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# Tokyo Subway Ticket: 24, 48 or 72 Hours, and How It Differs from Suica
- URL: https://roadme.io/blog/tokyo-subway-ticket-hours-vs-suica/
- Published: 2026-10-28T11:50:35.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-28T11:50:35.000Z
- Author: RoadMe
- Tags: Recommendations

Tokyo Subway Ticket gives unlimited travel on Tokyo Metro and Toei Subway for 24, 48 or 72 hours. It does not cover every train in Tokyo: JR lines, including the Yamanote Line, and other operators are outside the ordinary pass. Suica is a different tool, normally paying individual fares from a stored balance.

Choose the pass only after checking the operators you will use. Then choose its format carefully: a paper ticket, a direct-use QR ticket and a pass loaded onto an eligible PASMO do not all start their clocks in the same way.

## Start with the covered journeys

Identify the operator for each likely trip, including the hotel connection and departure journey. Count only Tokyo Metro and Toei Subway journeys when comparing the pass with separate fares. A Tokyo station name does not tell you which company's line the journey planner selected.

> Try [RoadMe](https://roadme.io/?ref=roadme.io) to work out a complete personal trip around your interests and preferred pace. In the app, it is more convenient to plan the whole Tokyo stay first, then choose transport that supports the visits you actually want.

A pass is useful when it suits the intended days without awkward detours. Do not replace a convenient journey on another operator with a long walk and extra changes just to avoid paying outside the pass. Compare time and comfort as well as fares.

## Prices for 24, 48 and 72 hours

| Duration | Adult  | Child  | Ordinary coverage           |
| -------- | ------ | ------ | --------------------------- |
| 24 hours | ¥1,000 | ¥500   | Tokyo Metro and Toei Subway |
| 48 hours | ¥1,500 | ¥750   | Tokyo Metro and Toei Subway |
| 72 hours | ¥2,000 | ¥1,000 | Tokyo Metro and Toei Subway |

These are the current operator prices checked on 28 October 2026, following the revision on 14 March 2026\. Older guides quoting lower prices should not be used for the present comparison. A reseller or bundle can have a different total and additional conditions.

Each paid traveller needs the appropriate personal ticket. An adult's unlimited pass is not a group allowance. Check the child category rather than applying an adult product to every member of the family.

## What is included, and what is outside

The ordinary ticket covers every Tokyo Metro line and every Toei Subway line. The two subway operators share this product, but their combined coverage is still only part of Tokyo's rail system.

JR services, private railways, the monorail and lines such as Yurikamome are not added by the word “Tokyo”. Toei buses, Tokyo Sakura Tram and the Nippori-Toneri Liner are also distinct from Toei Subway. Do not transfer another Toei pass's broader coverage to this ticket.

A station complex may contain entrances and platforms for several companies. Follow the actual operator and line you intend to use. Walking into a JR entrance with an unlimited subway ticket does not create permission to use the JR train.

## Suica is a wallet, not the same unlimited pass

With an ordinary Suica balance, the relevant fare is calculated and deducted for the trip. It is convenient across many participating services, including journeys that the subway pass excludes, but adding money does not buy unlimited travel for a fixed number of hours.

The two can therefore complement each other: use the pass on its covered networks and a suitable separate payment method elsewhere. Keep the comparison focused on the journeys the pass replaces, not every journey for which an IC card happens to work.

Our [Suica and PASMO guide](https://roadme.io/blog/suica-vs-pasmo-buy-top-up-choose/) covers buying, topping up and choosing physical or mobile cards. Here, the decision is whether the subway allowance adds value to the stay. You do not need to buy a new IC card merely because you also choose a paper pass.

## Paper, QR or PASMO: the start time differs

| Format                                | When the hours start                      | Before the first trip                           |
| ------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------- |
| Paper Tokyo Subway Ticket             | First passage through the fare gate       | Check the last permitted first-use date         |
| Direct-use Tokyo Subway Ticket QR     | First gate use after pressing Start Using | Open the actual ticket, not an exchange voucher |
| Tokyo Subway Ticket on eligible PASMO | Time of purchase                          | Confirm eligible card and sales channel         |

The operator's Japanese page explicitly states purchase-time validity for the IC version. Do not repeat the common claim that every format starts on its first ride. Buying that version well before the intended trip can use up part of the allowance.

