
I usually recommend you use the 7-day JR Pass if you make a round trip between Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka because the round trip fare for Tokyo to/from Shin-Osaka is almost the same as the 7-day JR Pass price. But the JR Pass is available for the short term stay tourist only. The residents cannot buy it.
But a new deal “Flex Rail Ticket” has been introduced by JR Tokai Tours. This is available for the residents too. If you are not Japanese but live in Japan as a resident, you can buy this.
I would like to explain to you this new deal “Flex Rail Ticket” in this post.
- What is Flex Rail Ticket?
- Validity period
- Sales period
- Non reserved seat only
- Benefit
- How and where purchasing this ticket
- Type of tickets, prices and details
- Compare with Platt Kodama
- Eligibility
- Condition of use
- Cancellation fee
- Assessment
What is Flex Rail Ticket?
The Flex Rail Ticket is the discounted round trip deal by the Tokaido Shinkansen non reserved seat to Tokyo, Kyoto, Shin-Osaka, Fuji (Mishima) and Hakone (Odawara) from the major stations, such as Tokyo, Shin-Yokohama, Nagoya, Kyoto and Shin-osaka. This deal covers the fastest train “Nozomi” which is not covered by the JR Pass.
Please read the link below to learn more about the Tokaido Shinkansen.
This deal is not available further than Shin-Osaka to west destinations, such as Okayama, Hiroshima and Hakata. The deal is available on the Tokaido Shinkansen segment which is between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka.
Validity period
The Flex Rail Ticket is valid for 7 days. You can take non reserved seats on any Shinkansen trains to go back to the original departure station.
e.g.
If you depart from Tokyo station on September 2nd
You have to go back to Tokyo by September 8th.
9/2 | 9/3 | 9/4 | 9/5 | 9/6 | 9/7 | 9/8 | 9/9 |
Depart | Return Valid | Return Valid | Return Valid | Return Valid | Return Valid | Return Valid | ReturnNOTValid |
Sales period
At this point, the Flex Rail Ticket will be sold until March 25th, 2020. But you cannot use this deal to depart from December 25, 2019 to January 5, 2020.
But if you intend to use this deal in the winter peak period, this deal may not be your best choice. This deal is not available from December 25th to January 5th.
Non reserved seat only
This deal gives you lots of flexibility. But on the other hand, you cannot secure your seat. This is the package plan. Therefore you cannot reserve your seat even if you want to add the fee. If you really want to secure your seat, this deal does not suit your trip plan.
You may find the information about non reserved seats in the link below:
Benefit
The Flex Rail Ticket includes the benefit which you can enjoy your stay in the destination, such as a coupon or a bus ticket. I will show you what kind of benefit is included in each deal later in this post.
How and where purchasing this ticket
I mentioned that the Flex Rail Ticket is sort of a discount ticket. But technically this is not a ticket but a package tour product. You cannot purchase this at a ticket window in JR stations. You have to go to JR Tokai Tours. That is JR Central’s travel agent.
You may find the location of JR Tokai Tours offices in Tokyo, Shinagawa, Shinjuku, Shin-Yokohama, Nagoya, Kyoto and Shin-Osaka in the link below:
You can purchase this ticket even on the departure day. You do not need to purchase it in advance.
e.g
You can purchase the Flex Rail Ticket Kyoto at JR Tokai Tours office in Tokyo station. Right after you got this ticket, you can hop on the Shinkansen for Kyoto.
However the number of tickets is limited. If you have extra time, you may want purchase it in advance.
Hotels in Kyoto
Hotels in Osaka
Hotels in Nagoya
Hotels in Tokyo
Type of tickets, prices and details
As I mentioned above, there are several types of the Flex Rail Tickets. I will show you the products one by one. And also I will compare the price of Flex Rail Tickets and the regular fare. The regular fare is the round trip of the base fare and non reserved seat fee.
