Japan’s JR Pass Has CHANGED For WORSE* | Updates & Alternatives You MUST KNOW!
The JR Pass just got some more updates and unfortunately… it’s not good. The company hasn’t done much in releasing good news for the price hikes. Not only that, but the region passes are getting an increase in price TOO! Today, we will look at what exactly is going on, why it’s happening, and what solutions are out there so you can still navigate Japan without breaking the bank!
JOIN THE COMMUNITY & Support the Channel BELOW! I REALLY Appreciate You For Your Support!
DISCORD: https://discord.gg/MDVXzGCBZT
Get your JAPAN WIFI HERE: https://p.sakuramobile.jp/idevaffiliate.php?id=216
Buy your JR Pass HERE: https://click.jrpass.com/aff_c?offer_id=19&aff_id=1299
THATCH PROFILE (SEE ALL MY SAVED SPOTS PUBLICLY):
https://share.thatch.co/Fsfs
Willer Bus Express Pass: https://willerexpress.com/st/3/en/pc/buspass/
Shinkansen JR Pass Calculator: https://www.japan-guide.com/railpass/
Seishun 18 Kippu: https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2362.html
Region Pass Price Increases & JR Pass Update: https://www.japan-guide.com/news/japan-rail-pass-cost-increase.html
—————————————————————————————————————————
1) Suica Card
2) JR Pass
3) Japan Travel
4) Tokyo Japan
—————————————————————————————————————————
ツ HOPE YOU GUYS ENJOY THIS VIDEO!
👉 If you enjoy this video, Please like and share it.
👉 Don’t forget to subscribe to this channel and press the bell 🔔 for more updates.
⌨ Tell us your opinion in the comments below and what video you want next.
—————————————————————————————————————————
🌟Thank you for watching this video, click the “SUBSCRIBE” button and press the “BELL”
icon to stay connected with this channel.
#japan #tokyo #suica #japantravel #japan2023 #tourism #japanopen #japanopen2023
0:00 – 0:56 Intro
0:56 – 1:36 JR Pass April Recap
1:36 – 2:16 New JR Pass Updates
2:16 – 3:41 My Thoughts On New JR Pass
3:41 – 4:10 Region Passes Price Hike
4:10 – 4:43 Why Is This Happening?
4:43 – 5:16 JR Pass Calculator
5:16 – 6:22 Alternative (1) Domestic Flights
6:22 – 7:50 (2) Willer Bus Express Pass
7:50 – 9:19 (3) Seishun 18 Kippu
9:19 – 9:31 Closing Thoughts
9:31 – 9:43 Outro
5:00 – 6:01 (3.5) JR Pass Alternatives
6:01 – 7:29 (4) Extreme Weather & Dangers
7:29 – 8:50 (5) Over Tourism is Back?
8:50 – 9:08 Outro
42 Comments
Damnn didn't think they'll hike it up that much 😢
Thanks for the update 👍🏻
Oh my gosh, good thing I’m going to Japan before this whole fiasco.
Will the price increases for regional passes also affect local Japanese citizens and those that remain within Japan? I would understand the need to increase tourism revenue somehow someway beyond the increased hotel taxes/fees, but wouldn't this deter local and regional travels as well, especially when the salary aren't really going to increase in a significant way?
Peach air is looking better all the time .. and I hate flying
Honestly, perhaps they ought to (have) make/made two new JR Pass tiers: those upper tiers would be standard and Green Car plus Nozomi/Mizuho. Those upper tiers would cost more than even the October prices, while the price of the non-Nozomi tiers ought to have raised by less than the October prices (maybe something like 40,000 yen for 7-day standard car).
What’s sad is the reduced tourism to all the lesser known places. The JRPass I have now will probably be my last ever and I’ve bought 5. Lol
If I’ve already bought my JRpass before the price hike and got my voucher. Do you think I’ll have to pay the difference when I swap my voucher for the pass in October?
I'm so glad my trip is in August, so I don't have to deal with this BS.
The Hokuriku Arc Pass is not among those who are going to have the price change in this October (atleast for now).
Thanks for the info! I'll be going to Japan on October so I'll make use of the 90 days window of JR pass.
I’m going before October button
But the added options to ride Nozomi and Mizuho are subjected to a further payment…. I frankly see NO "added benefit", but JUST a price increase which will restrict a lot more the affordability of the JR Pass…
I honestly don't know whether this change will bring more money to the companies or not, given the sharp decrease of passes sold in future…. this is really a LOT MORE that a simple price re-touch….😅
So the future of high speed train travel is planes or buses. What an amazing time we live in
For those looking to go on the Golden Route, fly into KIX (Kansai) and travel to Osaka/Kyoto/Nara locally, then take a one way shinkansen train ride to Tokyo. Saves a lot of money.
Always appreciate these as I intend to purchase the pass either way just for the convenience.
I flew peach to and from hokkaido.
The JR pass after price hike is WELL worth buying with my plans, thankfully I can grab it before the hike though as I'm going in Fall so it makes it so much cheaper to travel that way. I'm glad you and a few other tuber's have been keeping up with this whole thing cause I kept hearing people say it's just the regional going up in Oct and the nation wide pass was delayed to March '24 and it was getting confusing. Now I just need to figure out the Pasmo/Suica thing since my trip is longer than the Welcome Suica card time frame and I don't have apple for digital wallet Suica xD
Damn!!! That was a huge jump!
I’m leaving Tokyo today after a month and a half in Japan. Bought 2 JR Passes while I was here. Trust me when I say that using Hikari and Sakura to Fukuoka is much better. And it made sense to use it for me especially if you add commuting into the mix. But I’m definitely not buying the JR Pass next time. Probably going to take low cost carriers and rent cars next time I’m here.
So glad my trip is in November-December!
