Commuters on JR East train services in the Tokyo metropolitan area who pay for their tickets using a commuter pass stored on their Suica transit card will receive additional JRE loyalty points for travelling outside peak times from March 2021.

The Japanese rail operator will reward passengers travelling on weekdays during a pre-rush hour “early rising time zone” with 15 JRE Points a day and those travelling during a post-rush hour “relaxed time zone” with 20 JRE Points a day.

The network says that it is yet to finalise the times when each zone will begin and end, although a graphic in its press release suggests that early rising time will run from 6-7am and relaxed time from 8.30-9.30am.

JR East says it is introducing the rewards programme to “support comfortable staggered commuting” and to encourage commuters to avoid peak morning hours.

The network also announced it is planning to offer additional rewards to Suica cardholders without commuter passes, also beginning in March next year.

Customers travelling on the same fare section of the JR East network 10 times in a month will be rewarded with JRE Points equivalent to a single fare ticket for their journey and receive JRE Points equivalent to 10% of the fare for any additional journeys that same month.

JRE Points can be used to pay for rail travel as well as for purchases made at selected retailers and at JR East’s online stores.

The rail operator announced the launch of its JRE Points rewards programme in September 2019.

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