Flex Rail Ticket Tokyo
This package includes the round trip to Tokyo by the Shinkansen, non reserved seats and an “Experience Coupon”. You can enjoy one of the designated attractions or meals in Tokyo with this coupon. Please see the official site to find what kind of plan is available with this coupon:
JR Tokai Tours official site – Flex Rail Ticket Experience Coupon in Tokyo
The price is the following:
Departure station | Shin-Osaka | Kyoto | Nagoya |
---|---|---|---|
Adult | 21,800 yen | 21,000 yen | 16,400 yen |
Child (6-11 year) | 12,000 yen | 12,000 yen | 10,000 yen |
The price and the regular fare comparison
The Flex Rail Ticket is cheaper than the regular fare. I will show you how much cheaper between these.
Departure station | Flex Rail Ticket | Regular fare | Your saving |
---|---|---|---|
Shin-Osaka | 21,800 yen | 27,720 yen | 5,920 yen |
Kyoto | 21,000 yen | 26,620 yen | 5,620 yen |
Nagoya | 16,400 yen | 21,120 yen | 4,720 yen |
And this deal includes the coupon. You have a much bigger value than the saving amount.
Flex Rail Ticket Osaka
This package includes the round trip to Shin-Osaka by the Shinkansen non reserved seat and an “Experience Coupon”. You can enjoy one of the designated attractions or meals in Osaka using this coupon. Please see the official site to find what kind of plan is available with this coupon:
JR Tokai Tours official site – Flex Rail Ticket Experience Coupon in Osaka
The price is the following:
Departure station | Tokyo/Shinagawa | Shin-Yokohama | Nagoya |
---|---|---|---|
Adult | 23,200 yen | 22,700 yen | 12,200 yen |
Child (6-11 year) | 13,200 yen | 13,000 yen | 9,000 yen |
The price and the regular fare comparison
The Flex Rail Ticket from Tokyo, Shinagawa and Shin-Yokohama are cheaper than the regular fare. I will show you how much cheaper between these.
Departure station | Flex Rail Ticket | Regular fare | Your saving |
---|---|---|---|
Tokyo/Shinagawa | 23,200 yen | 27,720 yen | 4,520 yen |
Shin-Yokohama | 22,700 yen | 27,080 yen | 4,380 yen |
Nagoya | 12,200 yen | 11,880 yen | -320 yen |
And this deal includes the coupon. You have a much bigger value than the saving amount if you depart from Tokyo, Shinagawa or Shin-Yokohama. Even the departure from Nagoya gives you better deal if you are interested in the coupon.
Flex Rail Ticket Kyoto
This package includes the round trip to Kyoto by the Shinkansen non reserved seat and an “Experience Coupon”. You can enjoy the designated attraction or meal in Kyoto using this coupon. Please see the official site to find what kind of plan is available with this coupon:
JR Tokai Tours official site – Flex Rail Ticket Experience Coupon in Kyoto
The price is the following:
Departure station | Tokyo/Shinagawa | Shin-Yokohama | Nagoya |
---|---|---|---|
Adult | 21,000 yen | 20,500 yen | 10,000 yen |
Child (6-11 year) | 12,000 yen | 11,800 yen | 6,500 yen |
The price and the regular fare comparison
The Flex Rail Ticket is cheaper than the regular fare. I will show you how much cheaper between these.
Departure station | Flex Rail Ticket | Regular fare | Your saving |
---|---|---|---|
Tokyo/Shinagawa | 21,000 yen | 26,620 yen | 5,620 yen |
Shin-Yokohama | 20,500 yen | 25,300 yen | 4,800 yen |
Nagoya | 10,000 yen | 10,340 yen | 340 yen |
And this deal includes the coupon. You have a much bigger value than the saving amount.