The PASMO version has particular card and sales conditions; it is not a pass that can simply be loaded onto any Suica. Toei also states that Mobile PASMO is not supported for its described PASMO sales arrangement. Confirm the actual product before changing your card setup.

![Traveller placing a neutral travel card in a wallet](https://roadme.io/blog/content/images/2026/10/roadme-image-7928.webp)

## Hours are not calendar days

For a paper 48-hour ticket first used at 15:00 on Monday, the stated forty-eight-hour window reaches 15:00 on Wednesday. A 72-hour window from that same first use reaches 15:00 on Thursday. It is not simply two or three calendar dates ending at midnight.

Check the actual expiry shown on your ticket and avoid planning a new entry after it. The allowance also does not make trains run all night. Service operating hours and the pass's clock are separate matters.

Keep the activation deadline separate from the active duration. The paper ticket's permitted first-use period depends on where it was bought. For the QR product, the operator describes activation within ninety days of purchase, followed by the chosen hours from the first gate use after starting it.

## Who can buy the visitor ticket?

The ordinary product is intended for overseas visitors and eligible domestic visitors living outside Tokyo and the seven nearby prefectures named by the operator. It should not be treated as an unrestricted commuter product available to every resident.

For an in-person purchase by an overseas visitor, the operator's sales instructions require a passport to confirm short-term visitor status. Bring the real document and check the selected sales point's conditions. Do not assume a photograph is an accepted replacement.

Some sets have separate eligibility conditions. Read the exact offer rather than applying the simplest standalone description to every bundle. A foreign passport alone does not settle every residency or sales-channel requirement.

## Buying in Tokyo and at the airports

Official sales information lists selected airport counters, subway offices, tourist information centres, participating hotels and retailers. Availability and the format sold depend on the location. Do not assume every ordinary station machine sells the visitor pass directly.

Toei identifies tourist information centres at Shimbashi, Shinjuku-nishiguchi and Ueno-okachimachi, among its options. Check the relevant opening hours and access before making a detour. A ticket point inside a station complex may still be separate from the platform you arrive at.

If you buy online, identify whether the offer is a direct-use ticket or an exchange product. Read the exact redemption place, allowed date and format before payment. A convenient purchase page does not guarantee an exchange machine at your first station.

## A QR exchange voucher is not a QR gate ticket

An exchange voucher requires you to obtain the actual travel ticket using the seller's instructions. A QR code in that confirmation may be for a designated issuing machine or counter. It is not automatically readable by a fare gate.

The direct-use Tokyo Subway Ticket QR is a different product. Its official procedure is to open the ticket on the sales website, press Start Using and scan the displayed travel code at the appropriate gate reader. Its hours begin with the first gate use after that step.

Check the product name and the instructions in the actual purchase. The presence of a square code is not enough to tell the two apart. If the document says exchange or redemption, complete that process before attempting to travel.

![Traveller checking a watch while considering travel time](https://roadme.io/blog/content/images/2026/10/roadme-image-7929.webp)

## Using a QR ticket when the gate lacks a reader

Not every gate lane handles this QR product. The operator describes designated readers and special arrangements at stations managed by another railway. Follow the sign for the appropriate gate instead of repeatedly presenting the phone to an IC-card sensor.

At a station without compatible QR handling, contact the gate staff. The official procedure can require using QR Scan in the ticket screen to scan a code provided by staff. If nobody is present, use the station's intercom and follow the assistance instructions.

Do not squeeze through behind another passenger or assume a failed scan means free entry. Allow time for help, particularly at a boundary station or before a fixed departure. The ticket must still be valid for the section you use.

## Phone battery and distributing tickets

The operator says printed copies and screenshots of the QR ticket screen cannot be used for gate entry. Open the actual usable ticket and keep the device working. A picture saved as backup does not replace the supported travel screen.

If the phone fails or runs out of battery, the published conditions require a separate ticket until the device works again and the travel screen can be shown. Do not count on station charging. Carry a practical power bank and confirm access before leaving accommodation.

