For example, a train ticket may change the section or route. For example, for a reserved ticket, there may be a change in the train. It is also possible to change from a non-reserved seat to a reserved seat, but this is, of course, limited to cases where there is a vacant seat in the reserved seat. Because of this mechanism, during peak season, one often hears the announcement, “All reserved seats are sold out today, so you cannot change from a non-reserved seat to a reserved seat. There are detailed regulations regarding such changes, such as whether or not the change is allowed, and whether or not the difference can be received or refunded, in various cases. It is not the purpose of this report to explain all of them. It would be better to refer to the websites of the JR companies. This time, among the various types of ticket changes, we will focus on the theme of how to use the “change of limited express ticket in a reserved seat car of a limited express train,” which is relatively more likely to be used in actual travel.
I have personally experienced the “accelerated change” described above many times. This is because there have been situations in which a person has made an extra allowance in his/her schedule in preparation for unforeseen circumstances, but in reality, the schedule is not as good as he/she had feared. On the other hand, it is possible to intentionally reserve a later train and change to an earlier train if you think you will be able to return home earlier. Of course, this is only possible if there are empty seats on the earlier train. I once encountered a situation where I was trying to return home from Morioka on the Tohoku Shinkansen, but the train was restricted due to strong winds in Fukushima Prefecture, and I was unable to leave the train. In this case, I immediately went to the ticket machine and found an empty seat on a train that had not yet departed and was earlier than my limited express ticket. Once the stop was lifted, I assumed that the train would depart first. However, the train did not depart at all, even after I went through the ticket gate and boarded the train with the limited express ticket. In the end, the train had already been delayed for more than two hours by the time it departed from Morioka Station, which meant that the express ticket was refundable. Still, we were able to return home earlier than we had originally planned. Moreover, the express fare was refunded.
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