Flex Rail Ticket Mt. Fuji _area
This package includes the round trip to Mishima by the Shinkansen non reserved seat, Tokai Bus 1-day ticket and a Mishima Skywalk admission ticket. The Tokai Bus 1-day ticket covers the places surrounding Mishima. You can get the Hakone Pass by Tokai Bus. Please see the official site to find the details about these benefits:
JR Tokai Tours official site – Flex Rail Ticket Special Deal of Mt. Fuji plan
You can view Mt. Fuji from the Mishima Skywalk. But this ticket does not take you to the base of Mt. Fuji, such as Lake Kawaguchi or Lake Ashi. Honestly speaking, I have some difficulty accepting to call this deal “Mt Fuji area”. This deal gives you the round trip to Mishima and sightseeing around Mishima.
The price is the following:
Departure station | Tokyo/Shinagawa | Shin-Yokohama | Nagoya | Kyoto | Shin-Osaka |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adult | 8,000 yen | 7,500 yen | 13,000 yen | 17,500 yen | 18,000 yen |
Child (6-11 year) | 3,800 yen | 3,600 yen | 6,500 yen | 8,500 yen | 9,000 yen |
The price and the regular fare comparison
The Flex Rail Ticket is cheaper than the regular fare from Shin-Osaka, Kyoto and Nagoya. This may be a good deal to visit Mishima. But the price from Tokyo is almost same as the regular fare. The price from Shin-Yokohama, this deal is higher than the regular fare. This deal includes 1-day bus pass and Mishima Skywalk admission. The value may be still better than the regular fare. Meaning the price from Tokyo and Shin-Yokohama aren’t very attractive. I will show you the difference between these.
Departure station | Flex Rail Ticket | Regular fare | Your saving |
---|---|---|---|
Tokyo/Shinagawa | 8,000 yen | 8,140 yen | 140 yen |
Shin-Yokohama | 7,500 yen | 6,900 yen | -600 yen |
Nagoya | 13,000 yen | 15,820 yen | 2,820 yen |
Kyoto | 17,500 yen | 21,360 yen | 3,860 yen |
Shin-Osaka | 18,000 yen | 23,540 yen | 5,540 yen |
Flex Rail Ticket Hakone_area
This package includes the round trip to Odawara by the Shinkansen non reserved seat and 2-day pass for Izu Hakone Bus. You can get most places in Hakone area by this 2-day pass. Please find the link below to find more information about Izu Hakone Bus 2-day pass:
Izu Hakone Bus 2-day pass coverage map
In the link above, there is other deal which is called “Hakone Tabidasuke”. This pass covers Komagatake ropeway, Jukkoku-toge cablecar and lake cruise on Lake Ashi. Izu Hakone Bus 2-day pass covers only bus services. These attractions are not covered but you can get these at the discounted price
Please see the official site to find the detailed information about this benefit:
JR Tokai Tours official site – Flex Rail Ticket Hakone_area
The price is the following:
Departure station | Tokyo/Shinagawa | Shin-Yokohama | Nagoya | Kyoto | Shin-Osaka |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adult | 7,000 yen | 6,500 yen | 14,700 yen | 19,200 yen | 19,700 yen |
Child (6-11 year) | 3,500 yen | 3,300 yen | 7,200 yen | 9,200 yen | 9,700 yen |
The price and the regular fare comparison
The Flex Rail Ticket is cheaper than the regular fare if you leave from Osaka, Kyoto and Nagoya. But if you use this from Tokyo and Yokohama, the prices are not very attractive. Especially Shin-Yokohama departure is much more expensive than the regular fare. Izu Hakone Bus 2-day pass is sold at 2,000 yen. I cannot understand why this ticket is sold much higher than the regular fare. I will show you the difference between these.
Departure station | Flex Rail Ticket | Regular fare | Your saving |
---|---|---|---|
Tokyo/Shinagawa | 7,000 yen | 6,560 yen | -440 yen |
Shin-Yokohama | 6,500 yen | 3,960 yen | -2,540 yen |
Nagoya | 14,700 yen | 17,140 yen | 2,440 yen |
Kyoto | 19,200 yen | 23,540 yen | 4,340 yen |
Shin-Osaka | 19,700 yen | 26,120 yen | 6,420 yen |
And this deal includes the coupon. You have a much bigger value than the saving amount if you leave from Nagoya, Kyoto and Shin-Osaka
Comparison Flex Rail Ticket Hakone_area and Hakone Free Pass
Hakone Free Pass is the most popular deal to travel to Hakone from Tokyo as well. Please see the table below to find the difference between Flex Rail Ticket Hakone_area and Hakone Free Pass 3-day.
