3 Hours on Japan’s FIRST CLASS Bullet Train 

Let's call it the equivalent of US Domestic "First Class" 😉 Looking to do Gran Class in 2023

What's the Gran class price btw?

But then how will he get the clickbaits?

@@_Ricky Haha... So true. Although I think you're giving US First Class a little too much credit.

@@druiz012 it's mentioned @0:40. It's about a ~30% premium over economy. A tip... if you're on the Nozomi, even in economy you'll typically be with MOSTLY Japanese as tourists who opt for the Japan Rail Pass can only ride the slower Hikari/Kodama (adds ~30-50 minutes to the normal 2:20 journey)

Learned my lesson

You stole my comment! I was going to say the same thing! However, they don't have Gran Class on the Tokaido Line.

Well it's technically first class... if you mean US Domestic First Class

@@EcoScratcher you’re right green class isn’t even business class. It’s like premium economy!

Looking forward to doing Gran Class in a future video 🙂

@@Tentenguy Well, it's a train... not a plane... so a little different expectations there. These are essentially run like public transit in Japan along this corridor and have the capacity for 1300+ passengers on ONE train, that is running every 6-10 minutes... Unlike a plane, Green class really is just about a little luxury and most used to increase income from business travelers. On a plane, business is about escaping the sardine can... and is more aspirational.

You can find regular prices just popping in *Shin-Osaka to Tokyo* in Apple Maps (choose transit, obviously). It's a 4,870 JPY (~45 CAD / $33 USD) difference for Green. Sometimes there are small discounts for last-minute purchases, but it's usually just a couple of bucks. 14,720 Regular 19,590 Green

Thanks for the knowledge!

@@_Ricky Thanks for the hard work and train vids! I eat these things up! And a minor correction... the line was built with 2500m curve radii, not 1500m. My bad. #nerdalert

@@TheNewGreenIsBlue I'm with you, love the Japanese train system! :) Those fast portions up in Tohoku are fun. :)

Regular class is perfectly acceptable on these trains but Green Class is indeed a bit more comfortable. I got some top-notch napping in on this train ride when I was fairly sleep deprived this trip, so I'd say yes in my case 😴

He mentioned it in the video @0:40 . You can easily search for it as well on Apple Maps for non-Green class Prices are pretty static, unlike European trains which punish you for last minute transport. The BIGGEST advantage of Green class on the Nozomi is the 2+2 setup. Economy is 2+3. That being said, there are a few services that have 2+2 in economy as well west of Osaka on the Sanyo line... I think it's the Sakura class. Note that you can NOT take Nozomi if you use a Japan rail pass. Since MOST of the trains are Nozomi (every 6-10 minutes), that means you DO need to schedule your trips a bit as the slightly slower Hikari and all-stops Kodama come 2-3 times / hour, depending on service.

JAL video coming very soon :)

Tell me about it! I was there in June and the CAD JPY exchange rate was amazing...

Omg tell me about it. The best exchange I ever got on my 3 visits was 119... yeah it's been a while. Hoping for late 2023... hopefully the exchange rate continues strong.

Same here! I unknowingly got spoiled on our first trip to Japan when the CAD to JPY was at $1 to ￥120, then back to reality for all the return trips after. Going to be so nice to get close that again! :)

@@DocumentedTravels When I was there in June, I could buy an Apple Watch for $200 cheaper than Canada because they hadn't adjusted their pricing to take into consideration the weaker yen. Even with the student discount in Canada, the iPads were also $80-150 cheaper in Japan. I think a new iPhone Pro was like $300 cheaper there? I'm not into reselling but totally could have turned a tidy profit if I cared enough to arbitrage them. Apple adjusted their prices July 1st, though... so it's no longer a deal

Yessss