Having some SUICA and PASMO card alternatives up your sleeve during your Japan trip is essential, whilst the Japan government has just announced that the sales of SUICA and PASMO IC cards will resume as of September 2024 the ever increasing numbers in Japan tourism means that the chances of them running out of stock or being unavailable again is always a possibility
A SUICA or PASMO card is a contactless smart card that you can load up and use to ride all forms of public transportation WITHIN cities in Japan.
And so in this article I am going to be outling SUICA slash PASMO card alternatives you should consider in the event that you are met with a SUICA/PASMO shortage when you visit
This is also a good video for Android phone users to watch as the digital SUICA or PASMOs are not an option for you unless your android device was purchased in Japan and so if you’re after alternatives keep reading!
By the way this article is basically just an excerpt of my youtube video, if you prefer watching this click on the youtube video below to get the SUICA PASMO alternatives in video form instead!
Option 1 - Digital SUICA and PASMO
Lets start with the most obvious alternative which is if you have an iPhone its end game, you dont need to worry about any other options as you can activate a digital SUICA or PASMO within your apple wallet as an alternative!
How to Activate a Digital SUICA or PASMO IC Card
- Open up your apple wallet.
- Select transit card and seach for SUICA or PASMO
- Click on it, choose your desired top up amount and use Apple Pay to load up your digital card and you are good to go!
Option 2 - Welcome SUICA and PASMO Passport
But if you use an Android device Option 1 is not going to work for you. The next best option would be for you to get your hands on suica pasmo alternatives two, a Welcome SUICA or PASMO Passport
They are basically versions of the SUICA and PASMO that are designed for tourist or short term travellers and do the exact same thing
The only main difference here is that the Welcome SUICA and PASMO Passport are only valid for 28 days, you cannot recharge to reuse them after that
The PASMO Passport however is as of the writing of this video not available according to the website but dont worry the Welcome SUICA is
Here’s where you can get yours hands on it
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- JR EAST Travel Service Centers at Narita Airport Terminal 1, 2 and 3 Stations, Haneda Airport Terminal 3 Station, as well as the Tokyo, Shinagawa, Shibuya, Shinjuku, Ikebukuro and Ueno stations
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- Welcome Suica vending machines – Narita Airport Terminal 1 Station, Narita Airport Terminal 2・3 Station, Haneda Airport Terminal 3 Station
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- Japan Rail Cafe Tokyo – Location – 1-chōme-9 Marunouchi, Chiyoda City, Tokyo 100-0005, Japan
Option 3 - 1/2/3 day Tokyo Subway Ticket
But if the digital pass OR the Welcome SUICA are not an options for you you may to consider a 1, 2 or 3 day pass
The advantage of this SUICA PASMO alternative is that you will get to take UNLIMITED rides on the tokyo metro for the duration of the pass for a set price
There are three options the 24 hours, 48 hours and 72 hours pass, I have listed the pricings here
- Tokyo Subway 24-hour Ticket – Adult: 800 yen, Child: 400 yen
- Tokyo Subway 48-hour Ticket – Adult: 1,200 yen, Child: 600 yen
- Tokyo Subway 72-hour Ticket – Adult: 1,500 yen, Child: 750 yen
It is actually a fantastic option if you are planning to take a lot of trains in Tokyo because the pricing is pretty darn good
I mean the 3 day version costs 10.50 US dollars which works out to be slightly over 3 dollars a day!
You will just need get the correct combination for the number the days you are there for, like say you’re there for 5 days then you may wish to combine the 3 and 2 days passes
There are several ways to get these as listed on their website. You can actually pre purchase this before your arrival in Japan and there are some pretty cool options here as well
For example You can choose to bundle your purchase with a Keisei Skyliner or Limousine bus ticket which are transport options that take you from the airport to tokyo
you can also choose to purchase it with hotel accomodation
Once you have purchased the pass your will get a QR code in your email you will NEED this QR code either printed out or clearly displayed on your phone to claim the actual ticket via ticket vending machines located in at any stations located within the Tokyo Metro Subway or Toei Metro Subway networks
The validity of the pass starts from when you claim the pass and you will need to claim this pass within 12 months of you purchasing it
On and all a fantastic option of you are only staying in Tokyo for short periods of time
However if you plan to stay longer in Tokyo like 2 weeks ,a month etc these passes will also give you some time to locate a physical IC card!
Option 4 - Get one of the other IC Cards
Which leads quite nicely into the next section of other IC card options
Whilst everybody is talking about SUICA and PASMO did you know that there are actually TEN IC card in Japan?
The reason why SUICA and PASMO is talked about so much is because they are IC cards primarily used in Tokyo but did you know that IC card in other cities in Japan can also be alternatively used in Tokyo and vice versa?
Like for example if you were planning on heading to Osaka or Kyoto during your trip you could get a ICOCA IC card while you’re there that can also be used when you’re in Tokyo
In fact any one of the 10 IC cards can be used nationwide!
Option 5 - Get a TOICA IC Card
If you plan to stay put in Tokyo, wasnt able to get your hands on any SUICA, PASMOs physical IC cards and I also have an Android device not to worry I STILL have one more alternative for you!
One that honestly I’m surprised not more people are talking about
There is another lesser-known IC card sold in Tokyo called Toica which is a fantastic SUICA or PASMO alternative
Toica will work exactly the same as Pasmo and Suica and the best part is you can get them in TOKYO!
Where to get TOICA IC CARD – TOICA handling counter at the Yaesu north exit of Tokyo Station
Honestly I think the only reason why it isn’t talked about is much is because the website for this IC card is in Japanese but you can easily translate it using your browsers translate function but basically you can get the pass at any of the TOICA Ticketing offices as listed here
If you didnt know this, you are welcome!
Conclusion
If you are planning to travel between cities during your trip to Japan you will need to get bullet train aka Shinkansen tickets as none of the IC Cards I have mentioned in this video cover those
Bullet train tickets can be quite expensive though so you may want to consider getting a JR Pass or JR Regional Pass, I talk all about that in my Tokyo Travel Pass video (click HERE to watch)
Heading to Japan for the first time can be quite daunting and I certainly learnt a lot of things the hard way, that’s why I did a first timers guide to Japan (click HERE to watch!)
I do hope that you found this informative and insightful
If you have any further questions or anything else you wanna say dont forget to leave me a comment in the comment section of the youtube video or follow me on Instagram and Tiktok!
Enjoy Japan!
