JR Pass and Booking Fees

Hi again!

There are a couple of fees that make up the total amount of a ticket price.

For instance let's have a look at the route Tokyo - Kyoto. The total price for the journey is ¥ 13,020, as you can see this is made up of different fares. The Fare (¥ 7,980), the Seat Fee (¥ 4,730) and the Seat reservation fee (¥ 310).

The Fare is what you pay for the distance traveled.

The Seat Fee is the fee for special trains, such as bullet trains and limited express trains, local trains don't require a seat fee.

The reservation fee, is what you pay if you want to reserve a seat in advance. This way you are always sure of a seat and don't have to line up on the station before the train arrived.

All these fees are covered by the JR Pass, so you don't have to worry about them. You can take reserved or non-reserved seats with the JR Pass so you can just hop on the train if you feel like it.

I hope this helps!
Daniel