green car upgrade

Hi there,

It is possible to buy a Green seat while you travel the normal JR-Pass, however you have to pay the full green seat charge. For instance the normal price for a green seat between Tokyo and Kyoto is ¥ 18,160 (Fare:¥ 7,980 Seat Fee:¥ 10,180). The fare will be covered by the JR Pass but not the seat fee, meaning that for this route your would have to pay ¥ 10,180. This is not very economic, if you do this twice you would pay the same price as buying the 21-day Green pass in advance.

The best thing to do is to make seat reservations some days in advance once you are in Japan. This can be done by simply showing your JR Pass at any ticket counter at any station within Japan. Additionally try to keep traveling in weekends to a minimum. By doing the above I think you won't find it hard at all to travel around.

Hope this helps
-Daniel

Thank you for your informative reply.
So if we reserve seats a few days in advance we will be sure of having a seat on the train we want with an ordinary lass?
Are all carriages on all Jr trains air-conditioned?
Thanks for helping us.

Yes if you reserve seats a couple of days in advance you will almost always be sure of seats.
But even if seats are sold out you can still board the train and sit in on of the non reserved seats so you never have to worry about not being able to ride a train.

Yes all trains are Air Conditioned, which is great as Japan can be very sweaty during summer.

Enjoy your trip,
-Daniel