In April 2024 we took an independent trip to Osaka. I used to scramble to exchange yen before every Osaka trip, but this time I changed only a little cash, kept my wallet light and used a JCB card for most purchases. Here’s exactly where and how much we saved. The savings start the moment you land: collect your bags and head out to the first-floor arrivals hall.
1. A JCB Card Discount on the Airport Limousine
On the first floor of Kansai Airport, near domestic arrivals, is the Kansai Tourist Information Center. The photos below will help you find it.
There’s a counter for JCB cardmembers with a large sign. I heard there was a separate line in March 2024, but it was gone when we visited, and we could ask at the counter right away.
I asked whether the JCB card discount applied, and the staff said yes. I was curious how much it would be.
As of 2024, paying for a one-way airport limousine ticket with a JCB card got you 10% off. The limousine takes about 40 to 50 minutes to Namba Station, and I often choose it over the Rapi:t train because it’s so convenient.
A 1,300-yen ticket from Kansai Airport to Namba cost 1,170 yen after the discount. Besides Namba, routes go to Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe and Universal Studios Japan, handy if you’re heading straight there. We rode the limousine directly to Namba terminal, next to Namba Station, so we chose a hotel near the station for our first stay.
2. A Hotel Discount
Our first stay was Fraser Residence Nankai Osaka, about a three-minute walk from Namba Station. The area is lively, and there’s a McDonald’s right across the street, so it’s easy to find. As of 2024, it offered 15% off with a JCB card.
Yans loved our first hotel.
As a residence hotel for travelers, the lobby doubles as a lounge. Most Japanese hotels are compact, but I loved the spacious lobby and public areas at Fraser Residence Nankai Osaka.
There’s also a lounge with free water, though no other drinks. It has a quiet workspace for reading or working on a laptop, and I came down in the evening to write. As a residence, the rooms are roomy.
Most Japanese hotel rooms barely have space to open a suitcase, but here the bedroom and living room are separate, perfect for families.
The bathroom is very spacious, and the room was in excellent, clean condition.
With a kitchen, washing machine and microwave, it’s popular with long-stay travelers.
The hotel also has showers, a sauna and a gym.
If you’re traveling Japan for a week like us, a residence room is even more comfortable.
After touring the hotel, we headed out shopping as more travelers arrived. Being able to choose a great hotel in a great location with a card discount made for a lovely first day in Osaka.
- Check-in: from 3 p.m.
3. A Shopping Discount
After check-in, we went to the Kintetsu department store at Tennoji Station, visiting Harukas 300 observatory while we were there. With the weak yen in 2024, it was a great time to shop for kids’ clothes and souvenirs.
Of all the department stores, we chose Kintetsu to get its VIP card.
Head to the Foreign Customer’s Salon on floor 3.5. It works as a customer service center where you can also claim tax refunds, so it was full of international visitors.
It offers luggage storage, information, hotel delivery, tax-free service and even currency exchange, so it’s worth a stop for any visitor.
Many tourists were there for tax refunds. We planned to do ours after shopping, so we got the VIP card first.
A brochure explained that JCB cardholders can get the VIP card and restaurant discounts. At the buffet restaurant of the Osaka Marriott Miyako Hotel on the 19th floor, you can dine overlooking the city, and as of 2024 it was 10% off with a JCB card.
Back to the VIP card: you just show your passport and card,
and write down your Korean phone number. That’s it.
Our Kintetsu VIP card was ready. I expected a hassle, but it was super simple, and it’s valid for a long time. I needed a few things, so we went up to the kids’ floor on the eighth floor.
As of 2024, clothing, cosmetics and goods were up to 7% off, a great shopping tip. Department store prices are on the higher side, so the discount is welcome.
Osaka was quite warm in April, so we stopped by a kids’ clothing shop for short sleeves.
Yans picked out a short-sleeved T-shirt. This shop gave about 5% off; the maximum is 7%, so rates vary by store.
This brand isn’t available in Korea, so I’d been wanting to visit, and I was happy to find clothes for Yans.
Here’s the receipt with 5% off. After shopping, we went back to the salon on floor 3.5 for our tax refund and saved even more.
4. A Dining Discount
After shopping and Harukas 300, it was 6 p.m. and we were getting hungry. I had reserved a restaurant in advance through the JCB Platinum restaurant service. Osaka is famous as a food city, and this time we tried Japanese-style Italian cuisine, so we headed to Umeda Station.
Il Pinolo is an Italian restaurant in Hilton Plaza West.
It’s a refined, quiet, upscale Italian restaurant, with course menus costing around 120,000 won per person.
The atmosphere was calm. In Japan we’d only been to izakaya, yakiniku, tonkatsu and ramen spots, so an Italian restaurant was a nice change, and the card perk made a fancy meal possible.
As of 2024, JCB cardholders booking a course for two or more at a participating restaurant got one person free, whether two, three or four people dine. As a family of three, we ordered a course for two with one free and a kids’ dish for Yans. A family with two kids could book a course for two and order two kids’ meals. For couples, two people eat for the price of one.
We ordered drinks, too.
The appetizers arrived with bread.
The kids’ meal is pasta, with a choice of tomato, rose or cream sauce.
The courses arrive one by one: grilled scallop salad, then pasta, lobster and steak, and finally ice cream, cake and coffee. It was a deeply satisfying meal, and with one person free, it worked out to about 60,000 won each, when a meal like this in Korea would cost over 100,000 won per person.
As of 2024, the card I used was a Japan travel card with no foreign transaction fees, and JCB cardmembers could use card lounges at Kansai Airport. Knowing these perks makes a Japan trip even more fun, from the airport limousine to hotels, shopping and dining.
JCB Card Benefits Summary as of 2024
- 10% off the airport limousine
- 15% off at partner hotels
- Up to 7% off at Kintetsu department store with the VIP card
- 10% off at restaurants in the Kintetsu department store
- One person free with a course meal at partner restaurants
- Access to JCB card lounges at Kansai Airport
Prices, hours and details in this post are from our visit in May 2024 and may have changed, so check the latest information before you go.