The Japan Rail Pass WILL CHANGE : Updated JR Pass Guide You NEED To SEE!
Unfortunately, it looks like the Japan Rail Pass long streak of being Japan’s most cost effective way to travel could be coming to an end. With the MASSIVE price increases, will this pass still be worth it? In this video, we will cover how much you need to use this pass for it to be worth it, and other alternatives to consider should you decide to not buy the Japan Rail Pass anymore.
Buy your JR Pass HERE: https://click.jrpass.com/aff_c?offer_id=19&aff_id=1299
JRpass.com comprehensive guide: https://www.jrpass.com/blog/expert-guide-to-regional-japan-rail-passes
JR EAST: https://jreast.travel/jreastpass/
JR WEST: https://www.westjr.co.jp/global/en/ticket/pass/
DISCORD: https://discord.gg/MDVXzGCBZT
THATCH PROFILE (SEE ALL MY SAVED SPOTS PUBLICLY):
https://share.thatch.co/Fsfs
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1) Japan Rail Pass Will Change
2) Essential Japan Guide
3) Japan Travel
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0:00 – 0:49 Intro
0:49 – 1:52 JR Pass News In Depth
1:52 – 2:42 Why the price increase?
2:42 – 4:35 Is the JR Pass Still Worth It??
4:35 – 6:00 Alternatives to the JR Pass
24 Comments
Only the JR Rail Pass covers the Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka Tokaido Shinkansen route, there are no regional pass, and this train line has become way too crowded with tourists even if a train leaves every 10 minutes. So they may be trying to decongest this route..and also decongest Kyoto by encouraging tourists to visit other regions in Japan.. like for example, the Tohoku Region..which badly needs tourists as only 1% goes there, while other cities like Kyoto is suffering from severe over tourism more than the infrastructure can handle..Currently there is no word yet whether regional passes like JR East Pass, JR East South Hokkaido rail pass, JR Tohoku South Hokkaido, JR Hokkaido Pass, JR Kansai Pass etc price will increase..as if their prices remain attractive.. some tourist may shift from visiting Kyoto from Tokyo and go to the Tohoku Region instead. I don't buy the JR rail pass since I am long done with Kyoto and Osaka, as I visit Japan twice a year and already been to more than 25 times, so now going to the least tourist visited region…I am more traveling North to either Tohoku Region or Hokkaido..in which this year I am focusing on Aomori where less tourists visit.. So the pass I am always getting is either the JR East Pass, JR East South Hokkaido rail pass, JR Tohoku South Hokkaido, JR Hokkaido Pass regional passes…pretty good deal since I get to ride the green Hayabusa E6 series.. which is even faster than Nozomi trains…They give pretty deal since this train line is never congested, and even if you have big luggage, no need to reserve a special seat unlike when you are taking the JR Takaido line.. and I am looking forward for this train line to extend all the way to Sapporo, as now it only reaches Hakodate as its last station.
As an alternative to bullet trains, I also fly domestic to Aomori and Sapporo… Both ANA and JAL has a deal for foreign tourists holding an international round flight ticket to Japan from any airline..to compete with JR Rail Pass… JAL called it Japan Explorer pass.. which I used 2 weeks ago to fly domestic round trip from Haneda to Misawa, Aomori for a discounted rate. But with the JR Rail Pass cost increasing to prohibitive levels… not sure if the airlines will stop the domestic flight deals as well, as the JR rail pass will no longer compete with them…
I’m going from Tokyo to Kyoto staying 1 day then going from Kyoto to Osaka staying there two days then going back to Tokyo
If I get the Jr pass will all this be covered and do I have to book a spot in advance?
Was not really worth it before if you actually planned ahead, now it’s just comical how expensive it is
Guess I’ll be getting the JR Pass one last time before Oct to hit up Hiroshima, Sendai, and Sapporo.
Wow that’s a lot 😢
Access to the Nozomi and Mizuho would make it worth it without a doubt. Granted, the price hike will make me reconsider buying in the future. The only upside is it will force me to actually plan out my travels in detail.
Maybe more tourists are using the JR Pass and demand is causing the price increase along with the other factors mentioned.
