When the news of the demise of Thomas Cook was announced my greatest surprise was the number of people who still use the services of a travel agent.
I travel a great deal and I can think of only one occasion in the last 20 years where I have allowed someone else to take care of my travel arrangements and that was for a trip to South Africa in 2015, where an organised tour was booked, mainly due to security concerns.
In this internet age I fail to see why people need to use travel agents. I travel a great deal and always take care of all the arrangements myself, be it booking transportation, arranging accommodation or arranging trips. I can get better deals and I have the satisfaction of knowing the arrangements suit my requirements and cover exactly what I want.
The only time I do look at travel brochures or visit travel agents websites is when I’m planning to visit somewhere new. I will then research the areas where they accommodate the package holiday tourists and then ensure I stay completely clear of those areas.
As I said in my opening paragraph I was surprised by the number of tourists who still use travel agents but during a recent visit to Japan it dawned on me why people still do go on package tours and the reason is so many are too thick or stupid to be allowed out on their own and make their own travel arrangements.
Aware there were going to be language and potential communication issues as well as being aware of the complexities of the Japanese railway system I did plenty of homework in advance, even more than I usually do.
For example, with the railways Japan Rail (JR) operate around 70% of the rail network, including the Shinkansen bullet trains, whilst the other 30% of the network is privately owned. The trouble is the 30% that is privately owned tends to be the local trains in and around the major towns and cities.
Overseas visitors can purchase a Japan Rail Pass, however this only gives free travel on JR lines and certain Shinkansen trains, they are not valid on private train services. Just to complicate matters further some JR trains run on stretches of private railway lines and vice versa and when this happens additional charges may apply.
So, as you can see it’s a potential minefield.
Which is why research is imperative.
For my part I purchased a JR Railcard to cover journeys on JR trains and a Pasmo card, which is a similar concept to an Oyster card but can be used throughout Japan (there is also the Suica card which serves the same purpose). The card is pre-loaded with credit, which you can top up and you touch in and out each journey. The cards can also be used as payment cards in many convenience stores.
So I was absolutely astounded to see how little, if any, research some of my fellow travellers to Japan had actually bothered to carry out before travelling.
This was really highlighted when we attended a Rugby World Cup game in Toyota City, which can be a pain to get to.
Basically you need to get to the nearest large city, which is Nagoya. From Nagoya it’s a number of local trains to get to Toyota City. To confuse matters even more there are three or four different routes you can take.
If that isn’t enough, to further confuse matters, trains change identity mid-journey.
How does that happen?
Well on one journey you begin on a Nagoya subway train and then switch to a local route, both have different names. However if you look at the timetable the arrival time of the subway train is the same departure time as the local train, on the same platform. Confusing, no, it’s the same train but t just changes from a subway train to a local train.
This is very common in Japan, especially on the Tokyo subway system. Imaging catching a Circle Line train in London and it then suddenly becomes a Metropolitan Line train at Baker Street.
Anyway, I digress.
On the journey from Nagoya to Toyota I made the mistake of travelling wearing a Wales shirt – I ended up feeling like the Pied Piper as numerous fans approached me and asked “are you going to the game?”
When I replied “yes” (although I felt like saying “no, I’m walking around wearing a Welsh shirt because I want to look like a twat.”) I was invariably asked, “can we follow you?”
I wanted to say “sod off and do your own research,” but resisted the temptation, so then began a conga to Toyota.
In a way though, my revenge came at Toyotashi station, we passed through the ticket barrier using our Pasmo card, whist all my followers were sent to an ever growing queue because they all had incorrect ticket.
It was a similar story returning to Nagoya the following day, although in some ways it was worse.
We only attracted one follower this time a Welsh supporter who didn’t know how to get back to Nagoya. He was pleasant enough and we said he could join us.
However, at one point I came close to decking him as well.
You’ll recall I said earlier there are a number of ways to travel between Nagoya and Toyota.
The route we took back to Nagoya was different than the route than he took from Nagoya.
On the train this guy actually had the temerity to ask me if I knew where I was going.
He’s so lucky I was in a good mood, otherwise he would have received a double-barrelled response. He would also have been finding his own way back to Nagoya.
As it was, we maintained a civilised conversation. He also asked if we knew how to get to some town near Nagoya. I could have checked on my travel app but wasn’t inclined to do so.
It transpires this where is was planning to stay, chosen because he liked the sound of the name but he had not considered how he was going to get there, nor had he worked out how he was going to get to Tokyo for the next Wales game.
I just find it incredulous that people can visit somewhere like Japan and not have any idea how they are going to manage even the basics, like knowing how get around. Having said that it isn’t limited to Japan, I’ve had similar experiences in many countries.
So yes, I can now understand why people need to go on package tours, have their hands held, arses wiped because they are clearly incapable of free thought or managing their own lives.
Meanwhile people like me, who bother to do their research, have to suffer these idiots. I think next time I’m asked “how do I get to …….” I may send them in the opposite direction.
Some helpful links http://www.hyperdia.com/ is an excellent website and app providing detailed travel information within Japan.
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