JTPass™ guide and FAQ

JTPass calculates the fares for your trip in Japan and shows whether regular tickets (IC card) or a transit pass cost less. No sign-up is needed.

How to use

Screen layout

1. Build an itinerary and get a pass recommendation

1. On the Trips tab, tap New trip.
2. Choose the city (Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe or Fukuoka), the trip length (a day trip up to 6 nights / 7 days) and the start date. Pass periods, fares and closing days depend on the date, so enter your real travel dates.
3. Enter your arrival airport and flight arrival time, and your return airport and departure time.
4. Search for where you stay or pick it on the map. Automatic planning needs your lodging.
5. Choose travellers (adults, children, infants), interests, day pace (Relaxed, Normal, Packed) and whether to include day trips. If you skip interests, you get a bit of everything.
6. Tap Make my itinerary. The app builds two plans, Best value (the cheapest way) and a pass-first plan, and shows the transport cost of each. Pick the one you like. To plan everything yourself, tap Start empty.

The itinerary is shown day by day, and you can change it on that screen:

• Add a stop: a sightseeing spot in the app, a place or hotel search, or a long press on the map
• Long-press and drag to reorder, move to another day, or remove
• For each stop: stay time, pin to this day, pin the start time, lock (kept when re-planning), note
• Re-plan and Re-suggest, keeping fixed places: pinned and locked stops stay, the rest is rearranged
• Ways to save: finds stops that cost less if moved to another day, and how much you save
• Choose the route for each leg (Use pass, Lowest fare, Fewest transfers, Best route) or open this leg in Google Maps
• Transport expenses: record what you actually paid and compare it with the app's estimate

The recommended pass and how much it saves compared with single tickets appear at the top of the itinerary. They are recalculated whenever you change your lodging or stops. For time-based passes (such as 24-hour tickets), the app also tells you when to start them for the biggest saving.

2. Share an itinerary

• Share as image: turns the itinerary, fares and recommended pass into pictures you can send in any messaging app.
• Share as link: the recipient can save the itinerary as is in JTPass. Anyone with the link can see the itinerary, including where you stay, so check who you send it to.

3. Find a route between stations

1. On the Routes tab, enter the departure and arrival stations. You can search in Japanese, English or by station number (e.g. G19).
2. Choose the date and time, then tap Find route.
3. The result shows the main route and its fare (IC card and paper ticket), other routes (lowest fare, fewest transfers, faster), and the passes you could use with the saving or loss for each.
4. Tap Save route to keep a route. Saved routes open from Saved routes at the top right of the Routes tab, even without an internet connection.

If you already have a pass, register it under My passes in Options (pass, Shinkansen). The result then also shows the best route with your pass, the one with the lowest extra cost. For the Tokaido Shinkansen, you can choose the seat type there too (non-reserved, Hikari reserved, Nozomi reserved).

4. Route from your location or a place

On the Routes tab, open Route from my location or a place. Enter a start (your location, a place or a station) and a destination (a place, address or station). The app compares the stations near both ends (within 1.2 km) and finds routes including the walk. Place search uses Google and has a monthly limit (see below). Searching by station name or picking a point with a long press on the map does not count toward it.

5. Look up passes

• On the Passes & card tab, browse passes by region. Besides the Tokyo and Osaka/Kansai areas, regional passes for Kyushu, Chugoku-Shikoku, Hokuriku, Nagoya and more, and all-Japan passes, are listed. For regional passes the app gives information only, without route calculation.
• Tap a pass to see its price (adult and child), validity, coverage, where to buy and how to exchange it, plus the official source and the date it was checked.
• The Compare passes table lists passes by price. To see how much you actually save, use an itinerary or a route result.
• The app also marks sightseeing spots that give a discount when you show your ticket, such as CHIKA TOKU.

6. Check an IC card balance

1. Turn on NFC in your phone settings.
2. On the Passes & card tab, open IC card balance and tap Read card.
3. Hold a Suica, PASMO, ICOCA or similar card against the middle-to-upper back of your phone for 2–3 seconds. The balance and recent history appear.

The app only reads the card. It writes nothing to it, and does not store or send what it reads.

Frequently asked questions

Is it free?

Yes. Routes, fare calculation, pass comparison and recommendations, creating, copying and re-suggesting itineraries, sharing, station search and the IC card balance check are all free. A banner ad is shown at the top of the screen. Only Google place search, which costs money to run, has a monthly limit. If you want more, you can buy JTPass Plus (optional).

How are place searches counted?

