Thread: NR Japan Domestic

I have just come back from Japan! Ask me whatever you need.
Have you read about the Japan Rail Pass? it's a pass that allows you to ride any train of the Japan Rail system in Japan. I bought it for one week.
I used it from Tokyo to Nikko, then Tokyo to Takayama, then Kanazawa, then Kioto, Hiroshima, and then back to Kioto and Tokyo.
Maybe you want to standby for Nagoya aswell, because is very close to Osaka.
Anyway, as I was flying from Europe, I flew Air France both legs as it offered good chances. I used a ZED tkt issued for Japan Airlines, but Air France accepted the ticket without problems.
We had the opportunity of leaving Japan from Osaka or Nagoya as it is closer from Kioto, but as we had friends that paid for the revenue tickets and they were departing from Tokyo, we came back to the capital and spent there one more day and night.

I traveled to NRT last year. Out of ATL nonstop on DL and back on AA to DFW. No problems with either flights....but it was in October! Anyway, I can't be of much help on flights for you, but I do second the idea of a Japan Rail Pass. THe shinkansen are amazing and, while the pass was about as much as our nonrev tkts were, it is worth it, and the travel experience is calming, efficient and fast! You do have to purchase the pass in advance here in the US, though, so plan ahead!

Hiroshima was a highlight of the trip, but I would try to get out and see as much as possible, a day of bike riding through Kyoto was an unexpected delight for me.

Happy to help as I can!

-Marty

Just in case anyone wants to know...

I just returned from Japan and figured I would share my experience. I purchased round trip ZL ZED tickets for ORD-NRT and NRT-HIJ on NH. IBEX operates the Hiroshima flight (and a few other domestics out of NRT for NH.) Since my company gave me the coupons I figured I was good to go, but upon arriving at NRT I found out that IBEX does not participate in the ZED program - or at least not with US Airways. ANA thankfully honored the tickets out of HND instead. There is an express bus from NRT to HND that takes about an hour and costs 3000 yen one way. Once at HND, it was very simple - just walked up to the ticket desk and they issued me a boarding pass from the original NRT-HIJ coupon. Domestically, ANA was very familiar and very helpful with the ZED program. Amazingly enough, it was my departure out of NRT that seemed to be more of an issue. I had a ZED coupon on NH for NRT-ORD and NH would not honor the coupon for anywhere other than ORD. The NH NRT-ORD flight was full so I thought I was in big trouble. Thankfully enough, UA had space available on their flight and hooked me up. UA rolled my name on the standby lists for all of their flights to N. America and AC put me on the list for one of their flights as well. CO, DL/NW and AA all required ZM tickets which I did not posses, but they were all very friendly and would have put me on the list for anywhere in N. America as well. Looking back on it, I think that next time around I will carry both ZM and ZL tickets so I can list on all of the major N. American flights.

One question, though - has anyone ever had trouble with carriers refusing to allow a destination change within the same zonal fare? I thought that I had read that traveling in the same or lower zone was permitted on ZED tickets, so I was a little disappointed about that - but maybe I just read that part incorrectly.

I was thinking of doing a trip to Japan on my way to Philippines but Japan is expensive. Any experience with Kyoto? I hear that's a pretty charming place. What about the hotel situation? Rail to Kyoto? I wanted to check out Fuji but its a long way from NRT.

I visited Japan last October. I really enjoyed Kyoto - especially the Gion district. When you go, make sure to go to a Teppanyaki restaurant and have Wagyu beef (assuming you're not a vegetarian) - choose the grade higher than Kobe (I think it was called Matsunashi). It was really expensive, but was by far the best beef I've ever had...would travel back to Japan just for that! Oh, and have their crepes! Sorry, about all the food references, but the food in Japan was AMAZING! We took the shinkansen, which was also really expensive, but a nice way to get around. Mt. Fuji can be done as a day trip from Tokyo. We also visited Hakone on the same day trip, which was enjoyable - you can have black hard boiled eggs (made in the hot springs), which are said to extend your life by 7 years per egg.

Kyoto is a great place to visit as is the Fuji area. Rail to Kyoto from Tokyo is extremely easy. Just get yourself to Tokyo Station (Bus or Rail) and then buy yourself a ticket on the shinkansen - my guess is that the one way shinkansen fare will be somewhere around $100 USD. If you can get by in Japanese, or if you have a friend there, ask them to find you a package deal (these are really popular in Japan) where the hotel and shinkansen will be a combined purchase. If you do this, you can often times get the hotel included for very little difference to the straight shinkansen fare - but this could be difficult if you have limited ability in Japanese.

Kyoto is also very close to Osaka or Kansai Airport (KIX.) If you can do your flights through there, that would make the Kyoto portion extremely easy. Especially if it is just for a few days.

Hakone is a very popular hot spring area/lake near Fuji, but Fuji will definitely take some leg work to accomplish on a brief visit. If you stay at one of the nicer hot spring hotels in Hakone, you will be able to find a bus service included from some of the suburban Tokyo stations. That equates to getting into downtown Tokyo, transferring to a local train to get closer to the Fuji area, then taking the resort bus. If you do all of the research and book all of the stuff in advance it is easier than it sounds - and it can be quite an experience, too.

Hope that helps.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Migflanker @ Sep 20 2009, 11:45 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Hi Hiropaja, thanks for the update. What was the highlight of your trip?

Interesting you mentioned "trouble with carriers refusing to allow destination change within the same zonal fare." Nick just asked the same question. http://nonrev.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=2753
This doesn&#39;t sound good.[/b]

The highlight for me was being back in Hiroshima. I lived there for many years and think it is an absolutely amazing place. Miyajima is always beautiful, Lopez Okonomiyaki is amazingly delicious, and the Carp (Hiroshima Baseball) are always fun to watch (even if they lose.) If you need tips on things to do in Hiroshima let me know and I&#39;ll try to help you out. Hiroshima is filled with great restaurants, great sights, and great people.