Rugby World Cup 2019 Japan Travel etc...

Eod100

gavkm27 wrote: »

Flying out on 8th of October to Kagoshima down south with a pal and starting a 2200km unsupported bike race across Japan and with a bit of luck we'll be riding into Tokyo a few days before the Semi's

2200km?! Christ that's some distance! Best of luck

Phileas Frog

MikeCork2009 wrote: »

Tuesday and Wednesday it was awful. 32/33 degrees but the humidity was 85%. Was really sticky. Today was nice though. 28 degrees, with a breeze and humidity was only 30%

More importantly, what's the average price of a pint? :-)

BonnieSituation

MikeCork2009 wrote: »

I didn't get any Yen before I arrived. I used my card to withdraw some cash in the 7-11 shop located in the train station level of Narita airport. Honestly, you'll be grand.

What sort of exchangedid you get nailed on? Fees etc?

gavkm27

Eod100 wrote: »

2200km?! Christ that's some distance! Best of luck

Yeah it is!!! but whats even more scary is the amount of climbing involved - 42,000m as Japan is a tad hilly, anyway if i make it out the otherside in 1 piece and we make the Semi's then i'm there

macslash

Lads, trying to find adapters here in Ireland. Where did people get them?

Ectoplasm

comment wrote: »

Has anyone purchased Yen before travelling and where did they get it and how was the exchange rate. I went to order some in AIB and was told it’s not a currency they do. Definitely looking to have some cash with me for when I arrive given what I’ve read.

I had same issue. Company called Fexco do it and they're very quick with it. They will actually deliver it to your door if you can't pick it up. I'll dig out the link now.

https://www.no1currency.ie/

Phileas Frog

macslash wrote: »

Lads, trying to find adapters here in Ireland. Where did people get them?

It's the same as the US

macslash

Phileas Frog wrote: »

It's the same as the US

Sound thank you

finbarrk

MikeCork2009 wrote: »

Also, I couldn't help myself going to the RWC megastore here in Tokyo and getting carried away in all the excitement and buying this Paid for it with my MasterCard (which is plastered all over the place)

How much was it Mike?

bmcc10

Phileas Frog wrote: »

More importantly, what's the average price of a pint? :-)

Depends on the places you want to go go you can pay anywhere from around ¥300 for pint of Asahi or could go to places and pay up to ¥1000 for a pint of warm Guinness. Cans are cheap in supermarkets and 7/11

Riskymove

Ectoplasm wrote: »

I had same issue. Company called Fexco do it and they're very quick with it. They will actually deliver it to your door if you can't pick it up. I'll dig out the link now.

https://www.no1currency.ie/

I used the too
All good

Birdie Num Num

Phileas Frog wrote: »

You'd be surprised

And I'd guess you'd have travelled quite a bit around the world Mr Phileas Frog?

Hippo

MikeCork2009 wrote: »

Arrived in Tokyo ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ So far so good. Toughest part so far was the 9hr 45 minute flight from Dubai. Couldn't sleep for the life of me. So now I'm sitting in a bar in Shinjuku (Tokyo) drinking beer at ¥1134 a pint but paying by card. I've used TransferWise card so far to pay hotel, withdraw cash and buy beer same as if I was at home. Kanpai!!

I've this flight coming up next Friday! There for the first two games, really looking forward to it now.

errlloyd

Quick guide to money in Japan as far as I can understand.

There are three types of ATM.

Japan Post - bout 2e
Seve (in 7/11) - Free 7am - 7pm but 1e outside those hours.
Prestia - Free

If you're using a normal bank (AIB, BOI, Ulster) there is a good chance there are some pretty heavy charges for overseas ATM usage. But if you get Revolut (or one of the other challengers) they usually have some pretty good deals.

Revolut give your first 200e free from ATM withdrawals after that they charge 2%. But importantly they give you the interbank rate - ie a true exchange rate. On top of that using the card abroad is completely free. So when you do go into a restuarant, hotel, shop that accepts card you save the money and pay no fees. There are no fees at all to open a Revolut account, I think at the moment the cards are free (but sometimes they cost 5e) set up takes a few mins (selfie and pic of passport). Atm there is a referral deal where if you get a code from your mate (or pm me) everyone gets a tenner. Vodafone have the same offer if you prefer the Irish team sponsor to benefit.

FexCo do not give you the interbank exchange rate. At the moment if you buy Yen on Fexco they are offering 114 yen to the euro. The real rate is 120. So effectively they're charging 5% commission, which is laughably expensive for a service that makes you then carry hundreds or thousands of Euro worth of cash around Japan with you.

Maybe a few percent here or there doesn't sound like much. But on 1,000 euro spending money the difference will end up being around 40 quid. Or ~13 pints of Asahi. And that's assuming you end up using the same amount of cash, when in reality I'd say you will able to use the card more than you think and avoid fees completely.