One Google place search (hotels, sights, addresses) or one opening-hours check counts as one use. You get 5 a month for free, or 300 a month with JTPass Plus. The count resets at the start of each month and unused searches do not carry over. Station name search, adding the app's own sightseeing spots and picking a point on the map are unlimited.

What is JTPass Plus?

An optional purchase that, for 30 days, raises place searches to 300 a month, adds opening-hour checks (Google) and removes the banner ad. It costs ₩3,900 in Korea; in other countries Google Play charges the local price. It is a one-time purchase and does not renew automatically. Nothing more is charged when it ends, and your itineraries remain available.

Can I get a refund for Plus?

Within 7 days of purchase, if you have not used any Plus benefit (the extra place searches or opening-hours checks), you can withdraw the purchase for a refund. After you use them, withdrawal may be limited under Korean e-commerce law. See the terms of use for details.

What happens to Plus if I change phones or reinstall?

On a device signed in to the same Google account, open the Plus screen (the Plus button on the Routes tab, or gear icon → JTPass Plus) and tap Restore purchase to keep using the remaining days.

With no sign-up, where are my itineraries stored?

Your itineraries, saved routes, passes and language setting are stored only on your phone. They are deleted when you uninstall the app and are not moved to a new phone automatically. To move an itinerary to another device, send it to yourself with Share as link, then open and save it on the new device.

Are the fares accurate?

Fares and pass prices come from the official fare tables and web pages of each railway and public body, and every pass shows its source and the date it was checked. They are still for reference only. Actual prices and conditions follow each operator's official information, so check it again before buying a ticket or pass. Values not yet confirmed against official material are marked Unverified.

The travel times and departure times differ from reality.

JTPass has no timetable data, so it estimates times from the distance between stations. It does not give first or last train times either. Check actual times with See times in Google Maps on the result screen, or in the operator's official timetable.

Which areas are covered?

Route and fare calculation covers mainly the Tokyo and Osaka areas: JR, subways, private railways, airport lines and part of the Tokaido Shinkansen. Automatic itineraries are available for Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe and Fukuoka. Regional passes for Kyushu, Chugoku-Shikoku, Hokuriku and other areas are information only. Legs with no fare in the app are marked "No official fare" and left out of the totals.

How is the recommended pass chosen?

The app tries starting every pass on sale on each day and picks the non-overlapping combination that saves the most. If no pass saves money, it tells you that paying IC fares without a pass is cheapest. If you buy through a link marked Affiliate, JTPass may earn a commission from the seller, but recommendations and ordering are based only on savings, never on affiliate status, and the price you pay does not change.

I'm travelling with children. Are child fares included?

Enter adults, children and infants under Travellers when creating a trip, and the app calculates the transport cost for everyone. Japanese railways go by age: 12 or older (junior high school and up) is an adult, and 6–11 (elementary school) is a child; a 12-year-old still in elementary school pays the child fare. Up to two infants (ages 1–5) per adult or child travel free.

Can I use it offline?

Station search and fare calculation run on your phone, so they work without an internet connection. Saved routes and your itineraries also open offline. The map, Google place search, opening-hours checks and buying Plus need a connection.

What happens when fares or pass prices change?

Changes arrive with app updates. You can see the date of the data in the app under the gear icon (About). If the data is more than 6 months old, the app reminds you to update.

My IC card won't read.

• Check that NFC is turned on in your phone settings.
• Remove a thick case, move the card slowly to find the antenna (on Galaxy phones it is usually in the middle of the back, below the camera), and keep it there until reading finishes.
• Hold only one card at a time. If a payment app such as Samsung Wallet opens instead, close it briefly and try again.
• iPhone is not supported. On iPhone, check the balance in the Wallet app.

Do I have to allow location access?

No. The app asks only when you use "My location" or a route from your location, and everything else works if you decline. Your location is used on the phone only, to find nearby stations and show the map, and is not stored or sent.

How do I change ad personalization?

Use Ad privacy settings under the gear icon (About). Ads are served by Google AdMob; see the privacy policy for details.

Can I buy tickets or passes in JTPass?

No. JTPass is not an official app of any railway or pass seller and does not sell tickets or passes. The links on a pass page open the official site or the seller's site.

Is there an iPhone version?

Not yet. Only the Android version (Google Play) is available.

I found a wrong fare or a bug.

Please email mwtec235@gmail.com. Including the departure and arrival stations, the date, the amount shown in the app and the actual amount (an official link or a screenshot if possible) helps us check quickly.