Ticket vending machine pitfalls

Vending machines are a distinctive part of Japan's culture, and it is a country where many things can be purchased from vending machines. However, there are some items that are difficult to figure out how to purchase. One of them is the ticket vending machine.

From my personal experience, when I was lining up at the ticket vending machine for the limousine bus at Haneda Airport, I have often seen foreign travelers give up on their purchase midway through and walk away from the ticket vending machine. (I have helped them make purchases several times.)

The reason for this is probably that the ticket vending machine starts with "area division (prefecture name)", and if you only know the hotel name, you may be confused (even if there is an English menu).

Even if a foreign traveler researches online in advance and knows that the limousine bus will stop in front of XXX hotel, but the ticket vending machine will ask "Which area? Which prefecture(is that hotel in)?" When asked, the traveler will think, "I'm not sure". So In the end, many people give up on purchasing at the ticket vending machine and line up at the manned counter to purchase.

However, the manned counter at Terminal 3 (international terminal) closes at 8:00 p.m., so if you arrive after that time, you can only purchase from the ticket machines. Please check the prefecture or area name of the hotel.

Also, even if you can get to the ticket screen you are looking for, if you are unable to enter your PIN within the time specified on the card payment screen, you may have to start all over again.

So I had the image of a cumbersome about the ticket vending machine.

Please note that Japanese guidance is sometimes too detailed and difficult to understand, which can be inconvenient.

It may be safer to purchase at a manned counter from the beginning, rather than getting into trouble if you make the wrong selection or operation at the ticket machine. However, in rural areas, you may only be able to communicate in Japanese, so in such cases it is useful to have a translation app.