day I have to buy a separate single ticket to return to Tokyo. Is this correct?

2. I read in one of pages in this website but the info given is not very clear. So my question is: is it OK to buy a Fuji-Hakone free day and travel from Shinjuku to Hakone for the outgoing leg? I am worried that if I buy the free pass and my outgoing leg would have to be Shinjuku-Fuji (Kawaguchi ko) only. Could you please give a comment on this as well?

Thank you very much for your time.

Do you think the best travel arrangement would be to buy a Fuji-Hakone free pass?

Probably not, because the pass is valid for up to three days only.

I understand that that would cover the designated travel routes for the first three days but for the fourth day I have to buy a separate single ticket to return to Tokyo. Is this correct?

Yes.

is it OK to buy a Fuji-Hakone free day and travel from Shinjuku to Hakone for the outgoing leg? I am worried that if I buy the free pass and my outgoing leg would have to be Shinjuku-Fuji (Kawaguchi ko) only.

Either direction would be okay for the outgoing leg, i.e. Shinjuku to Hakone would be okay. On the way way back the Fujigoko to Shinjuku leg would be covered (if you did it within 3 days).

Thank you, uji, for your answers. Now I can go to Japan with less worry. :-) So I think I would get a Fuji-Hakone free pass to cover the first 3 days, but still I have to buy a single ticket back to Shinjuku for the fourth day. I think this is fair enough since this area of Japan seems to have so much to do and see! Thanks very much once again.

So I think I would get a Fuji-Hakone free pass to cover the first 3 days, but still I have to buy a single ticket back to Shinjuku for the fourth day. I think this is fair enough since this area of Japan seems to have so much to do and see!

This comes with a chance that you will pay more than you would by using regular tickets in combination with a Hakone Free Pass. Note that the Fuji Hakone Pass does not cover a lot of the transportation within the Fujigoko area. It covers neither the retro buses nor the bus to the 5th Station. And no oter bus apart from the Gotemba-Kawaguchiko line:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2358_014.html

Uji, thank you once again for your insightful comments. I forgot to ask you one more question in my previous posts, so here it goes!

For my upcoming trip to Japan, I am supposed to change hotels at least 4 times for the period of 10 days as I am going to be travelling out and about quite a lot. I understand that most Japanese hotels have a policy of earliest time for check-in from around 2-3pm onwards. However, in case I have to check out of a hotel in the morning by 10am but check-in in the next hotel (in the same town) won't be available until 5-6 hours later. I wonder what people normally do between these hours? Is it possible, for instance, to arrive at the next hotel where I have a booking say around 11am or 12pm, and leave stuff my stuff there, and come back for the actual check-in later? I would appreciate it very much if you could let me know the local custom regarding this.

Thank you very much.

However, in case I have to check out of a hotel in the morning by 10am but check-in in the next hotel (in the same town) won't be available until 5-6 hours later. I wonder what people normally do between these hours?

People typically go to the next hotel and ask whether early check in is possible (usually it is not, but sometimes it is). If it is not yet possible, they deposit their luggage and start sightseeing.

Some cities, such as Kyoto, also have a convenient city-wide hotel-to-hotel delivery service that lets you deliver luggage for around 500-700 yen per piece for arrival by around 4pm on the same day.

Thank you very much once again, Uji. After considering your advice, I think the best way is not to buy a Fuji-Hakone pass as I am not going to use much of the things that are covered in this pass anyway. Cheers.