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Change reservations

Reservations can be changed as many times as you like up to the time of departure of your reserved train, provided you have not picked up your ticket or gone through the ticket gate with QR-Ticket or an IC card.

Please check the conditions that apply to changes before using this service, as costs may vary if the boarding date/type of train is different, even though the fare, number of passengers, boarding sections, and train facilities may be identical.

The payment is settled in YEN and foreign transaction fee etc. accompanying this shall be governed by a contract between the Member and his or her credit card company.
Note that each time a change is made we take a new payment for the post-change fare, and then refund the cost of the pre-change fare. Therefore foreign transaction fee prescribed by the credit card company may be charged each time when making a change.

For "one-way" fares

When processed by members

Members are allowed to process their changes to reservations, provided the following conditions apply. Please check how to carry out this process at "How to change/refund a reservation."

Changes - Reception times

24hours

  • Excluding during system maintenance.
  • The use of the seat map is not avaulable between 11:30 pm to 5:30 am the next day (JST). Requests will be processed in order after 5:30 am.
  • A maximum of 3 people can be reserved in one reservation between 11:30 p.m. and 5:30 a.m. the next day.
  • Payment will be made at the time of reservation.
  • Japan Standard Time (hereinafter referred to as (JST))
Conditions that apply to changes*1*2

Up to the departure time of your reserved train, provided you have not picked up your ticket or gone through the ticket gate with QR-Ticket or an IC card.

  • UP to 11:30 pm (JST) on the day of travel for non-reserved seats.
  • Excluding during system maintenance.
Substitute train

Trains up to 4 minutes before the train departure time

Reception periods

You can change within 3 months of the travel date of the initial purchased reservation.

1. [Reservations within one month]:
You can change your boarding date within the above period as many times as you wish, however you can only make reservations for trains up to one month in advance of the change date.

  • Example)
    If you make a reservation on July 1 for a train on July 15, you can change the date of your reservation as many times as you wish as long as it is by October 14. However, for example, if you change your reservation on July 10, you can only make reservations for trains up to August 10, one month ahead of the reserved date.

2. [Reservation beyond 1 month]:
You can change the boarding date within the above period as many times as you wish, however you can only make reservations for trains up to one year in advance of the reservation date.

  • Example)
    If you made a reservation on July 1, 2023 for a train to be boarded on July 1, 2024, you can change the reservation as many times as you wish as long as the boarding date is no later than September 30, 2024. However, for example, if you make a change on July 10, 2023, you can only make reservations for trains up to July 10, 2024, which is one year ahead.
(Hayatoku fares)
  • For changes to a train with a boarding date that is at least 3 days on*1 from the point in time the reservation is changed, if such changes satisfy the established terms and conditions of the Hayatoku fare and seats are available, changes are allowed for the same Hayatoku fare. When making a change, you can also change for another fare that is available for purchase (you will need to make up any difference in price).
  • When changing to a train with a boarding date that falls within 2 days*2 of the point in time the reservation is changed, you will need to change to a different fare such as "smartEX" etc., and make up any difference in price.
  • At least 21 days on for "Hayatoku-21 Wide"
  • Within 20 days for "Hayatoku-21 Wide"

*1 If you are tranferring and using 2 trains or more, you can make changes up to the departure time of the first train on which you have a reserved seat.

*2 As a rule, each time a change is made we take a new payment for the post-change fare, and then refund the cost of the pre-change fare. As a result, there may be times when your credit card limit, or similar, will not allow the changes to be made. Note that the payment is settled in YEN and foreign transaction fee etc. accompanying this shall be governed by a contract between the Member and his or her credit card company.

  • It is not possible to change one-way fares and round-trip fares for one another. Please obtain a refund and then make a new reservation.
  • If there are no empty seats in the train you want, then you will not be able to make a change. If we are unable to complete your application for change due to all seats being full etc., then we will keep your reservation with the details held before the change was requested.
  • If you are reducing the number of passengers with reservations, please process this through the "Changes" function (you will need to pay a refund charge for the number of passengers cut).

When handled by station staff, etc.

Members are not able to process changes themselves once they have picked up tickets or gone through a ticket gate using QR-Ticket or an IC card.

  • If, after picking up your tickets, you want to change either the boarding date, boarding sections, type of train or facilities, please apply at a ticket booth in any main JR Central, JR West or JR Kyushu station before the time your train is scheduled to depart and then purchase new, normal tickets (i.e. non-discounted) as required. In this case, the ticket booth at the JR Central, JR West or JR Kyushu main station will issue a refund for the tickets you hold to the credit card you used to pay for this Service with no refund charges payable.
  • If you decide to change your train once you have passed through the ticket gate using QR-Ticket or an IC card, please speak to a member of the station staff at the gate. We will arrange it so that members can again process the changes themselves. However, this must be done before the scheduled time of departure of the reserved train.
  • Provided that it is prior to the departure time of the reserved train and that the train you want to change to is the same as the original reservation in terms of date, boarding section, facilities and train type (you cannot change a Nozomi or Mizuho service for Hikari, Kodama, Sakura or Tsubame; or vice versa) then we will accept the change of train with no charge payable for the first change only at ticket vending machines and ticket booths at any main JR Central, JR West or JR Kyushu Shinkansen station (note that this excludes Hayatoku fares where passengers can only travel on the trains specified).
  • Please speak to the "Tokaido Sanyo Kyushu Shinkansen Internet Reservation Service Customer Center" if you cannot use the membership feature to process changes/refunds etc., for certain boarding sections only.

