creampuff

Hello everybody.

I (+wife and 2x kids) are travelling on a OneWorld RTW ticket.

We are flying SYD-NRT, currently on JAL arriving in the late afternoon however I may change date and airline and arrive on a QF flight in the morning.

We now want to travel onwards from NRT to Osaka-ITM on a separate ticket which we have not yet purchased, most likely on JAL.

The JAL website advises a minimum connection time of 50 mins, but this seems like asking for trouble to me. Can anybody advise what connection time I need to allow in Narita, bearing in mind there are also 2 x young children who are with us? The inbound international flight from Sydney is biz class; the domestic NRT-ITM flight will be economy. Will I have to collect the luggage and pass through Japan customs, or can it be checked all the way from SYD to ITM?

Also, our final destination is Kyoto. Can anybody suggest a way to get from ITM to Kyoto?

kaka

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Kyoto where? Best take limo bus from itm to jr kyoto station.

I think ure flying JL that arrives in at 17hrs ish?
Usually theres a 1-1.5 hr queue and checkin for dom flights close 20 mins ahead.
A lil tight there, but how young is ur kids? If they are stroller age you'd be able to skip queues... Ask the JL arrivals staff for assistane! If they arent, better to stay a day in tokyo first, then fly one of the hnd-itm hourly flights!

virmaior

You will need to pick up your bags to go through Japanese customs in NRT.

Limousine bus.

http://www.okkbus.co.jp/en/timetable/itm/t_kyt.html

JALPak

If you are worry about missing the flight, just buy a Yokoso ticket and book on the later flight if it isn't within the blackout dates. You can always standby on the earlier flight. Worst case if there's no seats available on an earlier flight, you can spend a few hours in Narita and visit the temple there.

creampuff

Thanks for the infer on Yokoso tickets, I didn't know they existed.

They won't work in my case however, as there are blackout dates from 13->31 March 2015 and we will be arriving between 22 and 26 March.

creampuff

Another one: can anybody confirm if there are left luggage facilities at Narita?

Narita website says yes, but the company websites are in Japanese so I can't check what services are offered.

Would be for 1 x mid-size suitcase for about 11 days.

nshizuka25

＜一時預かり＞
預かり日を含めて最大30日まで
＜コインロッカー＞
預かり日を含めて8日間(8日を超える荷物は一時預かり所へ移管)

You can leave your luggage in a coin locker up to 8 days, after that they will move it to the counter. You can leave your luggage up to 30 days at the counter.

小型手荷物　310円／1暦日1回あたり
一般手荷物　520円／1暦日1回あたり
大型手荷物　820円／1暦日1回あたり

Small JPY 310 per calender day
Medium JPY 510 per calender day
Large JPY 820 per calender day

creampuff

Thanks nshizuka25, that translation is quite helpful.

Okey I have a new question: The JAL air passes are in a blackout date so I cannot use them. The available JAL airfare from NRT->Itami is over YPY27,000 (although J class is a comparative bargain at only JPY1,000 more than Y) which is quite expensive esp since I need to pay for 3 people+infant and I'm really only flying so I don't have to lug luggage from the airport to the train station.

So I'm planning on flying Jetstar, which is about one-third the price of JAL even after I add baggage etc. But then I lose my connection protection. Any idea how punctual the JAL SYD-NRT flight typically is?

My other alternative is to switch from JAL to Qantas, which has a morning arrival in NRT and just give myself about a 4 hour layover until the Jetstar flight.

JALPak

You sure he's asking for coin locker not the actual storage service at NRT?

datsuzei

Strange question given such a helpful response.

Either way, covered by the stuff at the top:

＜一時預かり＞
預かり日を含めて最大30日まで

(...)

You can leave your luggage up to 30 days at the counter.

JALPak

There are 3 storage operators at NRT T2, one of them, which happens to be my preferred one for obvious reasons, doesn't operate coin lockers.

nshizuka25

I have no idea how punctual SYD-NRT is, but JAL has won "on-time performance" since 2012, with a punctuality close to 90%.

You should be able to use Yokoso Japan on your way back to Tokyo, but on the outbound.

1.JL3007 depart at 1830, Class J currently cost around JPY19100~19700

2.JetStar Japan, this one would be to KIX instead of ITM, I would suggest taking the HARUKA Express. There is a discount for foreigners, a set of return ticket + ICOCA (Oystercard equivalent with JPY1500 top-up already), cost just over 20 pounds, makes the return train ticket only 10 pounds.

JR WEST

3.If you have a bunch of Avois laying around, take HND-ITM the following morning, there are plenty of redemption availability (4 seats) between 22nd and 26th March, which cost only 4500 Avois + GBP1 (Assume 1 Avois = 1p, fx rate at 180, that meas JPY 8280 per ticket+Limousin bus JPY3100=JPY11380).

4.Maybe try Shinkansen? Take limousine bus to JR Tokyo Station, and take Shinkansen to JR Kyoto Station. 　Limousin bus JPY3100+Train ticket JPY13910=JPY17010 (Kids pay half price)

Hope these suggestions would be helpful.

JALPak

Check flightstats.com to get data for the past 2 months.

creampuff

Thanks for the post. I'd like to make it to Kyoto in one hit after the international flight as with 2 x kids and luggage, going to and then checking in and out of a hotel just eats up the time and isn't much fun either.

This also makes me a bit worried about the Shinkansen - I travelled by train exclusively on a trip to Japan in 2005, but I don't recall there being much luggage space? It seems to be peak travel season, so I'm wondering if the Shinkansen will be full or not?

If I park some luggage at NRT, then there will be 2 x full size suitcases, 1 x shoulder bag and a small fold-up pram to go on the train.

The return from Kyoto->Tokyo, we plan on renting a car in Kyoto a few days into out trip for touring around the area in places not well served by public transport, then just drive it to Tokyo with a stop in Mt Fuji and drop the car in Tokyo.

=================

EDIT: Will this plan work?

The plan is to travel to Kyoto by Shinkansen the same day as arriving into NRT on JL772 from Sydney, which arrives at 5.05pm. We are in biz class on this inbound flight. I think (but not sure) the last Shinkansen service departs from Tokyo station at 8.03pm. This gives just under 3 hours.

While at NRT we will also need to:
- put 2 x suitcase in left luggage.
- validate JR pass

Then we need to travel from NRT to Tokyo station.

Is 3 hours enough time to make the train?

LTN Phobia

It should be fine. Immigration and baggage retrieval shouldn't take more than 30 minutes. I am normally landside within 20-25 minutes of landing at NRT. Sometimes 15 min but if you allow for 60 min, that should be plenty.

It should take no more than 10 minutes to complete the left luggage process. They are normally very quick.

The big delay could be with validating the JR pass, as there is (sometimes, not always) a slow moving queue. I think it all depends on which flight has come in before yours. I have not had to queue for more than about 20 minutes there though. So, even allowing 30 min in the queue, you are only about 90 min from landing.

I have done effectively all the things you have listed (except I was sending my suitcases to the hotel by courier rather than using left luggage - courier process is slower, and I was buying a NEX+Suica that used to exist but from the same office as JR passes) within 30 minutes of landing.

So, to summarise, yes, I think 3 hours would be very comfortably doable.