Shinkansen Hayabusa Reservation

4 of us will be travelling Shin-Hakodate to Tokyo on Monday. Planning for the 9:31am train, but we are not in a rush, so the 10:49 wouldn't be the end of the world.

We have JR East/South Hokkaido rail passes, but we are right now in the Niseko area so not near a JR Travel Centre to either make a reservation in person, or pick up an online reservation.

We are unsure how big a risk it will be to arrive at Shin-Hakodate (via local train) 20 minutes before the Shinkansen departs and attempt to book reserved seats then. If there is a non-zero chance of the train being full, we will probably make another day trip by rental car to Sapporo this weekend (we made one to buy our passes last week) and make the reservations.

Any advise would be appreciated, thanks.

Still plenty of available seats now, so the odds of it booking out are fairly low (can never be zero, though).

Thanks. Is there any way to check seat availability on my own so I can monitor it?

Also, if we do decide to drive to Sapporo to collect seat reservations, do all 4 people need to be there? Or if one of us shows up with the 4x Rail pass and 4x passports is that acceptable?

Thanks. Is there any way to check seat availability on my own so I can monitor it?

Just look on the online reservation service (requires registration). https://www.eki-net.com/pc/jreast-shinkansen-reservation/English/wb/co...

Also, if we do decide to drive to Sapporo to collect seat reservations, do all 4 people need to be there? Or if one of us shows up with the 4x Rail pass and 4x passports is that acceptable?

Not sure, but recall that every person (except children under 16) is required by law to have their passport with them at all times.

No worry bc Hokkaido Shinkansen HAYABUSA will not be full at that date.

However, it is a waste of time to go to Hakodate via Sapporo, bc it is clockwise(detour).
http://www.niseko-ta.jp/index.php?id=316
http://www2.jrhokkaido.co.jp/global/pdf/e-route_map.pdf

So you already searched, take local train to Oshamanbe then LtdEx to ShinHakodateHokuto is the best,
you can book reserved seats for Shinkansen at Oshambanbe station, but not enough time,
so you should book at ShinHakodateHokuto station.

However, if you miss this early morning train,
it will be via Sapporo bc there are no same local train for Oshambanbe until 12:52.
http://www.hyperdia.com/en/

So if you want to reach in Tokyo before sunset,
you should sleep early last night or change accommodation in Hakodate ASAP.

I use http://www1.jr.cyberstation.ne.jp/csws/Vacancy.do for checking seat availability.
Hayabusa on Monday 25th - Ordinary class has many vacancies, green class less than 20.

Only one person need to front up with the passes to make a reservation. Some ticket offices actually have signs stating one person per group to avoid crowding.