Hello guys, I have a question about Fare Adjustment.
When do I need to do a fare adjustment?
Example: I took the Haruka from KIX to Tennoji using a ticket I bought from the ticket machines at KIX. Then I transferred to the Yamatoji Line without going through any gates in between. Just hopped off the Haruka then onto the Yamatoji Line to JR Namba. At JR Namba, I inserted the Haruka ticket into the machine and it ate it. So I think I’m okay? For some reason, I thought I wouldn’t be able to get through because the ticket said to Tennoji, not JR Namba. Could someone explain this to me, please?
4 comments
The most important thing is the price of the ticket.
The ticket basically only knows where you come from, and how much money it is worth.
So in you case, the fare you paid, is enough to cover the trip between KIX -> Tennoji. The price between KIX -> Namba seems to be lower, so the fare will cover that as well. In your case you paid more than you had to.
If you went further away, where the price would be more expensive, then you would need Fare Adjustment.
The printing on the ticket is mainly a memo for you it’s not that the ticket is only valid between those stations. Usually you can buy tickets with just the fare, without selecting stations, and that is exactly the same ticket, but without the stations printed on it.
If you’re not sure where you want to go of, or it may change depending on if you can catch a certain train or you maybe want to exit mid journey if the weather is nice etc, it’s better to pay the cheaper fare, and then do the fare adjustment if you end up taking the more expensive route. There is no fine if you pay too little, just adjust to the correct price.
I assume you were using tickets that said “Kansai Airport to Tennoji” and not “Kansai Airport -> 1,080 yen”. The later is valid to any station that cost 1080 yen or less from Kansai Airport.
For the former ticket, some gate doesn’t accept it, and require you to use the fare adjustment machine to get the exit ticket (the price from Kansai Airport to Tennoji is the same as to JR Namba). It seems that JR Namba gate do accept it if the price is the same, so no problem there. These type of ticket is only valid between stations printed on the ticket (the other comment is wrong). But for travel less than 100km or in greater Tokyo/Osaka zone, the fare adjustment works by taking the fare of the new route minus the fare of the route printed on the ticket, which is zero in this case. (Rules get complicated real quick for travel more than 100km not in greater Tokyo/Osaka zone).
Fare adjustment is used when you decide to just buy the cheapest ticket without checking the value you need to go somewhere, then at the destination you put the ticket in the fare adjustment machine and pay the difference. Cannot tell exactly for your situation.
Also work to empty an IC card, like you leave some money on it, there is a minimum you need, then take a train for more than the remaining balance, use the fare adjustment machine to pay for the difference (or recharge).
The distance from KIX to Namba is less than KIX to Tennoji (despite you travelling back and forth), so there was no need to pay extra fare.