Best way to pay Kansai-Kanto travel

Hi everyone, I started planning a trip with my family for Japan in March and I am really confused about which pass to buy or if it's just better to get a IC card and pay as we go.

Here is the itinerary:
21/3 Land in Tokyo
22/3 Tokyo - Osaka
23/3 Universal Studios
24/3 Kobe (lunch) - Himeji
25/3 Nara & Uji
26/3 Kinosaki Onsen
27/3 Kyoto
28/3 Kyoto-Arashiyama
29/3 Kyoto - Tokyo
30/3 - 3/4 Explore Tokyo

Since the Tokyo-Kyoto round trip is more than 7 days apart, I figured the JR Pass is not worth it. But I'm quite confused about the best way to go for the Kanto region. There are SO many different passes that include different lines and services. I read that the Kansai WIDE Pass could pay off for Kyoto-Osaka-Kinosaki etc. What about exploring Osaka or Kyoto itself? What's the best way to get around Osaka/Kyoto and which pass is best value if it's for exploring within the city?

Thank you in advance!!

I would just pay for one way tickets for Tokyo to Kyoto, and return. Since as you said, you are away from Tokyo for 8 days You can get them as cheap as 10,000 yen using a discount ticket company called Platt Kodama (easy google search). The train takes an extra 60 minutes, but worth it for a 3500 yen savings each way.

Kinosaki is 4640 yen each way. So yes a 5 day 9000 yen Kansai wide pass makes sense. You can access Nara and Kobe also with it. And use the other 2 days left for other travels. Just put your five most expensive JR train days in that 5 day period.

Use an IC card for all other travels like trams, buses , subway and private railways.

For Kanto, you haven't provided any itinerary info, so no answer can be given.

Thanks hakata14 for the info and tips!

For Tokyo, we'll be staying at a friend's house (near Saitama) and would mostly visit the main attractions within Tokyo - Akihabara, Meiji Jingu, Tsukiji, Sensōji etc, plus one day at Disneyland. I guess also IC card is the best option here? Are there any metro passes that are good value for Tokyo?

Hi!

Actually the Kodama is more like 80 minutes longer than a Hikari and 100 minutes longer than a Nozomi. There are also fewer Kodama per day and I always find myself wishing there were more Hikari and there are 2 of those an hour.

Honestly, if it were me, as soon as you arrive at NRT on 3/21 I would have booked a discount airfare from NRT to KIX, since you can do that from as low as 4300 yen to 10,000 or so yen, which are all still cheaper than a shinkansen and you're already at NRT to boot! That way you can start your trip in Osaka on 3/21.

For Tokyo, there are subway passes: http://www.tokyometro.jp/en/ticket/value/travel/

You need to figure out if you will be using the subway enough to make any worthwhile. I know in the past I've not. But there are plenty of other people on this forum who have.

There is a JR Wide Pass, but you need to be taking the shinkansen enough to make it worthwhile since it's 10,000 yen for 3 days which is a lot. I guess if your friend lived near Omiya Station and you wanted to use the shinknansen to commute to Tokyo or maybe if they lived near Kumagaya and you were using the shinkansen from there? I don't know, I suspect most people in Saitama use more local trains. and the 10,000 yen or ~3,333 per day for 3 days might be really hard. You'd have to run the numbers on Hyperdia.

Good luck!

I would have booked a discount airfare from NRT to KIX, since you can do that from as low as 4300 yen to 10,000 or so yen

As for the domestic flight between Tokyo and Osaka, LCCs tend to fly between Narita and Kansai while legacy airlines (JAL and ANA) uses mainly Haneda and Itami, which are more convenient. In addition to the LCC flights you might consider JAL and ANA flights which are around 8,000 yen and still cheaper than Shinkansen, if you do not use Japan Rail Pass.

Oh silly me, I havenft actually checked the flights since I was so keen on shinkansen. Thanks for the idea! Will check if therefs discount flights for Narita - Osaka.

Thanks everyone for your input :)

On 3/29 when you head back to Tokyo from Kyoto I would probably use the shinkansen, and if I was paying out of pocket, yes, my time of shortening the trip from 4 hours to 2 hours and 20 minutes is worth the 3000 yen. I probably wouldn't fly just because Kyoto is further from KIX (and Itami) and unless you are flying into Haneda, you then have to get from NRT into Tokyo.

On 3/21 when you first arrive, you're already in NRT so transferring to a discount airline makes perfect sense since to take the shinkansen you need to spend around an hour getting to Tokyo Station in the first place.

Hope this helps!

60 minutes of my time is worth more than 3500yen, particularly on holiday, but each to their own.

Shortening a long train ride if your kids are small or have short attention spans is particularly beneficial. Japanese kids tend to be docile and well behaved - not all of them, but most. It can be uncomfortable for Western parents if their kids are persistently enthusiastic and excitable in a Japanese environment. Japanese public transport usage is usually a quiet affair.

Be aware that any time savings on shorter flights over rail usually vanish when you factor in the trip to the airport and the faff of boarding. For longer journeys use discounted flights for speed.

As a general rule, passes save you money if you do a lot and move around a lot in a short space of time. The cheaper passes for specific areas, which may be borderline on basic savings, may come with extra discounts on elective spending in shops and eateries or just make life easier. The JR Passes, multiplied by family numbers, are not cheap, so you have to sit down and cost out what you are doing. The savings may not be worth the information overload.

If you do buy a pass, it may restrict you should you change your mind on what you want to do, or if the weather interferes with your plans.

If you factor in the check in time, flight time, luggage pickup and train ride into Osaka, that adds up to 4 hours. That's the exact same time it will take to ride the NEX to Shinagawa and catch the Nozomi Shinkansen to Osaka. Based on my 2 minutes of looking, it could save you 60,000 Y or more to fly vs train, so that really adds up if there are multiple people.

I agree that it makes less sense on the way back. Kyoto to Tokyo is only 2.5 hours Shinkansen. If you flew, you'd be talking over an hour to get to the airport, and you'd have to arrive an hour early for check-in, then 1.5hr flight, 30 minutes baggage, and 1 hour back into Tokyo. So that's 5+ hours probably. Might as well take the bus at that point!