Rugby World Cup 2019 Japan Travel etc...

Eod100 wrote: »

2200km?! Christ that's some distance! Best of luck

Yeah it is!!! but whats even more scary is the amount of climbing involved - 42,000m as Japan is a tad hilly, anyway if i make it out the otherside in 1 piece and we make the Semi's then i'm there

comment wrote: »

Has anyone purchased Yen before travelling and where did they get it and how was the exchange rate. I went to order some in AIB and was told it’s not a currency they do. Definitely looking to have some cash with me for when I arrive given what I’ve read.

I had same issue. Company called Fexco do it and they're very quick with it. They will actually deliver it to your door if you can't pick it up. I'll dig out the link now.

https://www.no1currency.ie/

Phileas Frog wrote: »

It's the same as the US

Sound thank you

Phileas Frog wrote: »

More importantly, what's the average price of a pint? :-)

Depends on the places you want to go go you can pay anywhere from around ¥300 for pint of Asahi or could go to places and pay up to ¥1000 for a pint of warm Guinness. Cans are cheap in supermarkets and 7/11

Phileas Frog wrote: »

You'd be surprised

And I'd guess you'd have travelled quite a bit around the world Mr Phileas Frog?

Quick guide to money in Japan as far as I can understand.

There are three types of ATM.

Japan Post - bout 2e
Seve (in 7/11) - Free 7am - 7pm but 1e outside those hours.
Prestia - Free

If you're using a normal bank (AIB, BOI, Ulster) there is a good chance there are some pretty heavy charges for overseas ATM usage. But if you get Revolut (or one of the other challengers) they usually have some pretty good deals.

Revolut give your first 200e free from ATM withdrawals after that they charge 2%. But importantly they give you the interbank rate - ie a true exchange rate. On top of that using the card abroad is completely free. So when you do go into a restuarant, hotel, shop that accepts card you save the money and pay no fees. There are no fees at all to open a Revolut account, I think at the moment the cards are free (but sometimes they cost 5e) set up takes a few mins (selfie and pic of passport). Atm there is a referral deal where if you get a code from your mate (or pm me) everyone gets a tenner. Vodafone have the same offer if you prefer the Irish team sponsor to benefit.

FexCo do not give you the interbank exchange rate. At the moment if you buy Yen on Fexco they are offering 114 yen to the euro. The real rate is 120. So effectively they're charging 5% commission, which is laughably expensive for a service that makes you then carry hundreds or thousands of Euro worth of cash around Japan with you.

Maybe a few percent here or there doesn't sound like much. But on 1,000 euro spending money the difference will end up being around 40 quid. Or ~13 pints of Asahi. And that's assuming you end up using the same amount of cash, when in reality I'd say you will able to use the card more than you think and avoid fees completely.

I know this sounds like a plug, it's not. It's just genuinely the best advice I can give!

Squidgy Black wrote: »

If you have the revolut metal account, believe it's around 15 quid a month, they give you 1% cashback as well outside of Europe. And the ATM withdrawal limit goes up to 600 euro.

And there is some travel insurance included with premium and metal, and one free airport lounge per year for anyone who has booked a flight with a nasty looking layover. And a cool looking metal debit card that makes people think you are much more wealthy than your cheap drink choice initially suggested.

Hippo wrote: »

I've this flight coming up next Friday! There for the first two games, really looking forward to it now.

Me too. This time next week we'll be in Dubai.

Getting quite hyped for this now.

BonnieSituation wrote: »

What sort of exchangedid you get nailed on? Fees etc?

I used TransferWise and got £1 = ¥130. Free to withdraw £200 at ATMs per month and then 2% fees after that. Which is very reasonable.

Well lads Tokyo is great craic. Last night went to a "British" pub as it was happy hour, so pints of Kirin were only like ¥500. Anyway, met an English girl, a Kiwi guy and then we got talking to two mad Japanese lads and ended up going to a karaoke place until the early hours!!

Two spare tickets for QF 4 Sunday 20th October, the one Ireland will be in if we win the group.
Face Value
PM me.

marley45 wrote: »

Does anybody know if there will be a fan zone or anywhere to watch the NZ vs SA game outside of yokohama stadium? Thinking of heading up to it even without tickets

Supposedly the fan zone is in Yokohama itself.

Which is a bit **** because it's a good 40-50 minute walk.

marley45 wrote: »

Does anybody know if there will be a fan zone or anywhere to watch the NZ vs SA game outside of yokohama stadium? Thinking of heading up to it even without tickets

Fanzone for Yokohama is at Rinko Park. Looks great, on the waterfront. We were at the fanzone in NZ 2011 for games we didn't have tickets to and they were awesome. Planning on going there unless we go to the baseball that is on in Tokyo that night.

Google maps says its 30mins walk to stadium from there

MikeCork2009 wrote: »

Rinko Park is in the city of Yokohama. The stadium is out of the city (nearly 7km). I'm staying in the city and will need to get the train/subway to the stadium - it ain't walkable! I'm in Yokohama for 3 nights (going to both NZ v SA and Ireland v Scotland) and will go along to the Fanzone on Friday evening to watch the opening game. I even have a Japanese jersey ðŸ˜

Thanks MikeCork2009... you're totally right.

You gave me a bit of a panic there but sooner now than in a weeks time! Turns out I've been looking at Yokohama Stadium - which is a baseball stadium (Obviously!) and not Nissan Stadium - which is a stadium for the RWC (even more obviously!)

Ah it's going to be great, really looking forward to it now... (goes and checks flight tickets are actually to Tokyo, Japan, and not Tokyo, Canada or somewhere!)