Originally Posted by
jakegio
crap. i live out in hiroshima. we have icoca instead of suica, and i dont know of any way to charge it via credit card....although you've peaked my interest. i'll be doing some research on that.
Living in Hiroshima does not matter. You can still use the Suica card on the JR line(and JR line only) If you use ICOCA (which I use here in Osaka/Kobe area) you can use it on subways and your local train lines. So if you only use the JR line it would be worthy to get the JAL or ANA suica card.
Originally Posted by
jakegio
i do have a phone with a payment chip, so if i do indeed get the ANA master card i applied for, i'll set that up. do you know if miles are earned on both ends? i mean when i charge the edy with the ANA mastercard, and when i subsequently make a purchase with my edy at a store, can i get miles for both transactions?
Yes when you add money into edy you get 5000yen which is 50miles on your credit card. On top of that when you use EDY you get the standard 1 mile for every 200yen. If you go to Combini's often I suggest you go to AM/PM as much as possible as you get 1mile for every 100yen.
Also some advice to get the credit card is not to apply for the gold version (even if you get tons of income). It's much easier to apply for the regular card and after 1-2 years of using the credit card you will be able to reapply to gold cards or the wide card etc....The gold version requires good credit history (although I still don't understand how they check credit in Japan) + most require you to be over 30 years old. 32or33 for the diners card. The AMEX ANA Gold Card requirement is over 25.
When you do get your #1st credit card don't be sad with a very low limit because they try to reduce their risk. Most of my friends first credit cards have been anywhere from 10man to 30man. As you spend more and more and pay your bills on time your credit line will increase. Over the past two years I had my credit line increased automatically without asking 3 times.