Planning Tokyo: Booking our Hotel and Setting up our Suica Card

Our first international trip with our girls was to, if you cannot tell by the title, Tokyo, Japan! It was my husband and my third trip to Asia but first trip to Japan so we were not exactly sure what to expect. Our kids were 7 months and 2.5 at the time, so we were a bit nervous to say the least!

We were extremely lucky that we both got parental leave for both of our children, but since we both telework, we were able to flex it even further. We took a portion when they were first born and a portion once they were older to enjoy as much as we could of their first year! This meant we had two weeks of parental leave we knew we wanted to use in May to spend one-on-one time with our kids exploring somewhere new.

Searching flights, we found relatively cheap tickets to Narita on Hawaiian Airlines so we booked them before they rose (thankfully we did because they went up over $400 within 2 days and never went back down). 

When we booked a hotel, we were a bit confused on the explanation of the rooms, beds, and how to add our children. 

Travel Tip: When booking a hotel in Japan with small children, it is extremely typical to bed share so unless you are planning on having your child sleep in their own bed, do not add them to the reservation.

I did email our hotel after the fact to let them know our kids were going to be with us but they said that was fine and check-in with them was no issue at all. We ended up with 2 "large twin beds" which seemed to be the same size as western double beds, but we did not measure to confirm. Unless your child needs their own bedding, I highly suggest reading the hotel's policies to see if they need to be added, and reaching out to them to confirm. 

We found our hotel online and ended up booking on Hotels.com so we would be rewarded 10% of the total in free night credits. Unfortunately, with the merger to One Key, this is no longer the case and one only earns 2% of the total (certain hotels do offer higher percentages of "One Key Cash" but you have to do your research). Comparing all sites, including the direct hotel website if they have one, is your best bet to find the cheapest price and best perks. 

You should take transportation and areas of interest into consideration when booking a hotel. As we knew we would be taking the metro extensively it was important for us to be close to the metro, with easy access to Tokyo Station so we could get anywhere we wanted to go quickly. While transportation is fast, we were unsure if we were going to have to return to the hotel for naps and did not want to waste large portions of our day on a train. 

Our last big to-do before our trip was to research transportation options. We have always lived in larger cities so we knew we were not going to have any issues taking public transportation around Tokyo and, truly, they have perfected it! It is highly efficient, covers anywhere you would want to travel, is fast, and extremely clean. Like most cities, they offer passes and cards (think Oyster, CipperCard, etc) to make things easier and to avoid having to purchase tickets for each individual trip. 

Travel Tip: Look into which card options is best for you. The main ones we encountered are the Suica, Pasmo, and Japan Rail (JR) Pass. 

The JR Pass massively increased their prices October 1, 2023, so it may not be worth it unless you are traveling extensively throughout the country. We opted for the Suica card as the Pasmo and Suica are fairly interchangeable but, in our research, a few more places took Suica (as you can use it for more than just transportation!). 

Suica Card in Apple Wallet

To add a Suica card to the Apple Wallet area of your iPhone, you can find the instructions very clearly on the Apple website here. They also allow you to add it for Android phones. Having added the card before we left for Japan, it made our first few trips painless and we did not have to wait in line at the ticket machines. At the time, we were unable to use our Visa to add money and only were able to use an American Express card. However, I just confirmed my Visa now works but it wouldn't hurt to have a back-up card to use just in case. You can also add money at any of the terminals with cash. 

 

Adding money to a mobile Suica is painless

Adding additional funds to the Suica is painless and, as it is good for 10 years from last use, any remaining funds can be used on your next trip! As I also mentioned, many other retailers, vending machines, and businesses (such as Tokyo Disney) accept Suica as payment so you can also find a use for any remaining balance! 

Travel Tip: Even if your phone dies, your Suica card will continue to work as it uses NFC, but you should travel with a back up battery so you do not get completely lost in the city!