Originally Posted by
gnaget
Weren't/aren't you getting 50% commuter discount, which applies during commuting hours for trips less than 100 km?
The site driveplaza should give you all the current details but not the commuter discounts.
You can definitely beat the Shinkansen by car point to point. Let's take Hakuba. You can go Tokyo to Nagano quickly but you have to get to the station in Tokyo, which is time confusing and not practical with equipment. And then it is a slow bus ride from Nagano to Hakuba and then at your destination it can be a hassle to get around.
Will check out the driveplaza site with google translate. I checked my ETC statement and there was no commuter discount. Is this something I need to apply for? I see there is some weekday morning 6-9am and evening 5-8pm discount which requires some registration for "ETC mileage service"
Yes, for skiing a car is ideal, although for Hokkaido we just did plane, then bus and rented equipment. Renting a car for Hokkaido in summertime is highly recommended to see places like Shiretoko. Still wouldn't recommend the OPs north-south roadtrip though.