JR is just trying to make up for revenue lost during the pandemic …. I think this is really because JNTO promoted so much foreign tourism
Thanks for the update!! It's really unfortunate that the government is promoting the use of their fastest trains as a way to smooth things over when it's clear the benefit comes with an added caveat. It's also a huge bummer that it seems all transportation will become more expensive very soon.
Weighing it all, it still really depends on how long you're in the country and how much you want to travel by train. For a two week trip that's just Tokyo and Kyoto, I would say it's not worth it. If you're like me and want to spend 3-4wks in the country, traveling the landscape and getting to places quickly, a justification can still be made for the pass.
I mentioned earlier that I would still get the pass even though it adds more time to save up; and I'll hold to that for now. I still see it as transportation expenses have been upfront and I've invested in my peace of mind. The government is probably banking on people like me 😂😭
One thing I forgot to ask, and this is also for anyone in the comments, was there an official reason given for the price hike and the amount? Did they say they thought it would encourage people to make use of the pass BECAUSE of the cost?
New price hikes
No more physical subway cards in Japan
Inflation….
The sky is falling down
The sky is falling down
Greetings from korea 🇰🇷 😊❤
Gonna be there this weekend 😊
I would probably go for the Nozoimi with the added fee just to say I did it once. After that, ehhhh
I heard Waffle House are raising their prices too…
Going in october 1st till 31th,its either paying alot for a ride trough Japan and Tokyo or walking trough Tokyo without using the subway
There was heaps of Peach Air when we flew into KIX this week. Not great to be promoting such a poor environment option as flying with the increase
Dang man, this is so helpful. Thank you.
I don't know if you've mentioned this in previous videos or not, but we did the SmartEX app when traveling along the Tokaido and San'yo Shinkansen routes back in January. Took a bit getting used to at first, but by securing the "Hayatoku" fares a few days in advance between the major cities, we saved a lot of yen, and in the end, our trips were a few thousand yen short of justifying a rail pass for each of us.
Some fares that we took advantage of (All subject to availability):
-14,120 yen each for the "Hayatoku Family Nozomi" fare from Tokyo to Kyoto. Enabled us to take the fastest bullet train trip in the Green Car at a savings of around 4,700 yen each. (The ordinary cars would cost 11,020 yen each under this arrangement)
-11,200 yen each on the "Hayatoku Green Kodama" fare from Kyoto to Tokyo. Very relaxing for a trip on the all-stations Kodama. We even got out of the train while it stopped at Shin-Fuji for several minutes and got a photo of Mount Fuji through the platform windows. I also ran out to the platform vending machines at some of the stops for additional drinks. The savings compared to the regular green car fare is about 7,300 yen. (The ordinary cars would cost 9,980 yen each under this arrangement)
Note that these fares require a minimum of 2 passengers. Though solo travelers can also take advantage of some discounted fares as well.
I paid the JR pass for the November trip yesterday. I got the green car ticket again. I did a 3 week trip in March. And going 2 time, 4 weeks now. And I think it’s pay off well. – I probably get the at the new price also, for the next trip. I’m going all over, so it is worth it. I’m flying from Sapporo to Okinawa on day 22 wen the pass expires, and flying back to Tokyo 27. So fingers crossed for 5 days with sun and 25 degrees :p (and not a fall typhoon) Staying the last days in Yokohama. Is just like max 300yen to the main station.
But! If you just are one part, just have that part covered.
Rute: Tokyo-Kyoto-Osaka-Ehime-Hiroshima- Tokyo – Sendai – Yamagata- Sendai- Sapporo- Furano – Otaru – Sapporo
OkinawaTokyo. And 4 flights in total:) 🎉🤌Unless youre going to fukuoka all the way to hokkaido the jr pass wasnt worth it even before the hike… Are they increasing the single ticket prices?
Cheers Harb, in your next video can you find the cheapest domestic carriers and hire car companies 😅
Im doing my research now but nothing beats local knowledge.
As always, amazing and insightful video, thanks Harb!
I understand inflation and the need to generate more revenue, especially during a weak currency situation and a booming tourism rise; but this price hike is bonkers under the best of circumstances.
Assuming you purchase a 2-week pass at the new price (around $670 at an exchange rate of 120:1), and assuming the prices for a regular round trip on shinkansen from Tokyo to Kyoto would cost around $250, you'd have to make this trip 3 times over for the pass to pay for itself, which in of itself translates to around 15 hours worth of precious time spent ONLY RIDING TRAINS!
Unless you're planning to see as much of Japan as possible during a limited time window AND you don't mind spending almost half your time in the country just riding around instead of actually sight-seeing, then yeah, JR pass is a definitive no-go for me.
Cheers!
たかっ😨
I'm surprised the survey says only up to 12 % will still buy the rail pass😮that's lower than I would of ever thought but after a year or so I believe people coming to Japan for the first time will buy it easily as it will just be the new norm , it was bound to happen I mean how long has it been a bargain, another interesting point is the Hokkaido pass will only get a 5% increase that is telling me they want you to explore that area , but it will still cost money to fly there if course, thanks for keeping up up to date Alex
Also I think I would like to try Willer Bus or Kippu pass now , that could so be a whole video on its own 😅 so cheap 🇯🇵
Harb, do you think you could show us some things on how to get a check if you have multiple people in your party and everyone is paying separately? Or if so on how to tell the waitress/server? I havent found much content around that type of thing. Thank you again for the amazing content!~
"Worthiness" is subjective. What I get with the JR pass is more than just a train ride from point A to Z.
I got really lucky since I'm going to Japan in September so I don't have to worry about the price hike until next time I visit. Thanks for the update!
Like always keeping us up to date with everything japan, we flew in to osaka and that is the best option to start the trip no more Jr pass then osaka it the best option to fly in to and save some cash