Modification and Cancellation
Order cancellation
Customers have up to 3 working days prior to their departure date to cancel their train ticket orders as long as they have not scanned the corresponding QR code and exchanged for their physical train tickets. A 15% cancellation fee will be charged, and the QR code will be instantly deactivated upon order cancellation.
For train ticket orders that have already had the corresponding QR code scanned and where the tickets have been received, orders may be canceled at JR Station offices, where a refund will be issued with a 5%-10% cancellation fee, depending on the station and office. This refund will be made in cash in Japanese yen.
Past the day and time of departure, refunds cannot be issued, regardless if the corresponding QR code has been used or not, and regardless if customers have received their physical tickets or not.
Order modification
Japan Experience allows for one modification request of date and/or time of departure (changes to destination or route are not possible*). Modifications to the date and/or time of departure are only possible under the following conditions:
You will then be sent a new QR code to use at JR stations to exchange for your new tickets.
Any modification requests after the first change or changes to the departing and/or arrival station will require that the order be canceled and then re-ordered with the new travel information.
For those wishing to make modifications to the date/time of their train trip after using the sent QR code and receiving their tickets, this can be done at JR offices at JR stations up to 10 minutes prior to departure. In the case of a change in arrival station, such a change can only be accommodated if said station is on the same Shinkansen train route (i.e. a route change from Tokyo>Kyoto can be changed to Tokyo>Shin-Osaka but not to Tokyo>Kanazawa). The difference in fare will be paid at the JR office.
In the case of a missed train departure, those holding tickets for Kodama Shinkansen bullet trains on the Tokaido-Sanyo Line are able to board Nozomi, Hikari, and other Kodama trains on the same day, from the same station, to the same destination, for use on non-reserved train cars.
If a Shinkansen bullet train does not have any non-reserved train cars (like the Hokuriku Shinkansen Kagayaki bullet train) or has no open seats, the train may still be ridden, but passengers will be required to stand during their commute in either the areas between each train car or in aisles between seats, depending on the capacity of the train at that time. Passengers will be required to stand until reaching their destination or until non-reserved train car seats become available for use.