Round-Trip Fares

(Regardless of first boarding or second boarding on the reservation screen, the first stretch that you board is referred to as the "outbound" and the stretch you board after that is known as the "return.")

When processed by members

Members are allowed to process their changes to reservations, provided the following conditions apply. Please check how to carry out this process at "How to change/refund a reservation."

Changes - Reception times when changes can be accepted

24hours

  • Excluding during system maintenance.
  • The use of the seat map is not avaulable between 11:30 pm to 5:30 am the next day (JST). Requests will be processed in order after 5:30 am.
  • A maximum of 3 people can be reserved in one reservation between 11:30 p.m. and 5:30 a.m. the next day.
  • Payment will be made at the time of reservation.
  • Japan Standard Time (hereinafter referred to as (JST))
Conditions that apply to changes*1*2

Refunds are available up to the time of departure of your reserved train, provided you have not picked up your ticket or gone through the ticket gate with QR-Ticket or an IC card.

  • UP to 11:30 pm (JST) on the day of travel for non-reserved seats.
  • Excluding during system maintenance.
Substitute train

All trains up to 4 minutes before the train departure time.

Reception time when changes can be accepted

You can change your reservation to any boarding date which falls within 3 months from the boarding date of the initial purchase

  • A train leaving up to 1 month on from the date the change is processed can be reserved.
  • If you wish to change a reservation for a train with a departure date more than one month ahead, you can choose a train leaving up to 1 year from the date the change is processed.

(E.G.) If you reserve a train for July 15 on July 1, you can make as many changes as you like up to October 14. However, you can only make a reservation for a train leaving no later than August 15, which is one month on. You cannot change to a train with a departure date more than one month ahead.

*1 If you are transferring and using 2 trains or more, you can make changes up to the departure time of the first train on which you have a reserved seat. In addition, if the outbound stretch is only for a non-reserved seat and the return stretch is for another day, you can change the collective round trip up to 11:30 pm (JST) on the boarding date of the outbound stretch. * Excluding during system maintenance.

*2 As a rule, each time a change is made we take a new payment for the post-change fare, and then refund the cost of the pre-change fare. As a result, there may be times when your credit card limit, or similar, will not allow the changes to be made.

  • It is not possible to change round-trip fares and one-way fares for one another. Please obtain a refund and then make a new reservation.
  • If there are no empty seats in the train you want, then you will not be able to make a change. If we are unable to complete your application for change due to all seats being full etc., then we will keep your reservation with the details held before the change was requested.

[Changes before the departure time of the train before the outbound and return trips]

You can change your reservation as many times as you wish, however please make sure that the [section], [number of passengers], and [breakdown of adults and children] are the same for both outbound and round trips.

  • [Changes after use/receipt of the outbound trip, or after the departure of the train]
    You may change the boarding date, train, facility, and number of passengers booked for the return trip. However, if you change the number of passengers, you will be charged a refund fee for the reduced number of passengers.

Please check how to carry out this process at "How to change/refund a reservation."

When handled by station staff, etc.

Members are not able to process changes themselves once they have picked up tickets or gone through a ticket gate using QR-Ticket or an IC card.

  • If, after picking up your tickets, you want to change either the boarding date, boarding sections, type of train or facilities, please apply at a ticket booth in any main JR Central, JR West or JR Kyushu station before the time your train is scheduled to depart and then purchase new, normal tickets (i.e. non-discounted) as required. In this case, the ticket booth at the JR Central, JR West or JR Kyushu main station will issue a refund for the tickets you hold to the credit card you used to pay for this Service with no refund charges payable. Note that when changing a boarding section one-way only, a refund will be made to the credit card used to pay for this Service once the refund charge (discounted return cancellation charge) has been deducted.
  • If you decide to change your train once you have passed through the ticket gate using QR-Ticket or an IC card, please speak to a member of the station staff at the gate. We will arrange it so that members can again process the changes themselves. However, this must be done before the scheduled departure time of the reserved train.
  • Provided that it is prior to the departure time of the reserved train and that the train you want to change to is the same as the original reservation in terms of date, boarding section, facilities and train type (you cannot change a Nozomi or Mizuho service for Hikari, Kodama, Sakura or Tsubame; or vice versa) then we will accept the change of train with no charge payable for the first change only at ticket vending machines and ticket booths at any main JR Central, JR West or JR Kyushu Shinkansen station (note that this excludes Hayatoku fares where passengers can only travel on the trains specified.)
  • Please speak to the "Tokaido Sanyo Kyushu Shinkansen Internet Reservation Service Customer Center" if you cannot use the membership feature to process changes/refunds etc., for certain boarding sections only.