Media Review
It was our first family holiday to Japan, so I made a lot of preparations prior to the trip. The husband and I had been to Japan several times before but this time round, the two kids are with us and with the weather so cold, I really want to be sure that we are well prepared with everything we need for the trip, so we got our Japan Rail (JR) passes and arranged for the rental of our WIFI router online via https://www.changirecommends.com/ before the trip.
Why Changi Recommends?
If you have followed me on my previous travel posts, you would know that this is not the first time I used the services of Changi Recommends, and there are good reasons why I would return to them again and again for every trip I make:
1. You Get Your Essentials Ready Before The Trip
This is especially important if you are travelling with young kids and I cannot emphasize this enough! If you don’t want to run helter skelter during the trip itself trying to sort out simple logistics that you could have arranged for earlier, then go on to Changi Recommends and book what you need now. For our Japan trip, I booked 7-day Nationwide JR passes for all four of us as well as a WIFI router for the trip. Transportation is a major part of any vacation, especially in Japan where the network is massive and complicated, and can be very expensive. After settling that on Changi Recommends, I felt a huge burden lifted from my shoulders!
The wifi router was another essential for us, especially when we will be relying much on Google Maps to get around, and to keep everyone connected during the trip itself. You can also opt for overseas SIM cards too, but for our case, a wifi router worked way better because we had 4 mobile phones, 1 IPAD and 2 laptops that needed to connect to the same router. At any one time, we had a minimum of 4 devices connected to the router and that worked perfectly for us for the trip. Tip: Always book your routers early especially if you are travelling during peak travel periods as there are limited sets of routers for rental.
2. Easy & Convenient Pick-Up & Return
I booked my JR passes and wifi router on Changi Recommends way in advance before the trip, and all I needed to do was to pick them up from the Changi Recommends counter at Changi Airport Departure Hall right before I check in for my flight. I picked mine up from Terminal 4 – Every terminal has their own counters for passengers’ convenience. There was a staff there who explained to me how to connect the wifi router and how to exchange for my physical JR passes upon reaching Japan. I felt assured that I’ve got a huge part of the trip taken care of and that gave me a great head-start to my vacation! Upon reaching back in Singapore, I just needed to drop off the wifi router at the same counter and that’s it!
3. Good & Reliable Support
I had some difficulty connecting the wifi router when I reached Haneda Airport in Tokyo, but thankfully, there was a 24-hour whatsapp support hotline given to me in case I need any technical assistance. The support staff responded almost immediately even though it was close to 12 midnight, and was able to guide me through the whole connection process and I was connected in no time at all. Good support is always a plus point – The last thing I want is to be stuck at the airport overseas trying to sort out all the technical issues instead of starting on my vacation right away!
Why Japan Rail Passes?
If you are planning for a holiday to Japan as well, I strongly recommend that you get the JR passes like we did. Just a word of advice though – There are many different types of JR passes and they cover different regions in Japan and have different privileges. So get the passes that best meet your needs in terms of regions you are covering and whether you are going to cover one region in detail or travelling across regions over a few days. For my family, we planned to cover Tokyo –> Osaka –> Nara –> Kyoto and then back to Tokyo in a span of 7 days and so, the 7-day Nationwide JR Pass was recommended to me.
1. Covers Shinkansen Travels (Saves You $$!)
We had very little time to cover so many places, so time is of the essence – We would need to take the Shinkansen trains to save time in travelling especially between Tokyo & Osaka and our JR passes would cover the cost of that. Shinkansen trains are fast but they are expensive as well, so if you have a JR pass, that’s covered - Very value-for-money! Plus, with the JR passes, you can reserve your seats for Shinkansen so that you have a confirmed specific seat when you board.
We took the Shinkansen several times during our 7-day trip: Tokyo to Osaka, Osaka to Kyoto (Twice) and Osaka back to Tokyo to catch our flight home. I did a quick calculation and realized that a round trip on Shinkansen would have cost me the same as one 7-day JR pass! So worth it! Speaking of which, we thoroughly enjoyed every one of our Shinkansen rides – So comfortable, fast yet super stable and we even managed to catch Fuji-San on our way from Tokyo to Osaka and back! It was nothing short of mesmerizing. =D
2. Convenient & Fast Gantry Crossing
When you purchase your JR passes in Singapore prior to your trip, all you need to do is to make a one-time trip to any of the JR offices (at major JR stations) and get your physical JR passes done. With the JR pass, all you need to do everytime you take the JR rides is to go by the manual gantry, show your pass to the station staff and walk through. No need for you to check ticket prices, buy tickets and tap at the gantry to go through! So convenient, right? This is especially great during peak hours when the crowd can get really overwhelming and you even need to queue to get out of the station. Tip: Since you are already at the JR Office, reserve all your Shinkansen tickets at the same time to save another trip there!
Are Wifi Routers Really Essential?
I cannot emphasize how glad I was to have rented the wifi router from Changi Recommends for the trip. At any one time, we had a minimum of 4 devices connected to it and you would think that battery life would be a concern, but the router lasted us for about 10 hours a day before I needed to charge it. Some people say it is inconvenient having to charge it every night but I think that is a small thing to put up with. We needed the wifi connection to search for places to go to, addresses, google maps etc. The kids were constantly connected and could chat with their friends and play games during commuting. I was just spamming insta stories and social media posts to make my friends at home jealous. LOL!
On the whole, we had a really smooth and enjoyable trip with our kids and I attribute a huge part of it to the services of Changi Recommends because I was well-prepared and had everything I needed for the trip before it happened. That’s really important when we have kids with us because watching over them to ensure their safety is tiring enough – I don’t have excess energy to fight fires or solve unexpected crisis! Thank you Changi Recommends, for always having my back for our travels. Till our next trip! =)
Disclosure: This is a collaboration between Changi Recommends and The J Babies for review purposes. All photos and opinions presented in this post are solely ours
