Train tickets with a mixture of visas

My son is studying in Japan and not eligible for JR Pass and we are planning to visit him and will be using 7-day JR Green Car Passes to travel Tokyo-Kyoto-Hiroshima-Kyoto-Tokyo.

Are there any discounts available that will allow him to travel with us in reserved seats?

Thanks.

Student discount certificate may be available at his school / university.
http://www.kyoto-u.ac.jp/en/education/international/overseas/life/disc...

Other discounts
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2359.html

Do you plan on travelling with him to all the listed places?

In general there will be no good/reasonable discounts for him, except for those listed above.

If you want to make it a little more economical and you wish to sit with him, you could consider getting the ordinary passes instead of the green passes. Otherwise, a green seat from Kyoto to Hiroshima adds 3500 yen each way, and a green seat from Kyoto to Tokyo adds 4600 yen each way.

There are also some slight discount options like Hikari Hayatoku Kippu as explained here:-
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2363.html
Assuming he isn't trying to get green seating.

Enjoy your trip!

Thanks for all the help. We had not thought about his situation when we ordered our Green passes and will just have to pay the full fare rather than have him sit separately. After all, a big reason for us going to Japan is to be with him :-)

That makes sense!

Of course, you could sit in the normal sections with your Green Pass on some of the legs if you wish to save a little bit of money. ie you don't have to sit in the Green cars each time.

Green car on Shinkansen is usually considered very luxury. The main target of the car is cooperate managers or politicians, not tourists or students.

That is what I am now learning. When placing the order for JR Pass, the extra money seemed small compared to what this trip is going to cost us ...

You can decide whether you will get a refund for your exchange orders,
considering fees to be subtracted and time it may require for you to get exchange orders for Ordinary-class Passes.

Using a Green-class Pass in an Ordinary-class reserved / non-reservation space
does not bring you back any of the "extra money."

My son is studying in Japan
Are there any discounts available that will allow him to travel with us in reserved seats?

Where is he? Or, I would rather ask, where and on which routes will you and he travel?

Other than Hikari Hayatoku and Puratto Kodama,
I do not think of discounts on a Shinkansen charge or on a Green-class charge as to Tokaido / San'yo Shinkansen.

A JR round-trip discount (10 percent on base fares) is offered for everyone
to travel longer than 600 operation kilometers per way taking the same route on the way and the way back.
A JR student discount (20 percent on base fares) is offered for a student of a designated school
to travel longer than 100 operation kilometers one on way.
These discounts can be given together.

Omotenashi,

He is in Okinawa and will be joining us in Tokyo. Our plan is to stay some nights in Tokyo and some in Kyoto and do side trips from these locations, including a day trip to Hiroshima from Kyoto.

Since we fly from the US mid next week, there is not a lot of time for optimization of costs.

Thanks for your advice about student discounts; I have asked him to check with his school about paperwork that might be needed.