I know this sounds like a plug, it's not. It's just genuinely the best advice I can give!

Squidgy Black

If you have the revolut metal account, believe it's around 15 quid a month, they give you 1% cashback as well outside of Europe. And the ATM withdrawal limit goes up to 600 euro.

errlloyd

Squidgy Black wrote: »

If you have the revolut metal account, believe it's around 15 quid a month, they give you 1% cashback as well outside of Europe. And the ATM withdrawal limit goes up to 600 euro.

And there is some travel insurance included with premium and metal, and one free airport lounge per year for anyone who has booked a flight with a nasty looking layover. And a cool looking metal debit card that makes people think you are much more wealthy than your cheap drink choice initially suggested.

Phileas Frog

Birdie Num Num wrote: »

And I'd guess you'd have travelled quite a bit around the world Mr Phileas Frog?

I once travelled around the world in a little under three months as part of a bet. Ribbet

Ectoplasm

Hippo wrote: »

I've this flight coming up next Friday! There for the first two games, really looking forward to it now.

Me too. This time next week we'll be in Dubai.

Getting quite hyped for this now.

troyzer

Just nabbed a Cat B ticket to the final.

MikeCork2009

BonnieSituation wrote: »

What sort of exchangedid you get nailed on? Fees etc?

I used TransferWise and got £1 = ¥130. Free to withdraw £200 at ATMs per month and then 2% fees after that. Which is very reasonable.

MikeCork2009

finbarrk wrote: »

How much was it Mike?

It cost me £80 in yen equivalent!!

MikeCork2009

Well lads Tokyo is great craic. Last night went to a "British" pub as it was happy hour, so pints of Kirin were only like ¥500. Anyway, met an English girl, a Kiwi guy and then we got talking to two mad Japanese lads and ended up going to a karaoke place until the early hours!!

steam iron

troyzer wrote: »

Just nabbed a Cat B ticket to the final.

Delighted for you Troyzer.
I've been following this thread since it started and can feel your excitement.

Myself and my other half are going to Tokyo for the quarter finals.
Can't wait.

lawrencesummers

Two spare tickets for QF 4 Sunday 20th October, the one Ireland will be in if we win the group.
Face Value
PM me.

Does anybody know if there will be a fan zone or anywhere to watch the NZ vs SA game outside of yokohama stadium? Thinking of heading up to it even without tickets

troyzer

marley45 wrote: »

Does anybody know if there will be a fan zone or anywhere to watch the NZ vs SA game outside of yokohama stadium? Thinking of heading up to it even without tickets

Supposedly the fan zone is in Yokohama itself.

Which is a bit **** because it's a good 40-50 minute walk.

Riskymove

troyzer wrote: »

Supposedly the fan zone is in Yokohama itself.

Which is a bit **** because it's a good 40-50 minute walk.

All fan zones are away from stadia

For security and practical reasons

32mako

marley45 wrote: »

Does anybody know if there will be a fan zone or anywhere to watch the NZ vs SA game outside of yokohama stadium? Thinking of heading up to it even without tickets

Fanzone for Yokohama is at Rinko Park. Looks great, on the waterfront. We were at the fanzone in NZ 2011 for games we didn't have tickets to and they were awesome. Planning on going there unless we go to the baseball that is on in Tokyo that night.

Google maps says its 30mins walk to stadium from there

MikeCork2009

32mako wrote: »

Fanzone for Yokohama is at Rinko Park. Looks great, on the waterfront. We were at the fanzone in NZ 2011 for games we didn't have tickets to and they were awesome. Planning on going there unless we go to the baseball that is on in Tokyo that night.

Google maps says its 30mins walk to stadium from there

Rinko Park is in the city of Yokohama. The stadium is out of the city (nearly 7km). I'm staying in the city and will need to get the train/subway to the stadium - it ain't walkable! I'm in Yokohama for 3 nights (going to both NZ v SA and Ireland v Scotland) and will go along to the Fanzone on Friday evening to watch the opening game. I even have a Japanese jersey ðŸ˜

32mako

MikeCork2009 wrote: »

Rinko Park is in the city of Yokohama. The stadium is out of the city (nearly 7km). I'm staying in the city and will need to get the train/subway to the stadium - it ain't walkable! I'm in Yokohama for 3 nights (going to both NZ v SA and Ireland v Scotland) and will go along to the Fanzone on Friday evening to watch the opening game. I even have a Japanese jersey ðŸ˜

Thanks MikeCork2009... you're totally right.

You gave me a bit of a panic there but sooner now than in a weeks time! Turns out I've been looking at Yokohama Stadium - which is a baseball stadium (Obviously!) and not Nissan Stadium - which is a stadium for the RWC (even more obviously!)