Type of pass | Flex Rail Ticket | Hakone Free Pass |
---|---|---|
Departure station | Tokyo or Shinagawa | Shinjuku |
Price | 7,000 yen | 6,100 yen *If you add the limited express seat fee, total cost is 8,280 yen. |
Validity | 7 days | 3 days |
Coverage transportation | Izu Hakone Bus | Hakone Tozan Railway Hakone Cable Car Hakone Ropeway Hakone Tozan Bus Lake Ashi Cruise |
Hakone Free Pass 2-day is also available at more affordable prices, 5,700 yen. So if you visit Hakone within 3 days, the Hakone Free Pass is a better choice in my opinion. As I mentioned, the Flex Rail Ticket does not cover whole part of Hakone. Especially if you leave from Shinjuku or other west side of downtown Tokyo, Odakyu Railway is more accessible than the Shinkansen. If you add the limited express “Romancecar” fee (one way at 1,090 yen), you can get to Hakone-Yumoto directly from Shinjuku. No transfer is required at Odawara.
If you stay in Hakone for 4 or more days, the Flex Rail Ticket offers 7 days duration. You may add the Hakone Free Pass (Odawara version) as you need.
Compare with Platt Kodama
Platt Kodama is another Shinkansen deal which is sold by JR Tokai Tours. This is a one way deal and it covers only the slowest train, Kodama. Please see the link below to find the information of Platt Kodama:
If you have a one way trip between Tokyo, Nagoya, Kyoto and Shin-Osaka, Platt Kodama may be your choice. Because the Flex Rail Ticket is a round trip deal.
If you have a round trip between Tokyo, Nagoya Kyoto and Shin-Osaka, you can choose either one. I will show you the difference:
Type of the pass | Flex Rail Ticket | Platt Kodama |
---|---|---|
Price (Tokyo to Shin-Osaka round trip) | 23,200 yen | 21,000 yen (10,500 yen x 2) |
Coverage train | Any Shinkansen trains | Only Kodama |
Coverage seat | Non reserved seat only | Reserved |
Travel time (Tokyo to Shin-Osaka) | 2 hours 10 minutes | 3 hours 40 minutes |
Deadline of purchasing | Just before departure | One day before travel |
Flexibility | You can choose the train on the spot. | You cannot change the plan without the handling fee. |
Benefit | Experience coupon | Drink coupon |
The Flex Rail Ticket is more expensive, but it includes the coupon and covers the fastest train, “Nozomi”. The trip time is much faster. If you travel to Kyoto, the difference of the cost is only 400 yen. In my opinion, the Flex Rail Ticket is better choice.
Eligibility
The Flex Rail Ticket is available for participants who possess a passport issued by a country other than Japan. Many deals are available for only the tourists who enter Japan as a short term visitor. But this deal is available for the residents too.
And also up to 2 Japanese participants may accompany per 1 participant with a foreign passport.
e.g.
If you are resident who has a foreign country passport and Japanese wife and Japanese child, three of you can purchase this ticket.
Condition of use
There are several conditions. I mentioned several things above, but I would like to mention some things to you again. When you use the Flex Rail Ticket, please understand these conditions below before you purchase this deal.
- You have to purchase this deal in JR Tokai Tours office. You cannot purchase it at the ticket window in JR stations.
- This is a 7 days flex round trip plan. You have to go back to the original departure station in 7 days from the departure date.
e.g. If you depart on May 1st, you have to complete the trip by May 7th. - This ticket covers only non reserved seats. That is why this deal offers flexibility. You cannot reserve a seat or upgrade to a Green class seat even if you add the fare.