For multiple QR tickets, the operator allows distribution to other devices before the Start Using button is pressed. Arrange each traveller's ticket before activation. One phone purchase does not by itself mean one code admits the whole group.

## Through trains: the same carriage can leave coverage

Some trains continue from a subway line onto another railway. Remaining in the carriage does not extend the pass beyond Tokyo Metro and Toei Subway. Check both the line and the operator for the complete journey, including the return.

For the QR product, the operator explicitly instructs passengers travelling to or from another railway to exit once at the transfer station and use the appropriate ticket. Do not promise a seamless automatic supplement from a Suica balance for that QR journey.

For another ticket format or an uncertain adjustment, ask staff before crossing the boundary. Do not tap a different card at the exit in the hope that it will resolve an entry made with the pass. The system needs a correct record of the actual journey.

## Airport travel needs its own component

Buying Tokyo Subway Ticket at Haneda or Narita does not make the airport-to-city railway section part of the ordinary subway pass. A sales location and a validity area are different things. The Asakusa Line connection does not turn the Keikyu airport section into Toei Subway.

Official products can bundle a subway pass with Skyliner or an airport limousine bus ticket. That additional component is what pays for the named airport journey. Check the exact route, direction, number of trips and booking conditions of the set.

Do not assume every bundle gives a return or that the subway hours and airport-ticket validity are identical. You may need separate reservations or redemption steps. Keep each actual travel document accessible for its part of the journey.

## When does the pass pay off?

Add the actual separate fares for the covered journeys you expect within the chosen hours. Compare that sum with the appropriate pass price. Keep journeys on JR and other excluded operators outside the saving calculation because you pay for them separately either way.

There is no universal break-even number of rides: distances, operator changes and IC-versus-paper fares differ. Several short trips can total less than fewer longer trips. A general daily ride-count slogan cannot replace the calculation for your likely travel.

The longer pass has a lower average price per hour, but unused hours do not save money. A 24-hour product can suit one concentrated subway period within a longer stay; a 72-hour product makes sense only when those covered days are genuinely useful.

## Do not confuse other Tokyo day tickets

Tokyo Metro's own 24-hour ticket covers Tokyo Metro, not automatically Toei. The common one-day ticket for the two subway operators is another product, with a calendar-day basis. Broader city tickets have different included networks again.

Read the exact name, coverage and clock before payment. “Tokyo”, “Metro”, “Subway” and “one day” in a search title do not establish identical conditions. A lower price may reflect narrower coverage rather than a discount on the same product.

## Children, refunds and the final check

The operator normally classifies ages six to eleven as children and twelve and over as adults, with school-status exceptions at those boundaries. Young children also have accompaniment limits for free travel. Check the actual category for a family rather than assuming every under-six child is always free in an unlimited group.

Refund conditions depend on seller and format. The current QR conditions distinguish entirely unused purchases, tickets bought together and non-refundable attraction sets. If one ticket in a joint purchase has been used, do not assume all the others remain refundable.

Keep the receipt and any required original material for a paper purchase. Ask the seller before activating if the trip has changed. Do not treat an unused remaining day after first use as a separate refundable product.

## Choose the plan first, then the pass

Our [independent trip planning guide](https://roadme.io/blog/how-to-plan-your-first-independent-trip-from-idea-to-departure/) helps combine fixed bookings and flexible time. Choose the Tokyo visits, check their practical transport links, then buy the smallest useful coverage rather than adding journeys to consume a pass.

![Traveller charging phone before using a mobile ticket](https://roadme.io/blog/content/images/2026/10/roadme-image-7930.webp)

> With [RoadMe](https://roadme.io/?ref=roadme.io), it is more convenient to work out the whole personalised stay around your interests and available time. Try planning Tokyo in the app first, then select the pass and separate fares that fit that trip.

Choose Tokyo Subway Ticket for useful Metro and Toei travel within its hours. Keep Suica or another suitable ticket for excluded journeys. Before the first gate, confirm the format, start rule and actual travel code; that prevents more mistakes than buying the longest pass automatically.