How long will it take to exchange JR Pass in Narita | Japan - Lonely Planet Forum - Thorn Tree

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Hello!I'll be landing in Narita on 20th November 2017, and i plan to go to Sapporo on the same day. I have bought JR Pass and are going to…

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Thu, 02 Nov 2017 07:03:23 +0000

Hello!
I'll be landing in Narita on 20th November 2017, and i plan to go to Sapporo on the same day. I have bought JR Pass and are going to exchange it the moment i land. I'll be going to Sapporo by Vanilla Air, though i haven't booked the ticket. My main concern is, how long will it take to exchange JR Pass in Narita? 2 Years ago, i spend 3 hours or more in queue to exchange JR Pass (lots of people, maybe because it's sakura season). I need to know how long will i spend queueing to exchange JR Pass for me to be able to plan what time will my flight be. Anyone can help? Really appreciate it.

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ONLINE

Thu, 02 Nov 2017 07:58:38 +0000

As you found out before....Depends how many people are in line.You might be lucky,or not....

BTW why are you getting your pass on arrival and then flying to Sapporo?

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ONLINE

Thu, 02 Nov 2017 08:09:07 +0000

In response to #1

My flight will land at 07.00 AM, so maybe not too much...i hope....
My first plan was to spend 3 days in Tokyo then go to Hokkaido, but then Comic Con happen and i had to rearrange my plan. So i decided to go to Sapporo first. At first i'm gonna use Shinkansen, but it took about 8 hours, and it will be night by the time i arrive in Sapporo. And i'm only spending 2 nights in Sapporo, so i have very limited time to explore if i arrive late on the first day. So other option is by plane. I'll be using Shinkansen from Hakodate to Tokyo. Confused? Yeah, me too...if not for Comic Con *sigh

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Thu, 02 Nov 2017 08:34:57 +0000

So why not just activate the pass later,in Sapporo? You won't need it before then....

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ONLINE

Thu, 02 Nov 2017 10:33:47 +0000

You can exchange your JR Railpass at New-Chitose Airport Station too and at Sapporo station according to this website : http://www.japanrailpass.net/en/exchange.html

If the queue is too long at Narita Airport then you can exchange in Sapporo or at the airport.

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ONLINE

Thu, 02 Nov 2017 13:00:27 +0000

Oh wow. I totally forgot that i can exchange it outside Narita XD ...seriously. Anyhow, thank you for replying to this dumb question and opening my mind... @lucapal and @wateenmooiedag

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Thu, 02 Nov 2017 13:06:03 +0000

Ok,you're welcome!

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ONLINE

Thu, 02 Nov 2017 18:29:40 +0000

Why would you waste your JR pass by activating it when you know you won't be using it?

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ONLINE

Thu, 02 Nov 2017 19:37:42 +0000

In response to #7

Why would you waste your JR pass by activating it when you know you won't be using it?

Not sure whether this was OP's intention, but you could also activate the JR pass for a start date in the future.

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Thu, 02 Nov 2017 23:59:57 +0000

In response to #7

? Idk what you're talking about. Whoever said i'm not gonna use it? If you read my post from the start, i said that i'm gonna use Shinkansen from Hakodate to Tokyo. Also, there are JR trains in Hokkaido too if you did not know.

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