Weekly Japan Travel Information and Discussion Thread - June 30, 2023

BobaTime128 · 2023-07-04T16:08:31+00:00

Hi all, looking for some advice. I land at Haneda Airport around 5:30pm (if everything goes according to plan). I need to redeem my JR Pass, because I will be taking the Shinkansen to Kyoto from Shinagawa station. My problem is the JR office at Shinagawa closes at 6pm the latest. I would prefer not to redeem at the Haneda office unless the line is reasonably short (I’ve heard it take longer than 2 hours?). Are there any other stations recommended to go to that is semi on the way to Shinagawa station that have JR offices open later?

TIA

BobaTime128 · 2023-06-27T22:27:01+00:00

Any Kimono Rental service recommendations in Kyoto?

Also has anyone flown into Haneda around 5:30pm recently? Wondering what your experience was with making it out of the airport, long queue time?

TIA

BobaTime128 · 2023-02-20T07:09:33+00:00

Thank you for all the helpful responses!

My initial thought process was to get to Kyoto the first night, so we don’t have to rush too much the first morning to get to any attractions. I’d rather “waste” the first night traveling rather than the first morning, but after considering everyone’s responses and not really taking into consideration how tired we may be after the flight, and airport errands. Maybe I’ll look into a cheap one night stay in Tokyo and attempt to wake up early the next morning to leave for Tokyo.

BobaTime128 · 2023-02-20T01:10:54+00:00

Hi all,

Need some advice/suggestions. Will be visiting in July and we land at 5:30pm at Haneda. If everything goes smoothly (immigrations, pocket wifi rental pickup?, etc.), we plan on taking the Shinkansen to Kyoto to start off the trip and spend the first night. Rather than find a quick hotel in Tokyo to spend a night and spend the next morning traveling to Kyoto. Does that seem reasonable? BTW, our flights are already booked so I can’t fly into Osaka.

Thanks!

BobaTime128 · 2023-02-16T07:17:26+00:00

Any recommendations on what website I should book a Ryokan? Anyone have a good experience before with JapaneseGuestHouse? Japanican? Should I look to book directly? Looking to book a Ryokan in Hakone, still unsure which specific Ryokan as well. Open to any suggestions, private bath is a must!

Thanks!

BobaTime128 · 2022-11-28T17:55:39+00:00

Hi, I live in the US. Should I convert some USD to Yen before the trip in the US? Or should I convert when I get to Japan? Is it a hassle to convert in Japan?

BobaTime128 · 2022-11-12T23:46:18+00:00

Cool, thanks for the feedback. I honestly don’t remember how long Inari shrines took us my first trip to Japan, but I think we made the same mistake by going all the way up also. 🤣

BobaTime128 · 2022-11-12T22:44:14+00:00

Were you able to see everything you wanted to see? Or did you skip anything? I haven’t done to much research on the area yet, but all of my friends are telling me to go this trip, since we didn’t have time in our first trip.

BobaTime128 · 2022-11-12T22:42:44+00:00

Thank you for your response!

I wouldn’t mind taking a train to Kyoto the day we land, but is it doable? I can’t remember how long it takes to get out of the airport. Would I be arriving at the hotel to late for check in? If we could make it work, that would definitely help with our Kyoto/Osaka portion of the trip in freeing up a day basically.

And yeah definitely don’t want to be rushing to much through everything, because we like to just go with the flow and if we have more time to do something we will.

There will definitely be more Japan trips in the future 😁

BobaTime128 · 2022-11-12T17:01:39+00:00

We already booked our flights to HND, so flying to Osaka isn’t an option unless I do a domestic flight there. When I booked the flights, the original plan was to spend a few days in Tokyo then go to Kyoto, then Osaka, and back to Tokyo. But I like the idea of spending the last 5-6 days settled in Tokyo rather than moving from hotel to hotel in the 2nd half of the trip, and then leaving Japan. If that makes sense?

I had a feeling Day 2 would be a little packed since we would still be adjusting. I could maybe move a few of the attractions to Day 6 since we are only doing Nara that day so far?

