Japan Rail Pass

Hi,

I will be in Japan this Nov for 10 days.
Touch down at Kansai Airport.
The places I plan to visit are:

Osaka to Kanazawa (Ltd Exp Haruka/Thunderbird)

Takayama to Osaka (Ltd Exp (Wide view)/Shinkansen)

Osaka to Okayama (Shinkansen)

Kyoto (day pass)

As I do not plan to buy Japan Rail Pass, hence I would like to know is any of the JR mentioned above is solely for "RESERVED SEATS ONLY". Please advise. Thanks much.

http://www.jr-odekake.net/en/jwrp/kansai_wide.html
add Tsuruga - Kanazwa.

http://www.hyperdia.com/en/

Thanks Nana.

Am I right to say that with the JR West Rail Pass, my trip from Kansai Airport to Kanazawa is as follows:

Kansai-airport Exp Haruka (non-reserved seat) to Kyoto.
From Kyoto I continue with Ltd Exp Thunder Bird (non-reserved seat) to Kanazawa. Will pay the different from Tsuruga to Kanazawa.

However, I can not use this pass as i will be in this area for 6 days.
May consider this pass on the last 4 days of my trip as i will take day trip to Okayama/Kyoto area and Kansai airport for home from Osaka.

'Sanyo Shinkansen' does not appear when i searh on hyperdia engine. but Shinkansen "Sukura, Hikari" appear. Can I ride on this train (Shinkansen Sukura Hirkari) on Ordinary car "non-reserved" seat to Okayama too?

I had make a draft calculation, it will come cheaper if i can just ride on the Ordinary car "Non-reserved seating" for my trip to Kansai/ Kanazawa/ toyama/ Matsumoto/ Osaka) without the 7 days Japan Rail Pass.
The LTD/JR Train I will take are:

LTD. EXP HARUKA
LTD. EXP Thunderbird
SHINKANSEN HIKARI/SUKURA/KODAMA
LTD. EXP (WIDE VIEW) HIDA

Please correct me if I am wrong and your advise, please. Thanks much.

Am I right to say that with the JR West Rail Pass, my trip from Kansai Airport to Kanazawa is as follows:

Kansai-airport Exp Haruka (non-reserved seat) to Kyoto.
From Kyoto I continue with Ltd Exp Thunder Bird (non-reserved seat) to Kanazawa. Will pay the different from Tsuruga to Kanazawa.

Yes.

However, I can not use this pass as i will be in this area for 6 days.

Ok.

May consider this pass on the last 4 days of my trip as i will take day trip to Okayama/Kyoto area and Kansai airport for home from Osaka.

Yes, it should be suitable.

'Sanyo Shinkansen' does not appear when i searh on hyperdia engine. but Shinkansen "Sukura, Hikari" appear. Can I ride on this train (Shinkansen Sukura Hirkari) on Ordinary car "non-reserved" seat to Okayama too?

Yes, the Sanyo Shinkansen is the Shinkansen line from Shin-Osaka to Fukuoka (Hakata Station). Okayama is between these two and is included.
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2018_sanyo.html

You can use any of the Shinkansen between Shin-Osaka and Okayama (this includes Nozomi, Hikari, Kodama, Sakura and Mizuho. Even Nozomi and Mizuho that are not included in Japan Rail Pass can be taken by Kansai Wide Area Pass.).

Just note that you can't use the Shinkansen from Kyoto to Shin-Osaka/Okayama. You would have to use the non-shinkansen JR trains like the JR Special Rapid, or the JR Haruka from Kyoto to Shin-Osaka.

I had make a draft calculation, it will come cheaper if i can just ride on the Ordinary car "Non-reserved seating" for my trip to Kansai/ Kanazawa/ toyama/ Matsumoto/ Osaka)

How are you getting to Matsumoto? Bus?

Enjoy your trip!

can you change the order of distinations?

Day1 Kansai AP/Osaka to Okayama
Day2 Okayama to Kanazawa
Day3 Kanazawa to Takayama
Day4 Takayama to Kyoto
Day5 Kyoto
Day6 Kyoto to Kansai Airport

You can use JR West wide area Pass(7000yen) for day1&2. and JR West pass(2000yen) for day6. Direct bus is available at 4000yen from Takayama to Kyoto.

I think this is the most efficient itinerary.

Thanks GC3,

I will be taking JR to Matsumoto. I am coming from the Alpine route.

May I know what would happen to my ticket (ordinary car non-reserved seat) if i miss one of the connection timing/train?
Example:
0727 Kansai a/p (LTD Exp Haruka 4)
0837 Shin-Osaka (arr track 11/ dep track 12
0846 (LTD EXP Thunderbird 7)
1114 Kanazawa

---------
Thanks by..(Guest),

It is not possible to change the order of my distination to Okayama 1st.

If you are a pass holder. Just make another reservation and ride a later train.

If you are traveling by normal ticket, you can ride on unreserved car of later Thunderbird train on the same day.

Thunderbird's unreserved cars are the last 3 cars(9, 10, 11 or 10, 11 ,12)

Correction;

Thunderbird's unreserved cars are car No. 5,6 and 7.
http://www.jr-odekake.net/train/thunderbird/compo.html

Thanks by..(guest).

I notice that the non-reserved is only 3 car. What would happen if this ticket are sold out. Any standing?

Can I ride the reserved car and pay the different when I arrived at my distination?

You can be standing near the door on the unreserved car, with train ticket and express supplement.

You can't be on board without express supplement, even if the train is full and you don't take a seat.

If you plan to use a rail pass, you make a reservation at JR Kansai Airport station, ride Haruka and Thunderbird.

And move to an unreserved car when Thunderbird arrives at Tsuruga station.

The train conductor will check your ticket when you are travelling from Tsuruga to Kanazawa, and you can(and have to) buy the train ticket and express supplement from the conductor. The price is the same both on the train and at the station ticket office.

Theoretically, other passengers might have the seat ticket of your seat between Tsuruga to Kanazawa.

Thanks K.

With all the advise and inputs, I have decided to get the Japan Rail Pass (7 days) for my trip in Nov.

Thanks to all.

One of the earlier post mentioned to buy a 2 day kansai wide area pass and then followed by a one day kansai area pass. Are foreigners allowed to buy 2 different pass to be used on different days but on the same trip?

Are foreigners allowed to buy 2 different pass to be used on different days but on the same trip?

In general, yes you can combine passes. There are some restrictions on the number of each individual pass if you purchase that pass in Japan, but in general you can pre-purchase multiple copies of the pass outside Japan and have multiple passes for use at multiple times.

examples:-
JR West 1-Day Pass + 7-day JR Pass + JR Hokkaido Pass = OK
7-day JR Pass + JR West 3-day Pass + 21-day JR Pass = OK
Two JR West 1-Day Pass purchased outside Japan = OK
One JR West 1-Day Pass purchased outside Japan + One JR West 1-Day Pass purchased inside Japan = OK
Two JR West 1-Day Pass purchased inside Japan = NOT OK

Hope that helps!

Yes. Thks, its really helpful. Now, I can plan my journey better and ensure I buy the most relevant pass for my trip. Thank you again

Now, I can plan my journey better and ensure I buy the most relevant pass for my trip.

Feel free to post your proposed itinerary if you want some advice on which combination is likely to work best for you. Starting a new thread for that may be best.