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Suica, Japan's First IC Transit Card

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Re: Suica, Japan's First IC Transit Card

#121

Post by xingped »

mathrawka wrote: post #106
xingped wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pixel phones bought outside Japan supposedly can if you do a little adb hacking to enable it, but I don't have a Pixel to try it myself.

Pixel phones outside of Japan are missing the Felica chip. Apple pays the fee for all phones in the world to have the chip. Google only pays for Japan devices.

As far as I could tell from everything I've read from multiple sources, every Pixel since Pixel 4 _has_ the chip, it's just not enabled and you can enable it with rooting.

https://xdaforums.com/t/global-pixel-device-unlock-felica-su...

Re: Suica, Japan's First IC Transit Card

#122

Post by alerighi »

Maybe it was advanced for the time being created, to me it's just any other RFID card that is issued everywhere else in the world in the matter of read speed, from every public transit card that I find in every EU country I've visited (maybe for a US citizen not used to public transit it seems something special, I don't know), to skipasses, to even your gym card.

Having the option to also pay with credit card would be much more convenient to tourists, when I visited Japan I've had difficulties finding the right place to get a SUICA card (being that my Android phone didn't have Felica chip, as most phones sold outside Japan), and on top of that you almost everywhere need to charge it with only cash. And you can charge it only by 500 or 1000 yen at the time (depending on the machine), and of course tickets always have not round prices like 110 yen. And you have 500 yen of deposit for a card that probably costs to them 10 yen to manufacturer, unless you get the red SUICA card that you can get only in some special machines at the airport but with that you don't get back the unused credit when you leave (you can spend it at vending machine tough).

So the speed saving of a couple of ms of not having to pay by tapping your normal credit card is completely vanished by wasting time to charge that card.

BTW even if they don't want to put credit card POS on every station (I get it, it's expensive and they need to pay fees if someone uses a card, compared to cash) they could make a system that uses regular NFC (would be 100ms slower, who cares) at least for tourists so they can use it with a regular NFC card in their phone wallet that they can charge with an app without requiring a technology that only works in phone sold in Japan?

Re: Suica, Japan's First IC Transit Card

#124

Post by cube00 »

When you tap your card on a terminal, it reads and rewrites the card locally in an instant, with the entire transaction processed in under 200 milliseconds.

It's depressing that some transport systems around the world delivered decades later couldn't match this (using a proprietary card not a credit card), looking at you Myki.

Re: Suica, Japan's First IC Transit Card

#126

Post by flaunf221 »

pknomad wrote: post #57
cptcobalt wrote: post #20

If you haven’t experienced suica, it’s like magically fast. Faster than NFC, faster than Apple Pay, faster than tap to pay, faster than Disney magic bands, faster than your work badge. It absolutely floored me every time I used it in Japan and it’s a full payment transaction.

It's not only magically fast, but it's super useful. You can use it at vending machines + convenience stores anywhere (unless it's one of those old ones that only take cash/coins and print paper tickets) and at the shops as well. People not in Japan/Singapore/Korea/China should experience what a proper transit card done looks like.

> People not in Japan/Singapore/Korea/China should experience what a proper transit card done looks like.

In Prague city transit does not have limiting gates. If you bought unlimited ticket, you just walk in bus/tram/metro and that is it. No touching, scanning, showing, nothing. Maybe once a month (or even rarer) you might encounter a patrolling controller who would ask you to show your ticket, but that's it.

Re: Suica, Japan's First IC Transit Card

#127

Post by franksvalli »

fizwidget wrote: post #125
mrbonner wrote: post #123

I’m going to Japan soon. Should I just use the iPhone Suica version or get the physical one?

I was in Japan last year. iPhone version was super easy and worked flawlessly for me.

Agree! Just a heads up for folks that you’ll likely want to download the Welcome Suica app which is aimed at tourists.

The regular Suica app is separate and is not English-friendly (this may be worth it for you only if you’re staying long term, ok with the language barrier, and want a card that doesn’t expire).

Re: Suica, Japan's First IC Transit Card

#128

Post by rtpg »

numpad0 wrote: post #62
polishdude20 wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The card might be fast but getting one as a tourist is kind of a hassle

It's completely anonymous and available on many ticket machines. There are some half-wrong info that you have to fill in a form, but that's only for commuter passes and registered cards. You just tap Buy Suica and insert two 1000 yen bills. The system keeps 500 yen as a deposit, which is refunded when you return the card, but it's also $3.50 for a little memorabilia. If you absolutely don't want the keepsake, you can…

I think the reason some people are complaining about the Suica stuff nowadays is that since... I think 2021 there's been stock shortages so getting a physical Suica involves going to specific places (I think at airports for example?) to get one. There's also now this "Welcome Suica" that you can get but it only works in certain areas of the country (so much for the IC standard...)

I believe you can't get a physical one from the ticket machines anymore unless you are getting a commuter pass, but I might be wrong.

Re: Suica, Japan's First IC Transit Card

#129

Post by koyote »

hdgvhicv wrote: post #63
rozenmd wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same deal with Opal in Sydney - the old school opal card processes a second or so faster than a card/apple pay/google pay that you can just keep walking. Smashed into the barrier the one time I forgot my card.

I’ve never noticed any delay on the London underground with Apple Pay or a normally debit card - certainly not a second. Havent used an oyster for years but I don’t remember it being faster.

Definitely slower to use a card or your phone in London.

I remember when they first allowed card use more than a decade ago and it broke the flow quite a bit at rush hour as people were so used to the Oyster card's timing that they'd run into the back of people using cards or people using cards would run into the gate as it had not opened as quickly as they were used to. Quite a bit of commentary around it during that time:

https://www.reddit.com/r/london/comments/2zc104/that_extra_s...

Re: Suica, Japan's First IC Transit Card

#130

Post by chrysoprace »

In the past I've purchased a rail pass because I figured it'd be more economical but last trip we just got a couple of IC cards and just booked our shinkansen and that was honestly the best experience. The problem with the rail pass was that it could only be used on some services, and the IC card was usable on most. The most confusing thing is just figuring out which local transport companies have a slightly different network, but it was honestly not bad.
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