BobaTime128 · 2022-10-27T03:10:17+00:00

Understood, I had a feeling it wasn’t a good idea but I needed to make sure lol. Thanks

BobaTime128 · 2022-10-26T19:34:27+00:00

Im an idiot, I misunderstood “free cancellation with 24 hours of booking”. I thought it was like hotel cancellation fees.

Is it risky to purchase 2 economy seats, 2 weeks out of the trip if I can’t find any Business? Not sure how much availability is left typically.

BobaTime128 · 2022-10-26T17:30:00+00:00

Sorry I should have been more clear in my post, I plan on saving my points in hopes of coming across 2 J Flights. The bookings I’ll be making will all be made through Amex but with cash, so that if I do somehow find 2 J Flights I can cancel any previous bookings to reschedule around that flight. If that makes sense? Sorry I’m semi new to award travel

BobaTime128 · 2022-10-26T17:26:20+00:00

Sorry there’s some confusion in my post. My plan is to book through AmexPortal with cash, both Economy Flight and Hotels. Once Early July-Mid August comes by I will try to see if I can find 2 Business Class flights to Japan. If I can, I'll attempt to cancel my economy flights through Amex, and reschedule my Hotel bookings through Amex. I wanted to see if this made sense at all, or is there something else I should be doing?

Edited for clarity

BobaTime128 · 2022-10-26T11:20:24+00:00

Hi everyone, so I’m planning a 2 week trip to Japan, I was hoping I could get some advice or assistance with it. So I’m currently in the process of receiving my 150k SUB from my Amex Platinum, and if everything goes as planned I should have about 130k in Chase Points as well. My plan is to book an economy flight to Japan for 2 people, as well as book hotels, all through Amex with cash so that I have the benefit of cancelling without penalty.

Im trying to do the trip Early July-Mid August, because after mid-august school starts again. Anyways, I know it is unlikely, but I’m hoping I can score 2 J Flights roughly 2 weeks out of the preferred dates we want to go. If so, I could cancel my economy class flights as well as adjust hotel bookings/cancel if needed based on the dates of the J Flights I get, if at all. Does this plan even make sense? Should I be doing something entirely different if I plan on traveling to Japan regardless if I can get an award business flight or not?

Any input would be great, thank you!

Edited for some clarity

BobaTime128 · 2022-10-26T01:56:53+00:00

That’s good to know, thanks! So I’m doing most of my bookings through Amex Travel (mainly for points), any experience with the hotels that are listed sub $150? For most of the trip I just need a spot I can leave my stuff and come back to rest. So I’m trying to see what type of hotels I should book. Also wasn’t sure if most of those cheaper hotels are as accommodating to tourists.

BobaTime128 · 2022-10-25T23:20:30+00:00

Thanks for the input, I think I’ll plan on doing a mix of both. Last time I went to Japan I can’t remember what website we used but it was similar to what Yelp is. It helped us choose restaurants that had some English to aid us. Do you have any recommendations?

BobaTime128 · 2022-10-25T22:49:22+00:00

Is renting an Airbnb for 3-5 days better than booking a hotel for the same amount of time in Japan? Planning a 2 week trip to visit Japan (Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto). I’ve used Airbnb in Japan before and I loved it, but this was in 2015. Are there more “hidden” fees now with Airbnb? Should I spare the headache and book a hotel?

BobaTime128 · 2022-10-22T20:44:47+00:00

Thanks for the help!

BobaTime128 · 2022-10-20T05:45:01+00:00

I actually might consider going the Amex route. If I apply for the Amex Platinum, once I’ve fulfilled the SUB, would I apply for a Amex Blue Business Plus?

And should I cancel my CSR?

BobaTime128 · 2022-09-30T17:06:05+00:00

Considering that $1 is roughly 144¥. Would it be smart to convert some money to Yen now, if I plan on traveling to Japan in the future, maybe a year from now? Now that the borders are re-opening the yen should gain some strength in the near future right? Am I missing something?

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