Yufuin No Mori alternatives / Questions about SunQ and Tram Pass

Hi all!

I recently posted [my itinerary here](https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/18vtwbi/11_days_northern_kyushu_itinerary_suggestions/) and I have some more questions regarding some passes and wondering if anyone encountered them before.

I was considering to get the Yufuin No Mori train but its only available to be reserved 1 month before so I still have some time, but I want to explore other options in the event I did not manage to book them.

Alternatives:

1) Yufu train
– This is a no brainer since its the other train that will be running to Yufuin.

2) Highway bus to Yufuin from Fukuoka Airport
– I was exploring travel options from Yufuin to Kurokawa onsen, then to Kumamoto and realized that I could take them from Fukuoka Airport to Yufuin as well!

Questions:

1) Are there other alternatives that I could explore?

2) Did anyone reserved buses on [highwaybus.com](https://www.highwaybus.com/gp/inbound/index) using the SunQ Pass before? I’m currently considering this alternative as I could potentially utilize this with the buses that I’ll take to and from Kurokawa Onsen (Sorry to the person who suggested other D&S trains, they really looked good but the timing of the trains does not match my itinerary :/ ). I’m mostly concerned about the bus from Fukuoka to Yufuin as it’s not available to be booked on Kyushu Odan Bus website.

Another reason that I’m considering to use the SunQ pass was to book highway buses from Kumamoto to Aso for my day trip (replacing Kamishikimi Kumanoimasu Shrine) but I might explore other places if the volcanic activity warning on Mount Aso does not allow me to visit.

3) How accessible is the SunQ pass? Are there apps that will let me know which buses in the cities that I could take using the passes? Most of the sites I saw just mentioned to look out for the SunQ pass stickers on the bus itself.

4) Are the tram passes in Nagasaki/Kumamoto worth it?

by anoimus