Suica Reviews

Poor app overall… can’t seem to add money onto my this app via Apple Pay for a few weeks now although it’s worked before. No real help or support available and the user interface is horrible.

If I could give negative stars I would give Suica a -5.
They have an English version of the same app but it does not have green car and Shinkansen options!
So I get into the station with the English version of Suica and get on the green car to find out it does not work and pay a premium for buying with cash on board the train.
Then the ticket lady makes me open the apple store to download the Japanese version!
A beautiful version of JR Omotenashi. Stress on Nashi:(

Visa credit cards didn’t work for over a month. During usage, my this app stopped working a lot. For example, if you swipe into a station and then leave that station for whatever reason, then it gives you obscure error messages.

Oddly ther is no option for English version which is a shame because this is the only way to use your IC card to purchase high speed rail ticket (to Kyoto-Osaka). So essentially worthless app for American tourists who don't read Japanese. We will have to buy tickets old fashioned way. I was expecting more from the Japan rail company !

They make it so complicated. For those who just want to have a digital commuter card, Suica is asking for way too much and offering for too little. Face ID, names must be in Kana, fail to put in password twice will get you locked up, and very often forcing you to update Suica right in the worst timing.

What’s so hard about adding a few other languages to Suica and help out those who visit Japan frequently or live there temporarily? I mean just having a Google translated version is better than nothing.

Suica has been out for years and still hasn’t adapted an English version or translation, so it’s hard to read Suica. Also. No Apple Pay. Suica is way behind and I don’t get why or how they don’t understand how much having both of these features will help them? Or maybe they don’t want English speaking people that have Apple Pay using Suica…?

I live in Japan and have been using this for 2 years. I have always been able to easily reload the card through Apple Pay until about 2 weeks ago. Everyone I know is having the same issue. This is really a problem and if not resolved I will just use my remaining funds and find an alternative solution.

With an announcement of Japan opening up finally, I really hope they will get the English version of Suica up and running. In addition, I see that many say you can’t reload with Apple Pay anymore which is a real disappointment and disadvantage. Hope all this will get changed back in the next month before the country fully reopens, will certainly help to make the stations run smoother!

The description description says it supports English, but nothing in Suica suggests it actually does. There are so many things I love about Japan, but I do think Japan is a decade behind in most of it’s web interfaces even for those of us who can read hiragana, katakana & kanji.

You can get and load the this app card directly through the Wallet app -> + (new card) -> Transit Card.

Don't waste your time trying to blindly tap through the menus in Suica.

Also at time of writing (June 2024) Visa cards do seem like they're accepted for adding balance to the this app in Wallet, so maybe the issue with Visa cards mentioned in other reviews has been resolved.

I can’t seem to find where to make it English . Please make it more clear how to do so

You can use Apple Pay to create a digital this app card. Just go to your Apple wallet and add a minimum 1000 yen. No need to deal with Suica

I’m hoping there will be a lot of changes coming. It’s still fairly new so there’s going to be bugs and will need a lot of quality of life changes done to it.

I’m giving it 3 stars because I get what I need out of it (I’m not concerned with the lack of an English version). Suica was working fine but then stopped updating the correct amount after I charge it or use it. Although I can look that up through the history, I have searched in vain for a way to send a message to them to tell them of the problem. Unfortunately, Suica suffers like many Japanese apps and webpages do, from a bad interface.

Suica does not have an English version which is why I gave it 4 stars. However, it is super simple to load with funds through Apple Pay. The tap and go function is very useful as you don’t need to pull up Suica to use.

This card works for almost all arcade rhythm games even if they use different physical cards (e.g.: sega's maimai, chunithm, ongeki, and konami's sdvx). Getting a aime/e-amusement card in US is not much easier than finding these games themselves, and this app helps a lot when I did not have the physical cards.

I’m not sure why Apple Pay didn’t work for some people like shown in the comments, but it worked just fine on mine (and yes I only have US issued credit cards). The downside of mobile this app is you cannot use it on ticket machines that needs to insert the card, and sometimes it gets confused at some strange vending machines where other payment options are available at the same touch point. But charging anytime with Apple Pay has been a very pleasant experience.

Easy to load $$ through Apple Pay after adding to the wallet. I couldn’t read it either but figured out the big green button at the bottom then the picture of an iPhone. From there I selected it under the transit card options and added funds. It only takes MC but I use my Apple Card so it was swift and ready to go. Now I dont need to fumble with cash or CCs.

I don’t have to keep pulling out my this app card.
I just tap my iPhone instead. And shows me instantly the balance on the card, no need to swipe at a kiosk or getting denied at the gate.
I’ve even used it to pay for taxi rides, storage lockers, vending machines.
It’s a must if you’re traveling in Japan, trust me.

Take a screenshot for each Japanese page you have trouble understanding and upload them directly into your translation app. The page will be translated in full for you. This allowed me to navigate all of the new user sign-up pages without issue.

Have been living in Japan for seven years. Suica has been extremely practical and helpful. I don’t speak Japanese. Yes, it’s a bit of a hassle to translate everything, but again it’s Japan!!! I don’t understand all the bad reviews just because the support is not in their native languages. Suica not only does its job. When you’re in Rome…

For those that are having a hard time adding money try a non Visa credit card. The issue is not with this app or Apple Pay but with Visa Japan blocking non Japan issued Visa from working.