Should I buy JR 7 day pass?

Hi
My itenary is -
Arrive Tokyo
Tokyo City 2 days
Travel Tokyo to Hakone
Hakone 3 days
Travel Hakone to Kyoto
Kyoto 3 days
Travel Kyoto to Tokyo and take flight

Pls suggest if 7 day JR pass is cost effective ?
Thanks.

A Japan Rail Pass and regular tickets will cost almost the same. If you can include the airport train on the last day into the 7-day coverage, the rail pass may be slightly cheaper. But it also limits you to Hikari and Kodama trains along the Tokaido Shinkansen.

Hi Pranish,

As Uji said, buying single tickets will cost you the same as a JR Pass. But I think that this pass is quite convenient because of two reasons:

1. If you only took an airport transport each way and did not leave Tokyo (and used the metro and bus each day), this would cost around \13.730, which is less than the 7-day JR Pass (\29.110).

2. It saves you the hassle of needing to buy tickets every time you use a train or any other form of public transport. Instead, you flash your JR Pass to gain access.

This is just my personal opinion. So searching on Google about more advantages of the Japan Rail Pass, I found this: https://www.jrailpass.com/faq/when-is-the-japan-rail-pass-worth-it. Maybe it can help you.

Have fun and a safe trip!

I found this: https://www.jrailpass.com/faq/when-is-the-japan-rail-pass-worth-it.

Note that the website of the above link is never a JR website.

I like having a rail pass if the costs are even close at all. With a rail pass you can wake up in the morning and decide to do something different and know that it will most likely be covered. It takes rail cost out of the equation (for MOST destinations). If you plan to pay out of pocket, then your plans will often have to be more rigid.

For example, on my last trip I had planned for a day in Kamakura, but there was a heavy wind warning. I checked weather in Nagano and it was perfect 21F and sunny with no wind. Had a wonderful day in Matsumoto instead. Normally that is about a 15000 yen trip from Tokyo, but since I had a rail pass it cost the same as a day in Kamakura.

>>"1. If you only took an airport transport each way and did not leave Tokyo (and used the metro and bus each day), this would cost around \13.730, which is less than the 7-day JR Pass (\29.110)."<<

How on earth is that "convenient"? If you're just in and around Tokyo, a JR Pass makes no sense at all, particularly as you can't use it on the subway.

>>"2. It saves you the hassle of needing to buy tickets every time you use a train or any other form of public transport. Instead, you flash your JR Pass to gain access."<<

If you're talking about long-distance train travel, you get a JR Pass IF - and only IF - it will save you money. It has nothing to do with convenience. If you're talking about getting around Tokyo (or any other city), then get an IC card (either Suica or Pasmo in Tokyo) and use that so there's no need "to buy tickets every time".

https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2359_003.html
https://www.jreast.co.jp/e/pass/suica.html

I assume the post is just a thinly-disguised advertisement to the website to which you provided a link?

Pranish - a few thoughts on your itinerary.

You donft say which Tokyo airport (Narita or Haneda) you will be arriving at/departing from. Depending on the airport and where youfre staying in Tokyo, there are various ways of getting into town, though itfs usually the train or bus \ it just depends which airport and where to.

For Hakone, a lot of people do it as a day trip from Tokyo or as an overnight stay (or perhaps 2 nights). Nothing wrong with 3 nights but itfs more than most visitors would spend there. Also be aware that Hakone suffered some damage in the recent typhoon. In particular, one of the local rail bridges and some of the related line was damaged and is not operating. You can find information here -

https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5200.html

There are primarily two ways of getting to Hakone - either (a) the (JR) Shinkansen (from Tokyo, Shinagawa or Yokohama) to Odawars and then the local Odakyu train from there or (b) the Odakyu line from Shinjuku (including, for an additional cost, its so-called eRomance Carf). You may be interested in the Hakone Fee pass, which you can either purchase at Odawara or at Shinjuku, if coming from there.

https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2358_008.html

Whether or not a 7 day JR Pass will save you any money is hard to say - it depends somewhat on the above questions (which airport, where youfre staying etc.) and whether a 7 day Pass can be made to gfith your itinerary. If you do decide to get a Pass, you can find a list of agents here -

http://www.japanrailpass.net/en/purchase.html#step_01

My advice would be to use an agent located in your home country, preferably in your city (if there is one). The 7 day JR Pass costs \29,650 so check the price (in your local currency) that any agent wants to charge you to make sure it is reasonable.

I would only get a JR Pass if it will save you money. Donft buy it for gconvenienceh. With a JR Pass, you can travel in an unreserved seat (if available) or you can make seat reservations for free. If youfre going to make a seat reservation (and we always have) itfs no more or less difficult to do that than it is to go and buy a ticket - so cost, not convenience, should be the deciding factor. It is certainly true that one of the (potentially) great benefits of a Pass is it lets you decide to go somewhere else on the spur of the moment. However, given you have only 8 or 9 days and youfre planning to spend those days in Tokyo, Hakone and Kyoto, I doubt that flexibility is of value to you, as you donft really have the time to go to other places.

2. It saves you the hassle of needing to buy tickets every time you use a train or any other form of public transport. Instead, you flash your JR Pass to gain access.
??? What a most bizarre statement. The JR pass only works with JR and not "any other form of public transport". Try that on a local bus or a non-JR train (many) and they will still demand payment.