Questions on payment methods

14 comments

1. I like using Suica for commuting. Tap and go basically.
   Also used it on Konbini and other shops but it generally acts as a loadable credit card. I put 50k yen until i exhaust it, and then reload with another 50k yen. Reload stations are found in stations or convenience stores.
   I also used suica on some vending machines.

   Ive never used discovery credit card but i have 3 different credit cards that used with no issue.

   Cash is king as sometimes shops do not accept credit or suica. Always have cash on you. 40k is a good start but you can always withdraw in convenience stores. Watch out for cc fees.

2. >Anyone with Discover credit cards have any issues?

   Discover and Amex are less widely accepted than Visa and Mastercard, but most major retailers should still accept them. I wouldn’t bank on it being your primary card type – have a backup that’s Visa or MC.

   >What are Suica cards best used for and where are they accepted?

   As a foreigner, paying for Trains, vending machines, and convenience stores. I used Suikakeibo to check my last 20 transactions on my Pasmo I used for my last trip – 18 of the scans were for trains, 1 was to add money, 1 was from a vending machine.

   >How much is a good amount to load it with.

   This is up to you – if you’re doing a digital Suica, you can set it to auto-feed from one of your credit cards, I believe. I usually put about 10,000 JPY on it at the beginning of my trip.

   >How much cash did you actually use, and where?

   I bring a lot of cash because I tend to buy a fair amount of used/retro video game stuff and those vendors are not 100% for taking cards (could be better now – it’s been almost five years since I’ve been). I have ¥230,000 right now for my trip in March, and I’ll likely end up with ¥400,000 by the time we go. That being said, I’m also being quite aggressive with Yen purchasing right now because of the incredibly favorable rate, and I’m anticipating a correction by the Japanese government.

3. I used Suica and Cash to pay for anything I needed. Only used my debit/credit cards to get more cash from the atm. You can use Suica in conbini, supermarkets, vending machines, some restaurants and shops etc. I kept around 10k yen on it and topped it up a few times. I used it wherever I could to save on hassle with coins etc.

4. Cash is king most of the time. In other words, while plenty of places take cards (especially anything expecting tourists), many things do still require cash, and having cash plus a source of cash is something I would consider important. I was traveling with a friend who was able to withdraw cash from an ATM which should work with most bank cards, my small town bank card did not work but I brought enough US Dollars to exchange when necessary (easy to do in cities).

   Random examples of things that I needed cash for: small museum, local restaurants, zoo, arcade games/gacha machines, festival stalls, highway tolls, gasoline pump (only place that *should* have accepted credit but it didn’t work for some reason)

   I do not have Discover so can’t comment on that, my Visa worked anywhere that accepted credit cards at all

5. 2. You can also use Suica on coin lockers and at conbini, probably other places as well. We only used ours for transit. We had the physical welcome suica cards, and topped it up with 2000 yen as needed with cash.

   3. We took out cash as needed, usually 10k or 20k at a time. We probably took out 80k total for the whole 2 week trip (2 travelers, me and my husband). Most of this probably went to topping up our suica cards. We had to pay cash at some small restaurants (both in cities and rural areas), some small shops, coin lockers (some only take coins) and coin laundry, vending machines, and some attractions for admission fees. Also, we did take one train that didn’t accept suica – the Nagano-Dentetsu Line, so we had to buy tickets for that in cash.

6. 1. Cash is king. I’ve only ever used cards in large retailers and hotels. Personally I would withdraw cash from ATMs as you go for everyday expenses. Japan is literally the safest country in the world so don’t need to worry about it getting stolen.
   2. Suica is primarily used for train travel but can be used in other places (eg convenience stores and vending machines).
   3. Japan can be as cheap or as expensive as you want it to be. If you want to eat regular (amazing) Japanese food and do plenty of touristy stuff without going silly, you’ll probably need a fair bit more than 40K.

7. 1. no idea as i dont have a discover card. i’ve had mixed results using mastercard vs visa though. sometimes a card is rejected and other times its not. no idea why.
   2. i had a welcome suica card and used it all of the time on the subway/trains. you can also use it at various stores that have the suica sign near the register or wherever but i literally never used it for that. its up to you. the welcome suica card doesnt let you refund money and it expires after 28 days though. so i didnt bother overloading it.
   3. also totally up to you. i dont think i carried around more than 50,000 yen at once. but i also needed to pay for tattoos in cash / etc.

8. I usually dump like $100 on my pasmo/suica then use it everywhere. Trains, 7-11, vending etc. Refill as needed. Slow it down the last few days, then spend the remainder at duty free lol.

   I never bring more than like $100 cash, I go straight to the 7-11 ATM at the airport on landing and pull $500 at a time as needed. Their foreign transaction fees are pretty negligible.

   Most retail places take card, esp since COVID, only places cash only were mom&pop shops, last I visited. Cash only is more common in rural areas.

   Visa is like…99% accepted. Amex/discover less common, but corporate retail usually takes them.

   Bring a coin bag for all the coins lol.

9. I just got back.

   1. I had a visa and a discove. Discover gave me a few issues. But Visa made up for any time that happened. I ended up using it more.

   2. Didn’t use.

   3. I pulled out 20000 and had that was enough for a week.

10. 1. i saw a lot of restaurants in tokyo accept discover.
    2. suica card best for train travel & vending machines, also can use them at some restaurants
    1. good to start off with 5k yen and then top up as you need
    3. cash – took out 700 for 3 wks
    1. but you can probably do less! (would save them for more rural areas), tokyo is very credit card friendly
    2. i didn’t plan to convert it back so i used it all up, so if i didnt use it all up i’d probably have used around 300? also make sure to go to tax counters to get money back
    3. i probably did like 95% credit card 5% cash

11. You can use your credit/debit cards to get yen at most convenient stores. Always have around Yen 50,000-100,000 to carry with you when traveling if possible in Japan. Better to change money at the Japan airport than at a hotel.

12. I use Revolut where I convert EUROS-YEN it basically deducts the actual available currency you have in your account.

    Download the suica to put in your aplle wallet that will save you whenever they don’t accept credit card. I did never take out cash till now

13. I live in Japan. We have never used a credit card for any in-person purchase in Japan. We use cash for everything except for things such as utility or insurance payments and the like, for which we have automatic bank transfers arranged. Cash is accepted everywhere and is much faster than using credit cards or even prepaid cards. Get a Suika or other card accepted for trains, and just use cash for everything else.

    As a traveller, I’d probably get ¥200,000 to start and then get more later, estimating how much and when to get cash by how quickly the ¥200,000 goes.

    Just last month we paid for something in cash amounting to the equivalent of US$3000. The biggest worry we had was finding a pocket big enough to keep the wad of cash in.

14. I used card only in Tokyo, many restaurants and even small places take credit card and IC card payments. Osaka and Kyoto varies more but I was able to pay with card most of the time. You need cash for Hakone though, not many places accepted card payment.