Originally Posted by
Toki
Because of the far away location from airport, even most Japanese in Tokyo take Shinkansen instead of flights when visiting Kyoto anyway.
Shinkansen Nozomi, departing every few minutes, takes only 2 hours from Shinagawa(Tokyo) to Kyoto directly.
Shinkansen allows at the most two luggage within 250cm(98 inches) total dimension: larger than checked baggage acceptable size.
There is enough space for luggage in Shinkansen at the behind of the last row in front of the bulkhead of each car.
You may reserve the last row or wheelchair space(row12-13 at Car11) nearby; nowadays ticket vending machine shows seat map.
Most people taking Shinkansen with luggage do so.
That was our intent last year. We visited BKK and SIN and planned to take a cruise from SIN to SYD then fly SYD-NRT on a separate PNR and spend 10 days in Japan as part of a 30th anniversary grand tour. Had planned to stay in Tokyo and do a one-day Shinkansen tour of Kyoto.
Had to cancel the cruise and Japan trip because of medical problems; so this is the "make-up" visit to Japan. (Didn't lose $ because I fully insured everything.
I plan extra early to try an execute a credit card strategy that maximizes miles and points to reduce costs. It makes sense to allow the credit card companies subsidize my travel addiction by throwing bonuses at me for my patronage.
I have enough Chase Ultimate Reward points to do this on ANA alone, but I'm saving those for later. I would like to use "left-over" AA and DL miles to pull the Japan trip off.