I think the government wants to tidy up the amount of travelers using the JR pass , less traveler's means more seats available, On my trip I noticed people sometimes couldn't book seats on the train they wanted , happened to me too
Harrrrbbbb 😢 I don’t know if I’ll be able to get mine at the current price as a voucher in August to use in November. I hope so, but they could change that policy at any time. I’d probably have to take something out of my itinerary. Who knows! And Kyoto is doing away with their tourist bus/train passes too. SIGH
They should add a 3 day or 5 day option
The jr pass is obsolete after October
The sky is falling down!! 😅
Hopefully, i can come again during the summer one last time before the price hikes 😅
Greetings from korea 🇰🇷 😊❤
been to japan 7 times with the last time just last month for cherry blossoms. with detailed planning i never had to purchase jr pass but used the regional passes instead like nagano niigata pass (twice). my upcoming trip i intend to use the tohoku pass.
seeing the comments here, i may consider the japan explorer pass using JAL to aomori instead and forgo the jr pass.
This is such a bummer! It's like they're trying to reduce tourism.
Happy I did my 2 week trip before the price hike 😅
Thanks for the update. I wonder if you can buy a JR Pass now with the old price and be able to use them beyond October. My trip is in beginning of October so I HOPE🙏🏼it doesn’t affect it😂
I hope they don't increase the region pass as well.I m already sad about this news already.
What's the fuss?! 2-weeks car rental in Maui or major cities in the USA are more expensive than the 2-weeks JR pass new price.
Hi great video! First time going to Japan with wife and kids. What would you suggest us getting? We are only going to Tokyo & Osaka. Would it be the Region Pass? Or is there another kind?
Ouch, that's a little over $150 increase across the board as of today's exchange rate. It's worth mentioning that the JR pass doesn't cover most inner city lines, since they're mostly managed by local municipalities, so in order to get the most out of the pass, you'd have to travel quite a bit as Harb stated.
This comes with a major downside that is possibly overlooked: time. To get your money's worth, you'd have to travel to several cities; a perk in-of itself to be sure, but time is a precious resource, so committing so much of it to simple movement is a detriment, unless that's how you plan your visit. More than ever travelers will need to plan their itineraries in minuscule detail. IMO I think with so many financial factors in play, 2 stand out as for this move:
1) Cash in on visiting tourists.
2) Boost alternative methods of travel: overnight busses, local flights, etc.
I for one had already decided to forego purchasing the pass as it wouldn't pay for itself during my visit, but in a future visit, who knows. We'll have to wait and see.
Cheers!
After reading several posts about the matter on YouTube from other creators, an operator from JR Hokkaido said one reason they wanted to raise the price was to reduce the crowding on the Tokaido shinkansen.
As we all know, the majority of tourists visiting mainly go on the "golden route" which is Tokyo to Kyoto/Osaka/Nara and back to Tokyo. The Hikari train only runs twice an hour and are jammed full of tourists. If JR allows Nozomi and Mizuho, this would definitely reduce congestion and encourage traveling further down to Hiroshima and Kyushu region.
However, I think a 69% price increase is a bit steep. Don't get me wrong, I'm not against the price increase. I'm all for it especially with the weak yen and current economic conditions. But, if one of the main reasons for this drastic price hike is to reduce congestion on the Tokaido route, they can easily control access to the line to certain hours with folks using the JR Pass.
I wouldn't mind something like a 25%-30% price hike and implementing traveling restrictions on the Tokaido line for anyone traveling with the JR Pass during the hours of first train (and this includes all trains Nozoimi, Hikari, Kodama) until say noon/1pm/2pm, etc or call it heavy traffic hours or business hours. This also encourages using the pass on other routes (Tohoku, Hokkaido, Sanyo, Joetsu, etc) as those lines don't even come near the heavy traffic of the Tokaido line.
As for the green pass increase, it's 100% not worth it for any duration. At the current rate, the green car was somewhat worth it but now the drastic increase makes it 100% unattractive. I would consider a green pass if they installed Gran Class on every shinkansen line and required an added fee lol
on our lsat trip we flew in to osaka that saved us the first leg of the trip and at the the same time we saved around $100 flying in to osaka, so this is an awsome option if you plan your trip will allow you to save time and money, we did not buy the pass beacuse we did not want to rush our time and what we saved on the flight on our last shinkansen nagoya to tokyo we went on the green car to see and experince that part of out trip.
Thanks bro. I probably fly into Osaka then take the train to Tokyo and fly out there.
I just googled a return flight with Peach from Narita to Fukuoka May 12 to 15..145 CAD.
I think they will be slowly eliminating the JR pass and make them travel like locals.