Round-trip tickets and round-trip discounts until March 2026 On December 2, 2024, the six JR Group passenger companies announced that they would end the sale of round-trip tickets and liaison tickets in March 2026, causing an uproar among people who make extensive use of rail travel. A round-trip ticket is a ticket that can be issued for a round-trip trip on the same route, and consists of two tickets, one for the outbound and one for the inbound trip. Each ticket has the characters “ゆき” and “かえり” on it. JR Group round-trip tickets also have a round-trip discount system, whereby a round-trip ticket with an operating kilometer exceeding 601 km one-way is entitled to a discount of one for both the outbound and return trip. The decision to abolish this system has caused a stir because the price of long-distance round-trip tickets will increase. Under the current system, it is possible to purchase a discounted round-trip ticket for a one-way trip of less than 600 km, and then deliberately purchase a round-trip ticket with the destination station beyond the destination station to save money. That will no longer be the case.
Expiration can be a problem for long-term stays In the case of a round-trip ticket, the validity period continues to count even while the traveler is staying at the destination after completing the onward journey. The round-trip ticket from Tokyo to Fukuoka City shown in the previous example is valid for 14 days, so if you stay longer in Fukuoka, there is a possibility that the ticket will expire during that time. You must go and come back during the validity period, i.e., 14 days. On the other hand, a one-way ticket does not have this problem because the starting date of use can be specified individually. Simply set the outward departure date and the return departure date as the start date of use, respectively.
In some situations, it is difficult to buy a return ticket. To qualify for the round-trip discount, a return ticket must first be issued. However, if the ticket is a pair of one-way tickets that switch departure and arrival stations, the return ticket should be purchased before boarding the train. In practice, however, this is not always easy. First, for some reason, the station may be very crowded, and there may be long lines at the ticket machines and ticket windows. A major event can be predicted in advance, but sometimes there are sudden crowds due to transportation disruptions or other reasons. Second, when there is no physical means to buy tickets. A specific example is a long-distance ticket that originates at an unmanned station. Even some unmanned stations have automatic ticket vending machines, but only for short-distance tickets. Recently, even the ticket vending machines for short-distance tickets have been removed from some stations. If a conductor is on the train, there is a way to stop the conductor after boarding and ask him to issue a ticket. If this is not possible, you have no choice but to go to the station where you get off the train and pay the fare. This is a time-consuming process. Besides, it is not very pleasant to stay on the train for a long time without paying the fare, even if you do not intend to cheat.
© Source travel watch
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