So… I’m in a bit of a pickle. I just arrived in Tokyo and I lost my wallet at a connecting airport. I’ve managed to make it to my hotel room (in Ginza) by paying by phone but it appears the options for tap to pay are more limited than I had expected. SO, I’m looking for…
1. ideas of things to do in Tokyo where “tap to pay” or contactless credit cards will get me by for a couple days until I link up with my travel partner
And… perhaps more of a stretch here
2. I’m looking for creative solutions to get cash out/ get a temporary card. Goal is to increase my ability to pay and get around.
I have a debit and credit card set up on my phone for payment, I can pay for other transactions online, but the lack of cards and cash is daunting. I’d love to explore rather than having to stick close to Ginza and the hotel for a couple days so advice from seasoned Tokyo travelers/residents would be greatly appreciated!
6 comments
Contact your bank, I lost my card on Ireland once and they had a temporary card at my hotel within 24 hours, but now I always take a least 2 cards
Get them replaced and ask them to expedite. If one of them was a premium AMEX card, they can probably find a way to advance you some money and guarantee your hotel. They sort of made a brand out of this that nobody remembers now. You can load a Suica card onto an iPhone using whatever cards are stored in your Apple wallet.
Unfortunately, tap to pay system for phones is different in Japan and Apple Pay doesn’t always work
My best practice, I split up my stuff to keep this from happening. Passport, backup cash and B&C list cards go in the cute little passport wallet that lives in my messenger bag. Phone and whatever cards I consider active go in the phone wallet case.
Failing all of this, wire yourself money via western union and pick it up.
Tap to pay for international phones may be under “visa de touch” or something like that instead. I used that with my US iphone at Seven-Eleven last month.
i did this once with my visa ,, lost my wallet and rang visa and basically got a line of credit with them and took cash out at the western union (around $900)
>options for tap to pay are more limited than I had expected
>I’m looking for creative solutions to get cash out/ get a temporary card. Goal is to increase my ability to pay and get around.
If you can set up a SUICA or PASMO card on your phone you can cover most day to day things that isn’t a sidewalk vendor or food stall. Works at restaurants, convenience stores, department stores, and trains too.
Load up your Suica card on your phone (fyi it was having some issues with foreign Visa a while ago I think) and then you can use it at most stores, conbini, and restaurants that have some connection to a train station (like a department store above a train station). Just look for the little Suica logo. Many other places too, but I find train-station attached places the most reliable for Suica (for obvious reasons).
Grab a bento and a drink at a conbini, hop on a train to a park, and go explore!