Step-by-Step Purchase of the Japan Rail Pass
Some time ago we talked about “Riding the Rail” in Japan, meaning –>get a Japan Rail Pass if you want to travel around and see more than just Tokyo!! Remember, we visted hyperdia.com to see examples of travel routes we could take and how much those trips would cost? And remember how shocked we were to discover the average cost of a jaunt from Tokyo to somewhere like Nara or Kyoto could cost around $300.00 roundtrip? Yep. But then, remember how relieved we were when we discovered the Japan Rail Pass that can only be purchased outside Japan by non-nationals (citizens who are not nationals of Japan) and can be used on a majority of the trains, shinkansen, subways, metros, buses (and even some ferries) run by the Japan Rail Group? Yeah, you remember … the Japan Rail Pass that saves us a significant amount of travel dollars because it’s a discounted pass for unlimited travel on covered Japan Rail transportation?
Yeah, that Japan Rail Pass. You remember now? Well, I bought mine!!! Sure did. Bought it through STA Travel and if you click on the “read more” link at the end of this sentence, I’ll lay out the process for you step-by-step.
First, I turned on my computer. Sorry, just being a little facetious. It’s in my nature. Actually I started out by going to the STA Travel website and hunting around a little bit for the Japanese Rail page. A few screens past the explanations and all, I got this …
I opted same as last year for the “2nd class” adult pass, told the system how many adult tickets I wanted to purchase, and got this…
Here, I just filled in my name and stuff. It was easy and took only a few seconds because I still remember my name from yesterday. I mean, it’s the same as it always is, right?. [Innocently evil grin goes here]. I did, however, have to remember to plug both my first and middle name into the first name field since it appears that way on my passport. So, after that I got this…
Here’s my “is this what you want to buy?” page. Looked correct to me so I clicked the “continue” button and got this little ditty…
Now, I’d come this far and though I’ve been known to have had some committment issues in the past (I’m working on that), I was gung-ho to click the checkout button and pay for my purchase. That’s it. I plugged in my credit card information, got my last confirmation and the pass should be on my doorstep the day after tomorrow.
Simple. Easy. One task down, only a few more to go before I’m in Japan riding the rail with my bento and my must-have English-Japanese translative dictionary.
(BTW, if you want to know how to choose the best Japanese dictionary, check out the Choosing the Best Japanese Dictionary article on eduFire by Brett Fyfield of Rainbowhill blog fame.
