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Green pass on Golden week

Nacho
Nacho
about 6 years ago
3 responses

Hi everyone. I am traveling the 1st of May to Tokyo. I will travel the same day to kanazawa, then the 3rd to kyoto, the 6th to Hiroshima, the 8 th to Hakone, the 9th to Tokyo and the final days to Kamakura and Nikko.
Since I discovered I am traveling in the middle of Golden week, I am wondering about the best way to travel the first days to kanazawa and kyoto at least. I think I would take the green car pass because I think I would have more chances to book the first trains. I have read that green cars usually have available seats because Japanese people prefer to buy Nozomi tickets if they are traveling in first class in long ways.
In the case is impossible the 1st of may to reserve seats (I know you recommend 2-4 days in advance but is impossible for me), with the green car pass I also could book ordinary seats or try to be lucky in non-reserved cars, is that true?
I would appreciate any other idea to get to kanazawa the first day of my trip. Thank you in advance.

avatar
Daniel-san
18835 posts
about 6 years ago
Expert

Hi there,

Its a bit of a difficult question to answer, as it all depends on what other travelers do. In general I would not buy Green Class just for the chance of having seats. When you buy a Green Class seat, you will want to travel in Green Class. That said, traveling green can be very nice and way more relaxed and you can skip some of the traveling crowds this way.

A better approach would be to be flexible in what train you take. You can however use a normal seat as well with the Green Pass if you are in such a position.

Hope this helps,
Daniel

Nacho
Nacho
3 posts
about 6 years ago

Thanks Daniel. In my case i would buy Green Class just for having seats. The problem is that even buying it is not assured that i would find seats. I have seen that travelling from tokyo to Kanazawa and from Kanazawa to Kyoto there arent Nozomi trains, and all trains available for that trip are included in JR Pass, so my first theory to take advantage of first class seats not usually booked is not good.

In other hand, the first trip would be the 1st of May, in the middle of the week, so probably it would be less crowded than on 28/29 April or 2/3 May, because at least in my country people usually book trains in the start of a holiday week or during the free days, not in the middle. But is just my though, what do you think?

Take the grren class pass just for the comfort, i have read that is not worth it, because the seats are almost the same than ordinaries (because ordinaries seats are very good so is difficult to imporove).

Regards,
Nacho

avatar
Daniel-san
18835 posts
about 6 years ago
Expert

That's an interesting comment on Green Car travel. Personally I prefer it a 100% better but others may experience it differently. A metaphor I would use is that Green Class really puts the Cherry on top of an already very delicious cake :)

In terms of traffic, at the start of Golden Week most people leave the cities, especially Tokyo while near the end people return. Traveling in the different direction is often much easier.

Hope this helps,
Daniel

Nacho
Nacho
3 posts
almost 6 years ago

Hi Daniel. I am thinking in other option but i dont know the exact cost of it. In case i use an ordinary JRPASS but in one or two trips i prefer to reserve in Green Class, would it be possible?

I have read about it and depending on the forum i have seen two answers talking about the cost of it, for example for a trip between Tokyo and Kanazawa, the cost of an ordinary seat is: Fare:¥ 7,340 Seat Fee:¥ 6,980. Total:¥ 14,320. With JRPASS it will be free, but if i want to pay for a green class:

  1. I pay the total fee of a green Seat Fee:¥ 11,410 OR
  2. I pay the difference between an ordinay Seat Fee and a green Seat Fee: ¥ 11,410 - ¥ 6,980 = ¥ 4,430

The difference as you see is very big.
Thank you in advance.

Regards,
Nacho


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