JR Beetle Hydrofoil Ferry from Busan to Hakata

Dear Thorn-Treeers

Does anyone know if there is a way to book online the Beetle Hydrofoil ferry from Busan to Hakata, (and get an e-ticket). We are in the UK at the moment. There is a website (http://www.jrbeetle.co.jp/english/) that lists timetables etc, but it does not allow the internet booking of tickets unless you are resident in Japan (I guess they need to send the tickets).

We will be grateful for any help with this

Cheers

Kim and Tim

Hi,

The website also allows bookings from Korea. I know that doesn't help you at the moment, but once you are in country, you can make the reservation.

Good luck,
Brian

You can reserve a ticket by telephone, but as far as I can remember they will only hold it until about a week before departure and then if you've not paid for it they'll offer it up again. Also, you may have to have a Korean/Japanese speaker on hand. ;)

You can book tickets through Korean and Japanese travel agencies, who generally accept credit cards - though not all agencies will sell Beetle tickets. You could try looking on eslcafe.com for the Fukuoka visa runs information section - might have some tips.

Alternatively, if the Beetle is booked you can take the overnight slow ferry and just turn up in the afternoon to reserve your floor space.

Kimberly and Timothy,

Korean counterpart of Beetle/Kobee hydrofoil fleet is run by Miraejet Co.. English menu is not provided, but their on-line reservation procedure involves you being able to put proper information into a form in Korean, having a mobile number in Korea so that you can receive confirmation number by text, then wiring appropriate fare to the company's bank account in Korea no later than 3 days prior to the journey.

Booking by telephone or fax still needs to be followed by payment by the deadline, which would cost some hideous amount of fees/commissions if you attempt a cross-border transfer from your bank in the UK. (I've done the v.v. recently, and I'm not talking about the bid-ask spread in currency exchange.)

If you think you'll have an anxiety attack for not booking your ticket in advance, I might be able to help you through the first half of the booking procedure - typing a few characters and a couple of clicks, receiving the confirmation number, no big deal. But I will not be involved in the second, 'payment' part. That's what you need to take care of on your own, in time, once you're in Korea. You may e-mail me if you'd like.

Hi
We are in Korea atm and have just booked tickets through Kangsan travel http://www.kangsantravel.com/index.asp (Korean company)
You can email or call them and speak to someone with very good English.
We had to transfer money to a bank account and we pick up our tickets the day we catch the ferry. From the information we had to give I can't see you not being in Korea a problem.

We also caught the Camellia line from Hakata to Busan when we first arrived in Korea, it took about 5 hours. They also have a website.

Hope this helps!

I had problems paying online with my credit card while I was online in Japan. I just booked a seat 2 days before departure (without payment) and then I showed up at the Hakata port and told them I want to buy a ticket and I have a reservation.

I think you can just show up before the first departure of the day and try your luck. There are several departures a day. Try to time it on a weekday, except Friday.

edited: I just realized it's a Busan to Hakata problem you have, not the other way around.

Edited by: flask345

Thanks for all the replies - and especially Jake_Kim for his offer of help. I guess I am surprised that we cannot just e-ticket the whole thing! Anyway we are reasonably flexible in terms of our schedule. So we are going to just sort it out in Busan - and if we have to spend a bit more time in Busan then never mind.

Thanks

Tim and Kim

Yes, you can book tickets online. I am in the UK and booked a ticket last year from Busan to Hakata. This year I have booked a return from Hakata to Busan & back. I just ignored the bit about being a Japanese resident, signed up anyway, reserved my tickets & booked online.

I had no problems at all last year - turned up at Busan, presented my receipt from the website & exchanged it for a boarding pass. I don't expect any problems this time either. I booked mine through the JR Beetle website.

ps the journey is quick & easy and last year (a mid-week sailing) the boat was near empty. I still decided to book ahead this year as my travel plans are dependent on getting boats on specific days.