Ah it's going to be great, really looking forward to it now... (goes and checks flight tickets are actually to Tokyo, Japan, and not Tokyo, Canada or somewhere!)

troyzer

I don't know if this affects anyone else but Cathay Pacific are suspending flights to Dublin from the 7th November to March. It affects our return flight which is being cancelled.

We're just waiting for them to offer us a reroute.

MikeCork2009

32mako wrote: »

Thanks MikeCork2009... you're totally right.

You gave me a bit of a panic there but sooner now than in a weeks time! Turns out I've been looking at Yokohama Stadium - which is a baseball stadium (Obviously!) and not Nissan Stadium - which is a stadium for the RWC (even more obviously!)

Ah it's going to be great, really looking forward to it now... (goes and checks flight tickets are actually to Tokyo, Japan, and not Tokyo, Canada or somewhere!)

No worries. I made the exact same mistake. I booked my hotel close to the baseball stadium thinking I'd have an easy stroll to the ground 😂😂 Works out well though as I'm close to the Fanzone now and a guy I was talking to said there's nothing around the Nissan Stadium (he goes for J League matches) and it's better to be staying in the city.

errlloyd

Lads there are some tickets on the site today, but I keep getting the "exceeded quantity" bug. Does anyone know how to fix it?

I’m staying in Shibuya district of Tokyo and going to the NZ/ SthA match on Saturday, are there any special transports from bus/train stations to the stadium or is it just a case of using regular trains? I’m just thinking of all the venues I’ve been to which are a bit out of city, like the Camp Nou which can be difficult to get out of afterwards if everyone is piling onto trans at the same time.

matrim

errlloyd wrote: »

Lads there are some tickets on the site today, but I keep getting the "exceeded quantity" bug. Does anyone know how to fix it?

Getting the same problem all week.

Chris871

One spare Cat C ticket for Scotland if anyone is looking for one?

Boscoirl

I am all packed......





.....but not travelling for another 2 weeks

MikeCork2009

Boscoirl wrote: »

I am all packed......





.....but not travelling for another 2 weeks

A ball hasn't been kicked but I don't want to go home. Maybe I'll just stay for the whole thing and then some more, do a lap of honour 😂

lawrencesummers

Boscoirl wrote: »

I am all packed......





.....but not travelling for another 2 weeks

Either your showing off your extraordinary levels of affluence by owning two toothbrushes, or your minging.

Baltraybandit

Chris871 wrote: »

One spare Cat C ticket for Scotland if anyone is looking for one?

Howya Chris, is the ticket still for sale?

MikeCork2009

Given we'll all be over here any of you fancy going for a few pints beforehand? Even if it's just on the day of the match! Like the first game, Ireland v Scotland.

Boscoirl

lawrencesummers wrote: »

Either your showing off your extraordinary levels of affluence by owning two toothbrushes, or your minging.

Everyone has two toothbrushes. An electric one and a normal one for when the battery is gone.

My main worry is that i only have one pair of jocks till I go

lawrencesummers

Boscoirl wrote: »

Everyone has two toothbrushes. An electric one and a normal one for when the battery is gone.

My main worry is that i only have one pair of jocks till I go

Only one pair of jocks? That’s not a problem until day 5.

troyzer

lawrencesummers wrote: »

Boscoirl wrote: »

Everyone has two toothbrushes. An electric one and a normal one for when the battery is gone.

My main worry is that i only have one pair of jocks till I go

Only one pair of jocks? That’s not a problem until day 5.

Not really. You just turn them inside out on day five. You can get two weeks when you take the inside/outside + frontsie/backsie approach.

FrancieBrady

Do we have any figures on how many Irish will be there? Approx.

troyzer

FrancieBrady wrote: »

Do we have any figures on how many Irish will be there? Approx.

7,500-10,000 was thrown out on Ivan Yates the other day.

finbarrotoole

Chivito550 wrote: »

I'm not going to the rugby, but am going to the Tokyo Olympics next year. Right now, a year out, accommodation prices are scandalous. I'm taking €100 a night for those awful capsule hotels, and €300 a night for a normal hotel. The amount of hotels available is quite small too.

Can any of you who are going to Japan for the rugby tell me your accommodation experiences? Were the prices crazy a year out, but then drop as the event got closer? How much are you paying?

You are booking too early prices will drop. Use booking .com to hold rooms with no payment up front, then use agoda,priceline,expedia or kayak to get better prices closer to event. I am travelling with my wife and 13yr old son and the price per night is 100.00 on average.

troyzer

troyzer wrote: »

Not really. You just turn them inside out on day five. You can get two weeks when you take the inside/outside + frontsie/backsie approach.

And good socks, some establishments require you to take your shoes off and you can’t walk on mats with bare feet.

deezell

Only one pair of jocks? That’s not a problem until day 5.

Won't be a problem for the Scottish fans at all.....

gavkm27

Got my semi ticket and today and booked a 3 Star 22nd-28th Oct near Tokyo station, 6 nights, less than £500