Booked a Shinkansen trip the other day on SmartEx for a trip on April 10 from Odawara Station to Shin-Osaka Station. I’ve never used SmartEx before but for some reason, the only trip itinerary it offered was a two train trip: one from Odawara to Nagoya (Kodama 727) and another from Nagoya to Shin-Osaka (Nozomi 231). As there was no other option, I purchased this plan but am confused.
Why was there no option to sit on one train for my entire trip? I’ve never seen this mentioned when looking up booking Shinkansen with SmartEx. Additionally, as it mentions two different train models, it looks like I have to transfer. How will I know what train to get on when they’re supposed to be going in the same direction? Will it be an issue to transfer with the QR code/easier to just print out the tickets associated with the trip?
In total, we’ll be traveling from Hakone to Osaka so there’ll be a lot of steps to this trip. Please help ease my anxiety as a first time Japan traveler 😅
Edit: Was able to book a nonstop trip with SmartEx after selecting the “no transit” option! I did not realize that was a default setting but now I’m happily sitting in only one train for the entire trip. Thank you to everyone for reaching out for help, people like you make traveling that much more of a pleasant experience
by smammie22