Monthly pass: Suica vs. Pasmo?

Question:

I visited Japan last year and i am visiting again this december...I will be there for 5 weeks and i am trying to figure out if they have a monthly pass or a cheaper alternative that the prepaid card.

when i was there i used a Pasmo card but i had to keep on reloading money to it after a couple of days or so.... i was only there for 2 weeks but probobly spent $400-$500 just commuting back and forth places.

Just like before i will be mostly going to:
-yokosuka
-yokohama
-and ALL of tokyo :D

i went on numerous websites already but they really don't touch the specifics of monthly passes how much it is, it is is pro-rated to the end of the month or if its an actual 30 day thing :/

please help...

Answer:

Suica and Pasmo aside from name differences, are essentially the exact same thing for the Tokyo area.

Monthly passes are generally designed if you are traveling for a specific route everyday. For people living there like myself they help. Essentially the pass lets you ride from say, home to work/school and back and it allows unlimited rides on that specific route rather then just everywhere.

For tourists who travel to different locations a monthly pass isn't really useful unless you plan on traveling say between the same locations almost everyday.

As I mentioned passes depend on the route you take:

For example:
A one month pass between Tokyo Station and Yokosuka Station is 27240yen (roughly $350 usd). This is if you go via the most direct routing of using the Tokaido Line to Ofuna then changing to the Yokosuka Line at Ofuna. If you go this route, you can get on and off at any Station on the Tokaido Line between Tokyo and Ofuna, then any station between Ofuna and Yokosuka on the Yokosuka Line. All of that is with JR trains.

Another option costs slightly more at 28880 yen (about $370 usd), this route involves taking the JR Keihin Tohoku Line from Tokyo Station to Ofuna and then changing to the Yokosuka Line to Ofuna. This route allows you to get on/off at any Keihin Tohoku line station between Tokyo and Ofuna. The advantage to this line is that it includes additional stops in Tokyo and Yokohama you can get off at.

There are other options as well. Just depends on which route you select.

However as I noted, these will cover from Tokyo Station. If you want to travel around from other stations in Tokyo then you have to pay as you go from there.

Also this depends on how much traveling do you plan to do between Tokyo and Yokosuka.
The reason things are adding up is you know Yokosuka is over 1 hour from Tokyo so it's a distance that costs money.

One way from Tokyo to Yokosuka is 1050yen using JR trains. So for the monthly pass to pay off, you'd need to make at least 27 one way trips / 13 roundtrips between Tokyo and Yokosuka in those 4 weeks. So if you plan on making 13 roundtrips or more between Tokyo and Yokosuka, then the pass will probably make sense to get. In addition you'll have to pay for any places you go off the commuter pass route.

Commuter passes run for about 30 days from purchase (when you purchase it, the final date is printed on the front, along with the start/end stations and the route you can take).

If you have any more questions, please edit and I'll see what I can do to assist.

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Edit, I assume you are visiting Yokosuska navy base, in which case using the Keikyu line is the best at Yokosuka-cho Station (instead of Yokosuka Station, which is a JR Station)

A commuter pass between Yokohama Station and Yokosuka-Cho Station is 12690yen.
A commuter pass between Shinagawa Station in Tokyo and Yokosuka-Cho Station is 18850yen.

Again all on the Keikyu Line.

If you get the Pasmo version of the Commuter Pass (500yen extra) you can load extra cash onto the card, this cash will only be deducted if you go off the commuter route.

*Note that you need to specify the pasmo version, if not, you'll get a regular magnetic ticket pass*
So I highly suggest getting the Pasmo version of the commuter pass.

With the Keikyu commuter pass you can get on/off at any station on the route on the Keikyu line.

(Suica is sold at JR stations, Pasmo is sold at Keikyu Stations and all other non-JR stations).

Commuter pass in Japanese is called "TE-I-KEN" 定期券.
They are sold at offices at stations or at the vending machines.