evergrn

UPDATED SEPT 2017

Here's a summary of different transport/accommodations options for those arriving into HND late at night.

Since I first posted this, nothing has changed in terms of train schedule. What's changed a lot are that: 1).there're now more late-night buses; 2).with the advent of Royal Park Hotel, on-airport accommodation options have increased and the prices have come down (Tokyu Excel used to have monopoly on airport accommodation and so their rates were jacked up before).

To have an idea of how much time to allow from the time the plane parks at the gate to train/monorail station platform:
Time to deplane + 20~45min (maybe 15~40min without checked bags) including time to buy train ticket. Allow longer if you're not familiar with Japanese airport (possibility of getting lost) and/or you're stopping by at ATM.
* Note I've only flown 2-3 times into HND Int'l terminal late at night... our gate to platform time has ranged from 22-35min with checked bags. I'm open to editing the above time frame per suggestions.

Last train/bus:
- Monorail: 12.10am to Hamamatsucho
- Keikyu train to Shinagawa: 12.01am [at Shinagawa, can transfer to JR Yamanote headed either clockwise or counterclockwise]
- Keikyu train towards Kawasaki: 12.14am
- Keikyu train just to Kamata: 12.23am [can transfer at Kamata to another Keikyu train bound for Yokohama, but a tight 1-min connection at Kamata]
- Limousine Bus to YCAT / Yokohama Minatomirai: regularly until 12.20am, then two more at 1.40am & 2.20am. [note: current schedule says these may only run till Mar 2018]
- Limousine Bus to Shibuya station & Shibuya Cerulean Tower: regularly until 12.50am, then another at 2.20am (1030y; 2060y after midnight)
- Limousine Bus to Shinjuku station: 2.20am (1230y; 2000y after midnight)
* There are other late-night Limo buses to other destinations that I did not list above.

Taxi costs:
It depends on the taxi company. But in general, the late night taxi rates (including expressway tolls) run around 2500-4000y to Kamata, 8000-10,000y to Shinjuku, 7000-8000y to Yokohama's Minatomirai area.

Accommodation options:
-- If you can catch the aforementioned 12.01am Keikyu train bound for Shinagawa, then that will get you into Shinagawa in time to transfer to the last JR Yamanote train going either direction (or JR Keihin-Tohoku train towards Ueno). In that case, YOU'LL HAVE ENDLESS HOTEL OPTIONS ANYWHERE ALONG YAMANOTE LINE (SHINAGAWA, SHINJUKU, TOKYO, ETC). You'll get to Shinjuku or Ueno by ~1am.
-- If you're able to catch either the last Keikyu train to Shinagawa or the last monorail to Hamamatsucho, and you're staying at a hotel that's within a reasonable distance from either of those stations, then consider taking a cab straight to your hotel from either Shinagawa (or one of the other stations further past Shinagawa on Keikyu/Asakusa line) or Hamamatsucho station. This might be a reasonable compromise between having to not pay $$$ vs getting to your hotel without too much hassle so late at night.
-- Otherwise, Royal Park Hotel (adjoined to the Int'l terminal) is the most convenient option for those arriving late at night.
-- HND's airport hotel Excel Tokyu is another option if Royal Park is sold out or too expensive, but it's not walkable from the international terminal. Get there by the regular airport shuttle; the last one leaves Int'l terminal at 11.56pm. Beyond that, there is one late-night shuttle offered by hotel leaving the Int'l terminal at 12.40am (but please confirm this info directly with the hotel). You can also take a taxi to the hotel. In my mind, Excel Tokyu is only worth it if you have an early domestic flight out of HND the next day (Excel is adjoined to domestic terminal) or if you arrive too late for any good public transport option and happen to find good rates there.
-- Hotel JAL City Haneda is not exactly in a happening area, but they tend to b cheaper than Excel Tokyu, has decent reviews, is part of a reliable hotel chain, has a konbini nearby, and has shuttle bus service departing Int'l terminal at 10.30p, 10.50p, 11.10p, 11.40p, 12.10a, 12.40a. (check here for confirmation: http://www.haneda.jalcity.co.jp/eng/map_timetable.html )
-- If you have to take a taxi, Kamata is the area closest to HND (ie, cheapest fares) with lots of hotel options. But I know that area and am not crazy about the area. It's a happening area and it's perfectly safe, but it's a bit of a downmarket area with higher % of dodgy people and drunken men at night. Personally I'd spend the extra money on taxi and go stay in Shinjuku, Minatomirai, etc.
-- HND has a capsule hotel called First Cabin. But keep in mind that it's located in T1. If you miss the last train, you'll have to take a taxi to get there from the International Terminal. Also, you can only do the "Short Stay" (ie, by the hour) plan during the hours of 10a-7p. If you plan to stay from 1a-4a, you have to pay for an entire night's stay.
-- The first Keikyu train out of HND in the morning is ~5.30am. The first monorail is ~5.15am. If your flight arrives late and it's close to 1am by the time you clear customs, you might even consider just killing time at the airport until the first train. There is a shower facility in the International Terminal (1030y per 30min). Considering that the check-out time for most Japanese hotels is 11a or earlier and that Japanese hotels are usually strict about charging late check-out fees, it may not be worth it if only staying one night.

aa4ever

This is fantastic info. I'm wondering if it could be added as a link on the sticky?

