To use a pass within Tokyo, you will have to travel a lot, OR plan your daily itinerary around using only one subway/train company.

Suica card by itself is not a cost saving tool, just a convenience as you don't have to use the ticket machine, or to figure out how much you need to buy for each ride(which can be a chore if you don't read Japanese or are not familiar with the train routes).

Thanks. Suica sounds the most convenient and so having it in hand from the N'EX roundtrip I'll keep using it while in Tokyo.

Last question is are the Suica reload insructions at train station vending machines in English?

Here's a pictorial guide.

http://www.thejapanguy.com/6462/usin...nd-pasmo-card/

Since posting this I opted for the JR East pass which includes the N'EX roundtrip from NRT so won't be taking the Suica + N'EX combo offer but can I still buy a Suica card upon arrival at NRT when I'm getting my pass at the JR East travel center in terminal 1?

I bought my Suica from a vending machine at Tokyo Station after returning from Hiroshima. (I went from NRT to Shinagawa, spent the night, Shinkansen to Hiroshima, took the long way back to Tokyo via Shikoku, all on a JR Pass.)

I don't recall whether you can buy a Suica at the JR Office at NRT. You won't need it to get into Tokyo if you're riding the N'EX or the Skyliner, in any case.

True, though I wanted to get one and though it would be easiest at NRT but could also buy one at Shinjuku if theya re available there.

Yes, according to the Suica homepage you can buy one at the "Midori no Madoguchi" or JR East Travel Service Center in the basement of NRT T1.

Narita T1 station map

BTW you can only recharge a Suica with cash. Presumably you can purchase one with a credit card. Much easier to buy one at NRT than navigate your way around Shinjuku.

Thanks and will just do everything at once at NRT T1 upon arrival including getting my JR East Pass, Nagano Shankansen seat reservations, N'EX tickets and buy & load a Suica card.

It's probably best to go to the JR East Travel Service Center which is closer to the escalators from the arrivals level than Midori no Madoguchi which is just a ticket counter. Staff in the former are supposed to speak English. There's a Starbucks nearby if you have any time to kill before the next N'EX train.

You *can* recharge a Suica with a credit card but not as a visitor -- you would have to have either a special Suica-linked credit card issued by a JR affiliate, or a Japanese mobile phone that has a Suica chip inside. Same general rules apply to PASMO and the analogous products in other regions of Japan.

AFAIK the NEX+Suica combo is the only way to buy a Suica with a foreign or otherwise non-affiliated credit card. You would still need cash to recharge the Suica once you have used up the credit.

I had 10 minutes to get a Suica-NEX recently and that was not enough time. The travel center has become a nightmare. American and chinese tourists will spend half an hour at the counter asking questions. Last fall, I arrived and saw 3-4 people in line at the travel center with 3 staff. I had 30 minutes to get the ticket, since I emerged from customs right at :15 or :45, and it took me 20 minutes to get the Suica-NEX. During this time an old caucasian woman had tied up one staff member for 20+ minutes asking questions about trip planning.

So, two weeks ago, at the regular ticket counter near the turnstile, the line was also moving slowly. So I aborted and went to the automated machines, which does not allow Suica-Nex purchase. I managed to get on the train with seconds to spare. Next time, I think I'll take the bus........

If you have JR pass then you have to go to the travel center.

p.s. I have tried to refill a Suica card with my Japanese CC (citi) but was rejected after trying to enter a pin. I guess, I know why now.