Guam/ Japan 2016- it's almost here!

Well it’s getting close! Tomorrow evening I start the great adventure known as Guam /Japan 2016!  After work tomorrow I will take a train up to Boston to spend the night near Logan airport. I have a super early flight Friday morning and spending the night near the airport made the most sense. The trains from Providence don’t run (or at least very frequently) that early in the morning and parking up at Logan is insane. So it ended up being easier and cheaper to just spend the night, order room service and take the free shuttle to the terminal in the morning!

My flight from Boston to Detroit will take slightly over 2 hours, then when I land I plan to have a lovely breakfast before boarding the flight straight from Detroit to Tokyo. And yes, it is a long, long, long flight!  Once I get to Tokyo (Saturday afternoon), I booked a room for the night at the only hotel in Tokyo Narita airport. You see, I am doing the Guam part of the trip first. Tokyo Narita (NRT) is approximately 45 minutes outside the city proper. It didn’t make sense to go into the city to just spend the night. There are limited flights to Guam so my flight leaves the next morning (Sunday). Now it sounds like a strange way to plan things, but there really is a method to my madness. You see, by spending the night in the Tokyo Narita hotel, I can acclimate to the time change, shower and rest at the hotel, get a good night’s sleep and a decent meal. And..because I have several hours when I get into Narita (land about 4pm local time) I can activate my JR pass, get some Yen out of an ATM, check out where the NEX train into the city boards, and all that logistical stuff that you need to do. This way, when I travel back to Tokyo, I will have some things taken care of and be more familiar with things and can hit the ground running!

Speaking of hitting the ground… To make things a little more interesting I managed to fall last Saturday down a flight of stairs at my newly purchased condo (don’t even ask). I managed to injure my knee and have been babying it all week in anticipation of my upcoming trip. I’ll live but it will make things a bit more slow moving. Good news is that the Guam part of the trip is going to be relaxation and hanging with the family.

So after more than 6 months of planning the trip is nearly here! Can’t wait to see Asia (or at least part of Asia)!  Stay tuned, more to come!!!

Information about the Japan Rail (JR) pass

Hello all!

Well it has been a while since the last travel blog post and since I am knee deep in planning for the upcoming Japan/Guam travel trip- thought I would provide some updates.  

I have been researching the Japan Rail (or JR) pass and wanted to share my findings. The JR is a rail pass that can be used on most of the regional Japan trains, even the bullet trains (note-not the city subway systems). It is a cost saving overall pass that has some restrictions you have to meet in order to purchase/use it.

Some of the restrictions include

            You have to not be a Japanese resident

            You must be a foreign traveler visiting on a travel visa (not work related)

The cost of course varies based on the length of the pass, adult or child, etc. Basically if you are traveling one way from Tokyo to Kyoto then you won’t save any money because the pass is more expensive than a one -way ticket. However, if you are doing a round trip Tokyo-Kyoto-Tokyo (or any other city) then the pass pretty much pays for itself. Add in the train to/from the airport and Tokyo proper and you are saving money. Not to mention that you simply don’t have to buy separate tickets every time you travel. And if you decide to change your itinerary and want to take a random trip to another city during your stay you don’t have to worry about buying a ticket at the station.

Note that there is a time limit for the pass. You can buy a 7 day, 14 day or 21 day pass and they are priced accordingly. Last update on the 7 day pass price is Green car (which is like business class) is 38,880 YEN and Ordinary (coach class) is 29,110 YEN (adult prices).  My handy conversion iPhone app says 38,880 is about $365.73 USD and 29,110 is $274.39 USD.  I’m ordinary, BTW. (note shameless Apple plug).

The process:

1.     You contact an agent (or certain Japanese airlines if your air tickets are booked with them) to purchase a voucher BEFORE you get to Japan. This is important

2.     They confirm that you meet the necessary eligibility requirements and issue you the pass.

a.     I contacted an agency listed on the website and they are based in NYC but have offices all over the country (one in Boston).

                                                                 i.     You can only order the voucher 3 months prior to your usage/activation of the pass

                                                                ii.     They can ship it to you if you live far from one of their offices (FedEx charge of $12USD).

3.     When you get to Japan you need to take the voucher to the JR pass desk. There are apparently ones in every major train station and at the airports –once you pass through customs and passport control.

4.     When you activate the pass at the JR pass desk, you need to tell them what day you want it activated on

a.     For example, I am traveling to Tokyo spending the night at an airport hotel and flying to Guam the next day. I will return to Japan on 11-25 and will use my pass then. Since I will be buying a 7 -day pass I will ask them to activate it for 11-25. See? Easy Peasy!

5.     Once the pass is activated I am told that if you know the train you will be traveling on, you can then reserve your seat. Not all trains have seat reservations-so that would be the point to ask the JR Pass desk representative to confirm. I know that the bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto takes about 3 hours or so and I sure want to have a reserved seat (I do so love my window seats!).

6.     One other thing. There are several “bullet “trains in Japan. The JR pass is NOT valid for the fastest of the bullet trains (the NOZOMI and MIZUHO trains). My understanding is that these trains just make fewer stops and the other bullet trains are just as fast and IMO worth the price savings to add on 15 minutes or so of your time. Your mileage may vary.

Now for the Hamilton reference!

I called the agency to confirm most of this information and asked about the shipping charge instead of going to Boston to pick up the ticket. It is $12 and for me, it would cost that much to take a train/T to the location, find time to get off work for the only day I am in the city (Tuesday) and lug around my work laptop and crap while doing so. Just mail the bad boy. I did however, tell the agent that if he could somehow get me Hamilton tickets I would manage to pick up the JR pass in person in NYC. We both got a good laugh over that because everyone knows that it is probably easier to fly to the moon and open a Starbucks than to get Hamilton tickets.   (note shameless Hamilton plug).

So there you have it! All about how to buy and use the JR pass in Japan. Inquiring minds want to know!!!!!

http://www.japanrailpass.net/en/about_jrp.html

http://www.hisgo.com/us/contents/index.aspx?lang=en