Originally Posted by
RichardInSF
However, the mechanism for making advance reservations online is a hassle since you still have to go to a JR ticket office no later than the day before travel and pick up the tickets.
The ticket is stamped on the day of use. You can make seat reservations beforehand but make sure they don't stamp a day of use then -- generally not a worry, the ticket clerks at JR are well trained.
Wow - That isn't great. Is the "no later than the day before" rule new? Does it apply just to the JR East flexible pass? Or is it a rule for the all-Japan pass too?
It's many years since I used one of JR East's flexible passes. At one of the stations in Aomori prefecture there was one ticket agent who managed to stamp my pass - even though it had already been stamped once that day. That took a bit of explaining the next time I took the thing to be stamped.