JR east pass

hi everyone,

I'm going to Japan on holiday in november, and will mostly be staying in tokyo.However,i'm considering going to Sendai (to visit a friend) for about 3days, so i was wondering whether the non-consecutive 4day JR East Pass would be worthwhile or not?Just for the round trip?I could also just get a full 10 day pass(my trip is about 11days only) but am worried that after spending Y25000 on that,I will end up spending on lines that aren't covered by the Pass,which would be a great waste I think. If I don't use any pass at all,what would be the best alternatives?
I appreciate any opinions on this matter:) Thank you:)

JR East Pass: 20,000 yen
Regular round trip ticket (reserved seat): around 21,000 yen
Regular round trip ticket (unreserved seat): 20,160 yen

So, yes, the JR East Pass pays off, especially if you can use it on some other JR rides besides the shinkansen trip.

thanks for your response Uji.
i'm aware of the great saving the pass provides,its just that there are other options such as night buses that are cheaper,though slower, than the shinkansen, so i was worried that i would incur the expense of a pass,but then when i am in tokyo i will use even more money on other railways because they are more convenient to use than the pass ones. But,you are much more experienced in travelling Japan than me,so do you think this situation is unlikely,or won't occur often enough for me to not buy the pass?

Thanks again for your advice:)

Yes, there are buses, which are cheaper:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5151.html

Note also that in this November, there will be available a special 3-day vesrion of the JR East Pass for only 10,000 yen:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2361_02.html

thanks for your responses:)
I'm curious about using the JR pass to book shinkansen tickets in advance.If i were to book a seat on a shinkansen,could i book a round-trip ticket/2 1-way tickets using the pass,and then if the day I use the second shinkansen ticket is after the pass has expired,is that ticket still valid? a complicated situation i'm keen to avoid haha, but I'm curious:)
thanks for any responses:)

The reserved tickets you book with a JR pass are different than one someone books without a JR pass. Therefore, at every gate you have to show your ticket AND JR pass to the attendant to be let through.

Thus, even if the second return ticket has been booked already, they will not let you past the gate with an expired JR pass.

They probably won't issue you the ticket in the first place anyways since the days on your pass won't match with the ticket date.

Anyhow, all I can say as a foreigner is, don't try to cheat the system (it's probably quite easy to do in trusting Japan), we may all eventually lose the deep discounts in the future! Enjoy your trip!

1.Name of product: JR East Pass Special
2.Date of sales: Tuesday, 1 September 2009 - Tuesday, 1 December 2009
(Overseas sales of the exchange order will be through Friday, 20 Nov.)
3.Period for use: Tuesday, 1 September 2009 - Thursday, 31 December 2009
(Exchange of the exchange order through Tuesday, 1 Dec. 2009)
4.Price: 10,000 yen for adults / 5,000 yen for children ages 6 through 11
(There is no youth rate. Children 12 and above are the adult rate.
Children under age 6 travel free but if parents want a reserved seat for
a child under 6 they will have to purchase a child-rate pass.)
5.Purchase points: The same locations as at present for the standard JR East Pass.
(The pass can also be purchased through travel agents overseas and via
the foreign language versions of the JR East home page at
http://www.jreast.co.jp/e. )

Is it allowable to buy two 3-day
passes per person and use them one after another?

Rob,
I am sure there won't be any problem getting two 3-day passes. I used two 7-day passes in the past, and no problem.