RetireJapan

It’d love to hear from you guys some tips for traveling without breaking the bank.

I tend to travel domestically more than internationally. For booking hotels and rental cars I find Jalan to be the best here. Plus I can use my Loppi points there to get a bit of a price reduction.

One of the most expensive parts of renting a car is the daily insurance fee. But every once and a while you can find a campaign for free insurance, which greatly reduces the cost of the rental car.

If you’re feeling adventurous (and don’t mind long train rides) three times a year JR offers the Seishun 18 kippu. It’s a five day (non-consecutive) train pass that can be used only on the local and rapid trains, but for about 12,000 yen for 5 days of unlimited travel it’s an excellent deal. I’ve found a ton of great local places using this.

A lot of cities will have local one day transportation passes that allow you to use the trams and buses (and sometimes ferries) all you want. You’ll quickly save a ton of money buying these, and it will increase your exploration range quite a bit.

Camping in the mountains is fairly popular here, but don’t forget about beach camping too. It’s super cheap (or usually free) and these are honestly some of my best memories here in Japan. Getting a few friends together, setting up tents, getting a little beach fire going. You won’t have to pay for a hotel, and getting out in the wild is extremely satisfying (at least for me).

As far as I know, you just pretty much wrote down every tip

For booking hotels I use either Jalan, Agoda or Booking, since those 3 tend to have the cheaper deals.

For the rental car, I think that the only solution is to use those comparison websites and look up for the best deal. For the gas/diesel, fill up your tank if you pass through a Costco and have their subscription. Also make use of the ETC if you have to use the highway (you get a discount if you travel after the midnight/weekends).

Camping sites in Japan for some reason are quite expensive for what they offer, and the ones I been to so far you also have to pay for the shower...so I too love to beach camping. Just don't forget to check if they allow you to get those campfires going.

For international travelling I tend to use either Booking or Airbnb for the hotels, and Skyscanner/Momondo to look for the cheapest flight.

One thing I learned for local trips is that "tours" are oftentimes better than booking the hotel and plane/shinkansen separately. Don't be turned off by the "tour" name, there's no tour guide or anything. Its just a package of accomodation and travel.
There's a bunch of sites that does tour comparisons so you can look through all the different options.

Daily Getaways is coming back next month.

Basically it is a chance to get travel points on the cheap.

The best deals are Hyatt (only the luckiest score a package before they sell out) and Choice.

Marriott Gift cards are also decent for those who stay at their properties. In the past I didn't book them as I thought they were expensive, but during Go To I stayed quite a few times for ¥10,000 or so.

The Choice points usually sell during the Getaway at .5 cents each, and since 8,000-12,000 points can get you a room for 2 in Tokyo with breakfast, it is a pretty nice deal. There are also good uses of points in Scandinavia, and on occasion transfers to United Airlines or Alaska can make sense.

There is an expiration of 18 months, but that can be extended if you buy or transfer points (doesn't need to be much).

https://www.ustravel.org/programs/daily-getaways

I'm sure most people are aware, but Japan Rail Pass is now available to Foreign Residents as well as visitors.

https://www.jreast.co.jp/e/pdf/20201001_press_e.pdf

https://www.westjr.co.jp/global/en/ticket/

https://www.jreast.co.jp/multi/en/pass/eastpass_t.html

https://www.timeout.com/tokyo/news/jr-e ... nts-090321

https://www.tokyoweekender.com/2020/10/ ... rail-pass/

Tkydon wrote: ↑Tue Sep 21, 2021 5:10 am I'm sure most people are aware, but Japan Rail Pass is now available to Foreign Residents as well as visitors.

https://www.jreast.co.jp/e/pdf/20201001_press_e.pdf

https://www.westjr.co.jp/global/en/ticket/

https://www.jreast.co.jp/multi/en/pass/eastpass_t.html

https://www.timeout.com/tokyo/news/jr-e ... nts-090321

https://www.tokyoweekender.com/2020/10/ ... rail-pass/

Could be a good deal to travel within a specific region. I thought about using it for Tokyo - the west and then realized that unlike the original Rail Pass it is not applicable across the nation for us.

beanhead wrote: ↑Wed Sep 22, 2021 12:44 am Could be a good deal to travel within a specific region. I thought about using it for Tokyo - the west and then realized that unlike the original Rail Pass it is not applicable across the nation for us.

Unfortunately, I don't think the 'original Rail Pass' is applicable to anyone any longer...

That's what privatization and separation of Operating Entities does...

https://japanrailpass.net/en/

There is no longer a National JR, and so no longer an Operating-Entity-spanning National Passport...

Tkydon wrote: ↑Wed Sep 22, 2021 3:29 am
Unfortunately, I don't think the 'original Rail Pass' is applicable to anyone any longer...

That's what privatization and separation of Operating Entities does...

https://japanrailpass.net/en/

There is no longer a National JR, and so no longer an Operating-Entity-spanning National Passport...

From the page you provided above, it looks like the Japan Rail Pass is unchanged:

JAPAN RAIL PASS, a joint offering of the six companies comprising the Japan Railways Group (JR Group), is the economical and convenient means of traveling throughout Japan by rail.

Yeah, the new passes available in country for residents are not the same as the original Japan Rail Pass (which is still available, but can't be used as anyone that qualifies for it isn't allowed to enter the country)

I stand corrected.

I contacted JR directly from the Japan Rail Pass website, and this was their response:

Quote

The JAPAN RAIL PASS is a special fare ticket available only to travelers visiting
Japan from foreign countries for sightseeing.
If you do not meet the qualifications for using the JAPAN RAIL PASS, you cannot
pick it up even if you could purchase it online.
However, JR companies have various rail passes Foreign Residents of Japan can
purchase easily.
You can check them on the websites from the following URLs.

-Hokkaido https://www.jrhokkaido.co.jp/global/eng ... index.html
-Kanto/Tohoku https://www.jreast.co.jp/multi/en/pass/index.html
-Tokai/Shinkansen https://global.jr-central.co.jp/en/onlinebooking/
-Kansai https://www.westjr.co.jp/global/en/ticket/pass/
-Shikoku https://shikoku-railwaytrip.com/railpass.html
-Kyushu http://www.jrkyushu.co.jp/english/railp ... lpass.html

End Quote.

and

Quote

We are sorry we have no idea why that information appeared in the magazine,
though the JR Group has never opened the JRP to Foreign Residents of Japan before.
As in the email we sent, we have been posting the information provided on our
website since the beginning.
Please visit the following website for correct information.
https://japanrailpass.net/en/about_jrp.html#anchor02

End Quote


Therefore, the representations in Time-Out, Tokyo Weekender, and other magazines was misleading...