Originally Posted by
fumitani
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.
Wow, you guys are so incredibly helpful, thank you! ok, so if i get an ANA or JAL card with suica, does the suica function as an ICOCA card? Can i just swipe my ANA suica over the thingy at the station as i pass through the gate? i dont really know how suica works apparently. i asked a friend once and was told it could only be used in the tokyo area so i gave up at that point.
Originally Posted by
fumitani
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.
Seems like my Edy would become much more valuable if tied to an ANA card. I read on the site that mileage earned by Edy is 1 mile for every 200yen (with the exception of am pm), but is rounded down to the nearest 200yen. Do you know if that's per transaction? Like if I buy something for 300yen, and then something else later for 300yen, do i get 2 miles or 3 miles?
I'd be cool with the low limit for a while. It would help of course to have a high enough limit to be able to purchase my air tickets to ORD to visit the family, but otherwise i dont really care. Thanks again for all the help!