I was a bit nervous arriving HND in terms of making the train, and knowing all this would have been great so I'd have understood all the options. As it worked out, my flight was an hour late and we touched down at 11:15. We then parked at a remote gate. Still, I had no trouble making the 11:55 monorail, although it's worth mentioning that I was flying F and my bags were in fact among the first off the plane. Had my bags been last, I'm guessing I would've missed even the 12:10 monorail.

evergrn

Thanks. There sure is a lot of variables involved for those arriving real late into HND. I've used HND before for domestic travels, but this is my first time flying into HND from the States, let alone landing there so late. I'm a bit worried about our 11.30pm arrival and will be screwed if the flight is delayed and we miss that 12.30am bus to Yokohama.

How was the queue at the immigration?

FLYGIRLZ

You know I often end up cabbing it, because my luggage is too heavy.

It does not cost all that much if your hotel is in central Tokyo or Yokohama.

aa4ever

I had no queue, right around 11:30 on a Saturday night. I think you're fine if your flight's on time and your luggage comes out pretty quickly.

evergrn

That would be the last resort option. But 7000yen to Yokohama is pretty steep, being a cheap guy who travels on his own dime in Japan.


That's great to know!

jib71

The powers that be (airport, city, bus companies, airlines) have been very slow to respond to the needs of late-arriving passengers. When the late night arrivals started, I thought it might take a few months for them to address the issue. But it seems they're happy for the status quo to continue ...

Perhaps it's time for someone to start a shared taxi thread on Flyertalk. Or perhaps there's a shared taxi app that would work? There should be something like this, but with a multi-lingual interface:
http://pc.takutomo.com/

gnaget

For early departures at HND intl many non-Japanese want to arrive hours in advance, which is not necessary and therefore public transport is fine.

For international arrivals you will always catch public transport barring delays. People have reported here that ANA at NRT will cover cab fare if the flight arrives late and the TCAT bus has stopped running. (Is there a hard curfew preventing arrival in the wee hours at NRT or HND?) There are (very) few domestic flights that arrive later than public transport.

Is there any such cab provision for delayed arrivals at HND with ANA international flights? I am sure that cheapskate US airlines like DL and AA would never do this.

But the bus is double price starting at midnight at HND so for 2 people it's 4000 yen vs. 6000 yen for a flat fare cab (have to pre-arrange).

http://www.tokyomk.com/eng/airport.html

I assume that Minato-, Meguro-, Chiyoda-ku is likely to be less than 6000 yen since it's not flat fare. But I wonder at night when you have the normal meter rate plus 20% (although 10% for MK Taxi). At night from domestic the meter fare to near Shibuya station was 8000-something including toll. Ok, some quick math shows that a meter fare (not including night surcharge) is cheaper than a 6000 yen if the journey is less than ~20 km or ~18 km at night with MK.

weegiewife

I'll be arriving at HND myself for the first time in October. EK gets in 00:01. I've booked at first cabin - their website says they have an exclusive shuttle from the international terminal to hotel at 00:40. I know this may not be useful info for op, but perhaps for the community.

evergrn

Our plane (supposed to land at 11.30pm) got into the gate 20-25min late. I timed from gate arrival to the Keikyu train platform, and it was 22 minutes. 22min includes a few minutes waiting to get off the plane, bus ride to the terminal, passport control (no wait), claiming luggage (waited several minutes until luggages started rolling out, but ours were among the earliest ones to come out), and customs (no wait). At that time frame, there was literally only one train left remaining for the night. And it so happened that was the train we needed to take because the last train out of HND goees to Kamata, where it only connects with a train headed towards Yokohama. The Tokyo-bound service is done by that time of the night.

Even if we missed that train, we still could've taken the 12.30am bus to YCAT. But as I listed on my first post, the bus services are very limited around that part of the night and the chances are that where you're going is not served by any of those late-night buses. So it makes it really tough to not have a train option from HND. If you're trying to take a train into central Tokyo, that flight I took can't be more than 15min late even if everything goes smoothly with immigration, baggage claim and customs. So I think it'd be very easy to miss public ground transport at HND if your plane's scheduled to land 11.30p or later.

gnaget

Glad you made it. There is also a 00:30 bus to Shibuya. I think most other Tokyo destinations have earlier departures.

JR Yamanote runs just past 01:00ish. One might be able to get a train from there. But for two people saving 2000 yen is not worth it.

evergrn

Actually, the 12.01am Keikyu train to Shinagawa is really the last ticket to be able to get to anywhere along Yamanote-line that same night, without caveat.

12.10am Monorail via Hamamatsucho will also work, if you've been thru the Hamamatsucho station before and are comfortable with a 6-min transfer to JR Yamanote headed towards Shibuya/Shinjuku. I think 6-min transfer may be cutting it close for the uninitiated, however. Depending on where you're going, you'll have a longer transfer time because there's a train headed up the other direction towards Ueno that runs late.

bobthekitten

1-2 years ago, we landed on the delta flight at 1030pm, and boy that was some running to catch the last Keikyu.
On the way back, I used the JAL city hotel to sleep over while taking the morning delta flight.
I took the first shuttle from the hotel and that was very convenient.

I still can't believe they haven't improved train/bus schedule from/to Haneda!

Found this web for train route finder and time:
http://world.jorudan.co.jp/norikae/cgi-bin/engkeyin.cgi

bbmatt

how long does it typically take to clear immigration/customs and grab bags at HND? I'm landing at 1030 too..

evergrn

See my post 5 posts above. Of course there are different variables, so it may take you a bit longer.

For a 10.30pm arrival, you'll be just fine as long as it does not arrive more than an hour late.