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Reservations during rush hour

Hitomi1949
Hitomi1949
about 8 years ago
2 responses

We are family of five arriving NRT on Thursday, April 7 at 2:40pm.

Our plan is to clear customs, collect baggage, exchange Japan Rail Pass.

Make 5:30pm reservation to take Hikari Shinkansen to Osaka.
Take Narita Express to Shinagawa Station. Does this sound like a good (doable) plan?

Main question is: since this will be “rush hour” will it be difficult (or impossible) to make reservation for family of 5…..is it advisable to purchase Green Card Rail Pass? Would the Green Card Rail Pass increase chances to reserve 5 seats at rush hour?

We plan to return on Shinkansen (Osaka to Tokyo) on April 11.
Any advice will be greatly appreciated!

avatar
Daniel-san
18835 posts
about 8 years ago
Expert

Hi there,

The Narita Express is only for customers going to and from the airport and therefor not really impacted by rush hour.

The Hikari has plenty of seats too, I would advise reserving it once you arrive at Narita Airport and I don't expect any problems if you do so then.

Green seat would not really give you a better chance for seats but would allow you to travel a lot more relaxed.

Hope this helps,
Daniel

sseijiis
sseijiis
30 posts
about 8 years ago

Hi,
Last year, I arrived in Narita Terminal 2 at 14:20 pm by AA. In the arrivals hall I went down one floor escalator and found Midori Mado, which changed the pass and made the reservation for Kyoto. In this same floor a few meters is the place to embark at 15:47 PM at Narita EX train.
We use the Green Pass for the same reasons, but is not necessary. At the Shinagawa station, you go up one floor and a few meters already down on another platform to catch the Hikari. We arrived in Kyoto before 8 PM. As Osaka is a station before ...
Good trip

Hitomi1949
Hitomi1949
2 posts
about 8 years ago

Thank you to both Daniel and sseijiis. Both very helpful.


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