- The stopover is not allowed. Once you exit somewhere on the way or way back, your ticket is expired.
Cancellation fee
If you cancel by 11 days prior to the departure date, you can cancel at the free of the charge. Please see the table below to find the fee after 11 days prior to the departure date:
Date of cancellation | Fee |
11 days prior to the departure date | 0 |
10 to 8 days | 20% of the ticket price |
7 to 2 days | 30% of the ticket price |
the day before the departure date | 40% of the ticket price |
on the day of the departure date (but not departing yet) | 50% of the ticket price |
After departure | 100% of the ticket price |
Assessment
I think this is a good deal. The only weakness is that only non reserved seats are covered.
If you take the train from Shin-Osaka and Tokyo, it is easy to get a seat. If you take the train, especially Nozomi from Shinagawa, Shin-Yokohama, Nagoya and Kyoto, you can still get a seat in most seasons. But if you travel with someone, you may not be able to get seats side by side. Especially Nozomi has only 3 non reserved cars.
The second fastest train, “Hikari” has 5 non reserved cars. But the number of Hikari is fewer than Nozomi.
If you are okay with taking the slowest train, Kodama, it is not hard to get seats, even side by side. But Kodama is slow. And you can use Platt Kodama which is the cheaper deal.
I am glad if this post gives you some idea of how to build your trip plan.
Comments
Hi, is there any available promo like this currently? Thank you.
Hi Jay,
Unfortunately not. But it may be available soon again. Please keep hanging around the link below:
https://www.jrtours.co.jp/en/
Cheers,
Takeshi / JPRail.com
I will be living in NAGOYA as from June 2020
Looking at travelling to the KWF Hombu Dojo in Tokyo for Training – on week-ends.
As this would be a regular Weekend trip , could you let me know what would be the best and cheapest option?
I would be travelling from NAGOYA to TOKYO and back possibly on the same day every week-end.
Thank you
Marco
Hi Marco,
The cheapest option is the bus. There are so many buses running between Tokyo and Nagoya. But due to the COVID-19, many bus services are suspended or reduced. You may find the price range in the link below:
http://www.jrtbinm.co.jp.e.aco.hp.transer.com/mainbusroute/nagoya-tokyo_n.html
If you want the fast service, you may use Flex Rail Ticket in the post above. This is most affordable way to take the Shinkansen.
Cheers,
Takeshi / JPRail.com.
Hi!
If I purchase the ticket before March 25th 2020, can I use it for my trip on May 1st? And if I buy Shin-Osaka/Tokyo Flex Ticket, am I able to drop by Yokohama with the same ticket within 7 days? Thanks!
Hi Margo,
You cannot use it in May. At this point, you have to depart by March 25th, 2020. But it may be extended. Please keep checking the official site:
https://www.jrtours.co.jp/en/flex/tokyo/
Even if you can use this ticket in May, you cannot drop by Yokohama. You must travel from Shin-Osaka to Tokyo and from Tokyo to Shin-Osaka. Any stopover is not allowed.
Cheers,
Takeshi / JPRail.com
We’re planning to leave for Tokyo from Osaka on a Sunday. Do you think I could still buy tickets if I buy it on ghe day of the trip? I got worried when I read that the number of tickets sold is limited
Hi Rupy,
I think you will be okay because it is not a peak season yet in Japan. I don’t think the ticket will be sold out.
Cheers,
Takeshi / JPRail.com
Good evening.. may i ask if theres a tokyo to nagoya flex pass?
Hi Con,
Unfortunately there is no Tokyo to Nagoya available.
Cheers,
Takeshi / JPRail.com
Can I use this Flex Rail Ticket from Shin-Osaka to Nagoya round trip.
Hi Shirley,
Unfortunately not. Shin-Osaka to Nagoya round trip plan is not listed.
Cheers,
Takeshi / JPRail.com