I can confirm that this means you can go straight or right, you only have to stop if you want to go left.

Incidentally, Times rent-a-car has an English rental site. They are a huge parking lot operator but also have an extensive rental car business.

JR also has a rent-a-car business with offices at where you would expect (and often want) at train stations.

Thanks for the tips guys.

I'm going to go with nissan rent a car, since they have an office in Roppongi Hills as I will be staying at the GH Tokyo

At this forum JR Passes are talked about a lot, but there also is Rail & Rental Car discount when renting a car from JR Station Rental Car (JR駅レンタカー) in conjunction with JR train.

There are blackout dates, minimum of rail travel have to be 201 km, and other conditions on Rail & Rental Car discount. But Rail & Rental Car discount will provide 20% off JR base fare, 10% off JR express surcharge, plus discount on rental car. This is better deal than JR Passes if your travel plan is to use rental car as a mode of transport at each destinations and JR train is limited to travel between major points of your travel plan in Japan.

There are other discounts plans out there but hardly talked about it on FlyerTalk, pretty much only JR Passes are talked about. I think one of the reasons is that many of those discount plans are in Japanese only on the Internet, no English website.

However, for non-Japanese speaking visitors to Japan travel agencies (such as JTB and Nippon Travel) are a great place to get those information and purchase those discount plans. Usually JTB and Nippon Travel offices have somebody who speaks decent enough English to assist non-Japanese speakers. These days at offices at major cities not unusual to have Chinese or Korean speakers also. Use of travel agencies in Japan is also not talked about a lot on this forum, but I do think use of travel agencies is a great way to get access to those discount plans which are advertised in Japanese only and not in English. JTB and Nippon Travel has offices at many cities in Japanese.

Great point. The other topic that I rarely see talked about here are coupon shops, which offer discount coupons that can be exchanged for JR tickets at any ticket window. Although the discount is typically not high, usually 5% or less, it's better than nothing.

In a very few cases the discount can be much higher, for example, from Asashikawa to Sapporo (both on Hokkaido), I got coupons on the limited express at 40% off!

Just wanted to caution people against renting from cheap car rental agencies in Jpn (the so-called 格安 kakuyasu rent-a-car places). These include Ones and NikoNiko... so I suggest avoiding those. Go with the reliable big name ones like Nippon, Toyota, Orix, Eki (Nissan is also supposed to be good).

I disclose that I have little experience being the actual driver in Jpn, let alone renting cars in Jpn. I've only rented cars twice for myself. But I've driven extensively in Jpn as a passenger and have tagged along with family members to go pick up a rental a couple other times for them to drive. So I'm a bit familiar with a few rental places.

Most recently I rented from Ones Rent a Car. What a mistake. The customer service was okay but I felt rushed. They also charged me for an option that I mistakenly requested on my reservation even though I told them upfront (before getting into the car) I didn't want that option... what other places would do that? I got a car in their mid-tier price category. They gave me a jalopy that had almost 180k km on it and was just about falling apart. The car was rusting in many spots, the rear bumper was displaced, Navi was outdated and unreliable, A/C didn't work, the car made scary clunky sounds. I asked for a different car, but none of their newer cars were available. Even their newer cars were not all that new. One time the engine simply stopped while waiting for the green. We were very lucky the car somehow kept running for the whole week. I have never encountered anything like this from any chain rental car places in US/Canada.

Later on, I did some research and found out a lot of people were running into issues at kakuyasu car places. Some said they were held responsible by Ones/Nikoniko for pre-existent car body dents. Someone talked about cars running into mechanical problems during the rental period and they were actually made to pay for such repair.

I did zero research before renting from Ones. That was really dumb, and I should have. In the US, I never rent from places like Fox even if they're the cheapest (although in Fox's fairness, they would never present a 20yo car). So I have no good reasons to explain why I wasn't equally choosey in picking the right car rental place in Jpn.

L&L

Hi

We are planning to rent a car from Odawara Station to explore Hakone. We will be staying near Gora Station and we want to see some major sights in Hakone along with the premium outlets in Gotemba. We speak 0 Japanese..

Does anyone have any recommendations/tips for renting/driving in Hakone? I did some Google search and found that TooCool is a reputable rental agency. I tried the Toyota website but it was in Japanese... Also, how does their insurance options work? We will be using an American Express Gold that has rental insurance.

I noticed that the Volcanic activity closed down some portion of the Hakone Ropeway and I think prefecture road 734/735. Google didn't bring up any lately relevant info. Does anyone know if those roads are all clear or do I need to divert?

Thank you very much!

ToCoo is a booking agent for the major rental companies, with rates that may or may not be cheaper. I never found their rates to be cheaper than renting from Toyota direct with Hertz discount.

