Palal

I ended up taking the local train via the sky access line for ~1300Ą from Ginza. It was a one-seat ride and didn't take much longer than would have taken transferring to the Skyliner or N'Ex.

Offshore171

Just get a Suica card. It really does simplify things greatly. Not only does it access just about every imaginable form of transport in tokyo, but it also is very useful for vending machines.

Additionally you can use it for small purchases at convenience stores instead of cash, meaning that you won't keep accumulating pocketfuls of loose change.

codex57

Well, there's a tiny discount of a few yen vs buying individual paper tickets. While the convenience far outstrips the tiny yen discount, it does make a difference towards the end of your trip as you're running out of physical yen, don't want to exchange more money, and are trying to draw down the card before you leave. Nearly all of the machines make you top off at 1000 yen intervals. That's a LOT. I found a couple that let me do it at 500 yen intervals and only one where it was, I believe, 5 yen intervals.

I came from Osaka, so I had an ICOCA card and couldn't return it for my deposit/remaining balance. You can only return for deposit in the home region of the card. In any case, the little tiny discounts added up and I was able to squeeze out my last 500 yen top off.

Oh, and I found Google Maps to just be a lot easier to use. It's far from perfect, and combined with the iPhone's (we had a 6+, 6S, 7, and X going at once at times) awful compass, be prepared to be frustrated and lost. Still, I found it a lot easier than Hyperdia. Even for planning, unless you know the exact minute you are leaving, I just found Google Maps easier. For most tourists, it's impossible to plan to the minute. Not when there can be a new train in a couple minutes that might change up the best option and you're slow in figuring out which direction to walk.

rustykettel

freecia

I just used a 72 hour Tokyo Metro & Toei ticket. It is also available to domestic tourists "Sold to passengers traveling domestically or internationally from outside of the 7 prefectures in the Kanto region (Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma and Yamanashi)" For Customers Visiting Tokyo | PASMO/Tickets | Tokyo Metro Line via voucher pre-purchase or on arrival on ANA available for purchase at one of the HND T2/ANA domestic terminal information desks. Cash only.

It is like a paper metro ticket in that it goes in the yellow slot of the turnstile so you can still used unmanned gates and don't need to seek out a human like a foreigner only JR Pass. Not all turnstiles accept tickets these days as some are IC Card only but at least one will take paper tickets at each entrance/exit.

I also used the ticket entering on Toei line station and had the fare adjusted at HND Keisei desk on arrival to pay for the non-covered fare to the airport. The fare adjustment machine didn't want to calculate it so I used the manned desk.

pudgym29

I corrected that for you.

I actually now have a PASMO card, and took the extra step to customize it for me. (Steve D***** is the name on the card.)
But that doesn't diminish that the one-, two-, or three-day open tickets are no longer valuable. You can still obtain them for a deep discount at Tokyo airports.
Also, both Tokyo Metro and Toei have tie-ups where, if you opt to stay in Yokohama, you can buy a one-day open ticket which will provide a round trip on either Toyoko, or Keikyu, and unlimited rides on (corresponding) Metro, or Toei lines. There is a difference between the two Tokyo train lines (9 v 4), but the latter also includes the one remaining streetcar tram line in northern Tokyo.
There are venues in Tokyo which you cannot reach via JR. I'll continue to bellow this for as long as I need to. Please consider those other neighborhoods. Do not become a slave to your JR pass.

LapLap

A message that you believe bears repeating - but not one you would answer questions about.
You made an impassioned plea for others to ditch JR and explore Chiba, but never responded as to why one would do that:
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/29207966-post16.html
None of us on the forum could figure it out. Perhaps you can finally solve the mystery.

Cheetah_SA

I don't understand the reason for advising against a Suica card.

LapLap

Am not sure I’ve ever had a PASMO card. Usually we reload the same Suica cards we’ve been using for years. This last visit, my daughter got her very own, it has the kanji for child printed on it and entitles her to half price travel.
Our preference is probably due to a fondness for watermelon and penguins, there’s also the joy in saying “Suica” - it just sounds happier than “PASMO” (thanks to an old thread in this forum, I often look at the card and read “Sucia” and that makes me giggle. “Spasmo” makes me wince)

abmj-jr

The same thought occurred to me. I suspect the poster simply has a personal bias based on a preference for non-JR lines.

angra

but how does that connect to PASMO / SUICA? Is there actually some difference between the two that relates to a real world usage?

LapLap

Not very much. For me, the only real difference I experience is when recharging the cards. It’s a bit easier to recharge Suica at JR stations, and PASMO at non JR Metro and Subway stations.

MattEvan

Not only does it not make sense, but it's also bad advice. If you have a newer iPhone and/or Apple Watch, mobile Suica via Apple Pay is a killer feature, and it's not available with PASMO.

freecia

My IC (Mobile Suica on Apple Watch) backup is a Hello Kitty ICOCA which "brings me joy". The backup's backup is a PASMO with my name printed on it, kept because my name is never preprinted on souvenirs and I can loan a spare card to a friend/family so they don't need to stop at an airport ATM on arrival.

I noticed that longer haul local & rapid JR East trains with green cars allowed green seat reservation machine on the platform with a Suica card. There was a sign stating mobile Suica was not accepted. I don't know if it didn't integrate with mobile Suica's different form factor or was only compatible with a physical Suica card. I don't think most tourists are riding the Utsunomiya line very often, though. I should have made some time to stop at the Railway Museum in Omiya.

My mobile Suica was a little glitchy boarding Keikyu at HND upon arrival and the error condition was cleared/reset by the agent at the desk with the contact pad on the counter. So I carry a backup card and a bit of coinage just in case. Better to be a little over-prepared because I wander out to the inaka and occasionally come across unmanned and/or cash only stations.

ETA: Ah, glitch could have been the 6 month non-used Suica lock. https://atadistance.net/2018/04/26/u...he-suica-lock/ The "SF" menu icon in Mobile Suica does indicate I rode before adding more credit.

More easy, reliable, and fast transport payment options are a positive thing. Just because a tourist has a specific transportation system's pass or payments doesn't mean they'll exclusively use the pass, though it can be tempting until one realizes Tokyo's public transit works pretty well as an integrated system and staying off the Yamanote line is totally fine (or even desirable when staying near a major JR commuter station, trying to go counter-traffic in the morning). A local IC card is a nice complement. I'm not a local with a commuter pass or heading to Chiba/Saitama very often, though.

jib71

Advantages of PASMO for tourists:
1) I have gathered from personal experience that SUICA issued by Tokyo Monorail cannot be refunded at a JR station (which means you lose the deposit if you buy one at HND and leave Japan at NRT). By contrast, PASMO can be refunded at HND (Keikyu station ticket windows) and NRT (Keisei railway company ticket windows)
2) O-Sora reported that Pasmo has no fee for refund. I'm not sure if this is correct, but if it is, then it would save users the trouble of zero-ing their balance before getting the refund
Pasmo or Suica for Tokyo / Kyoto visit. Which is better and why?
3) Machines at subway stations allow you to top up cards with coins, (but you can top up SUICA too, so this is an advantage of the machine, not the card)

For residents there may be other advantages to one or the other (e.g. having your commuter pass integrated with your IC card)

Um ... That's all I can think of right now.

A reported advantage of ICOCA is that you can use a credit card to top up at JR West stations ... Sounds very exciting to me.