In this video I'm gonna share with you guys my top Shinkansen travel hacks.
So I've traveled on the Shinkansen many times over the last 15 years
But traveling with local people and Maiko, I found out that they have a lot of tips offered that I didn't know myself
So I wanted to take all their tips and all the stuff that I know and put them all in one video
So in today's video we're gonna take the Tokaido Shinkansen which takes you to major cities like Nagoya, Osaka, and Kyoto
Alright, so let's get started. Let's start with cheaper tickets
A lot of people get tickets from the ticketing machine like this one
ticketing machines are the most convenient way to buy a ticket and then menus are offered in several different languages making it super
Accessible for most tourists who know where they're going
Also, there are ticket offices where someone will help guide you through the purchase, which is super nice if you're a new traveler
But what a lot of people don't know is that this cute ways to buy tickets
The first way to get cheaper tickets is to buy that paratha
Oh my thickness which are offered at the junior Tokai Tauruses
You can save more than 2 thousand yen, which is about $20 depending on where you go. It does have some restrictions though
First of all, there are three types of Shinkansen Nozomi Hikari and Kodama
Kazumi is the fastest and make the least amount of stops while Kodama is a slowest and stops at each station
You can only take the Kodama train which stops at every station along the route. You can only use it at major stations
You must get on and off at the specified station. Otherwise, you'll have to pay for a second ticket at full price
Also, you have one day in advance at the store or five days in advance online, but don't worry
I'll leave a link to all this information in the description, but one thing you need to know about these
Which is the smallest in train
I would recommend buying these tickets if you're going somewhere close because the Train makes a lot of stops
And the second option they get cheaper tickets. Is that the Campion choice?
Let me explain Kim can shop to a discounted ticket shops? You can find these little Sol's scattered throughout the entire city
You can purchase discount and one-way tickets from them cheaper than if you bought them from the station
Just make sure to buy tickets for the right dates
Oh and the ticket shop sells lots of other discounted tickets like department store gift cards theme park tickets movie passes and even McDonald's coupons
Alright, so let's talk about reserved and unreserved seats now reserved seats are little more expensive maybe roughly around a thousand to two thousand
Yen, so if you guys want to save money then I recommend of buying the unreserved seats
So if you're planning to save some money and get an unreserved seats
There's a few things that you need to know because you will be competing with other passengers for the same seats
Exits on train platforms are generally in the middle
So you'll find is that the middle carts on trains are usually the more crowded ones?
So what you want to do is go to ends of the trains and for the least crowded seats
But I would stay away from the first in the last car because those train cars are generally smaller
The reason being is because the driver seats are in that location, which makes the cart even smaller
So if you'd at the front of the Train, I would say get on cart number two
Which gives you a better chance of getting an unreserved seat?
Oh, and for those of you or just a reserved ticket?
but miss your train you can use that same ticket on a later train and get on an unreserved to see so let's talk about
A cool trick that's called flipping the seats
If you're in a group you can put the seats like this
Make sure to put it back when you're done if you're bringing luggage with you
Remember that the only space that you have is the overhead compartment above your seat, which is not that much for international travelers
Oh and don't think to store your luggage in the vestibule area in between
carriages as this is strictly prohibited and there's no designated space for large luggage in these area like in the nutty to express and
Skyliner trains but little hint you can reserve the back seats and use this extra space here
And if you're flipping the seats you can also use this space too
Here's another tip for those of you who are looking to charge your laptop for your phone while you're riding the train
Basically, there's two types of Shinkansen
there's a
700 which is an older model and there's an N 700 which is the newer models new models have electrical outlet sat next to each
Window on every aisle just like this one right here while the 702 only sometimes have outlets
So if you really really want an outlet have been definitely taken n700 train now
There's going to be several you that want to charge at the same time
Then definitely bring a splitter one more thing. Each card should have electrical outlets at the front and the rear of the train
so even if you own a
700 and you can try to find one in the front or the rear if you want to try to book one of those seats
And maybe that might be more convenient for you
Alright, so let's talk about Wi-Fi
Yes, there is a free Wi-Fi in the chickens and provided by Junior. It's pretty easy to access
The only thing to ask is for you to register an email address. It's not the fastest speed but better than nothing, right?
Oh, and for those of you who don't like the middle seat
You guys might want to know that the middle seat is five centimeters water than the aisle seat and the window seat
It's pretty cool, right?
One thing you might want to know is that the food carts are only available on Nozomi and Hikari trains not on Kodama
So if you're writing on Kodama definitely snag your food and drinks in advance
Also prices are more expensive on the food carts compared to prices outside
so I suggest you use it as a last resort if you didn't have time to pick up your snacky snack on the way to
The Train and so these are the green seats
I wanted to show you this area because well as actually that's pretty premium
And if you want to like have a better bride, then you can actually come here. So on the way back to Tokyo we're taking
which is actually not so bad this cost a little bit more but
Pretty nice don't you think what's nice about these green seats is you just have more space all together
Plus you get a cool footrest and you get the seat warmer check this out. So
There's a trade here, but if you want there's actually a tray here too
so second tray
So this button here allows you to recline just like that and then press up and moves you forward
You don't actually have to like put any additional pressure on it, which is nice
Give you
All right, this includes my top Shinkansen travel hacks if these hacks helped you out help me out and hit that like button
Let me know in the comments how you think the Japan Shinkansen train compares to your country also for those frequent travelers?
Let me know how many of these hacks you knew about already
And if you want more Japan travel tips hit that subscribe button as I upload a video once every week on Saturday mornings Japan time
Catch you guys in the next one