To book at Toyota, you can call them directly. It's cheap to call via Skype or similar service. They speak good English. Also this is their customer service line for hotel pick up or any language issues.

There is an English booking site for Toyota, operated by the exclusive, authorized new Toyota dealer in HK. But I would rather deal with operators in Japan instead. https://www.rentacar-jp.com/about_us/

Standard rental rates include all insurance with a deductible of ~50,000 each for CDW and 3rd party. Paying a daily CDW rate of ~1080 reduces both deductibles to 0.

AMEX doesn't cover 3rd party, so for short rentals I still pay the CDW and state that "I decline CDW" on the contract to cover NOC.

NOC (non operation charge) - https://www.nipponrentacar.co.jp/eng...rance/noc.html

At some rental companies, NOC can be waived with a daily charge of ~500. At Toyota and other major chains, NOC cannot be waived hence I need AMEX to cover that.

Owakudani remains closed, although the Ropeway is now open between Owakudani and Ashinoko lake. According to the latest update, the only road that is closed is the access road to Owakudani. Otherwise, the road's open between Souunzan and Ubako, as are all the other key roads of Hakone.

I don't have any experiences with ToCoo and I can't speak to any potential complications you might get from booking through a 3rd party booking agent. But I can tell you that Toyota itself is a good rent-a-car company.

The main road in the lower Hakone tends to get backed up from around Miyanoshita on down through Yumoto, particularly on weekends and holidays.

I'm trying to understand this. What do you mean you still pay the CDW yet you "decline CDW?" I don't have AMEX, but my card covers CDW (but probably not this NOC) as long as you decline the rental car company's CDW. You either decline it in full, or pay it all, no?

By stating "I decline CDW", all CDW claims wouldl be covered by AMEX, instead of using rental agency coverage.

1. I bought rental company CDW because it reduces 3rd party liability deductible to zero. AMEX doesn't cover 3rd party.

2. "I decline CDW" because I need AMEX coverage for the NOC, which Toyota doesn't cover - max damage 50,000.


I could save 1080/day and not buy CDW, relying on AMEX alone. My exposure would then be the liability deductible of 50,000.

AFAIK most credit card coverage would cover NOC (essentially loss of use of rental car while it's in the shop).

My last trip in Japan (Hokkaido) I got an almost brand new car (only 300miles on the odometer)

http://www.timing-design.com/food/hokkaido53.jpg

Sorry for being so obtuse on this. But I'm still trying to understand what you mean when you say you bought the rental company's CDW, yet you stated "I decline CDW." If you opted for the rent-a-car's CDW, you didn't decline it and AMEx won't cover anything related to the rental, no? Am I missing something here?

Also, how does purchasing the rent-a-car's CDW impact the liability? At least in the US, liability is a totally separate thing than CDW/LDW. I thought that, in Jpn, liability coverage was included in the base rental rate. If the liability coverage is limited, then you would presumably turn to your personal auto insurance company for whatever portion that's not covered by the rent-a-car.

Let me tell you about my thought processes and actions when I've rented cars in Jpn:
- CDW: fully declined, since my CC provides primary coverage and pays the deductible.
- Non-use charge: Somehow I don't remember being asked about this, but I must've declined it on the paperwork. When I spoke to Chase Explorer Card, they specifically said they only cover CDW... they didn't say anything about NOC coverage. However, NOC deductibles are usually pretty low anyways, correct?
- Liability: I always decline this in the US with (false?) presumption that I'll have enough coverage between the rent-a-car's built-in liability coverage and my personal auto insurance. In Jpn, I don't even remember being asked about the liability insurance option.

But you didn't rent from Ones Rent-a-Car, correct?

Thanks to beep88 and evergm for their input! I will definitely reserve through the Toyota Japan phone line and deal directly!

>> If you opted for the rent-a-car's CDW, you didn't decline it and AMEx won't cover anything related to the rental, no? Am I missing something here?

When I stated "I decline CDW" on the contract, AMEX will provide full coverage as per their terms. (this is advice from AMEX insurer, or any CC insurer for that matter) Thus NOC is covered by AMEX.


>> how does purchasing the rent-a-car's CDW impact the liability?

This is Japan. Their rental coverage is different from North America/Europe as far as I understand it.

https://nissan-rentacar.com/english/...insurance.html



To me, that means their 3rd party liability is mixed with their CDW option.

>> Non-use charge: Somehow I don't remember being asked about this, but I must've declined it on the paperwork. When I spoke to Chase Explorer Card, they specifically said they only cover CDW... they didn't say anything about NOC

Most rental places do not sell NOC waiver. Insurers outside of Japan probably never heard of NOC so they tell you not covered. NOC = "loss of use" and is covered by all the CC coverage I've seen in Canada (USA should be very similar)