Originally Posted by
Scifience
I'd definitely take the NH flight, though not because the NH product is really significantly better on this route. 80 minutes is tight for a connection at PEK if anything goes wrong (even transit passengers must clear immigration), and HND is almost always preferable to NRT. You'll save most of the time on shorter immigration lines at HND (although this is less of an issue if you're a resident) and the much faster train ride into town, and you won't have to rush and worry about missing your plane at PEK.
What do you mean by "clear immigration"? Do they issue a transit visa or is it just a police state, check your papers thing? It looks like you go through the immigration area and go along the sides and down the escalator to security and then you are at the Air China lounge area (purple arrows):
http://www.ana.co.jp/wws/us/e/asw_co...ports/int/bjs/
I am arriving at what I guess is a quiet time (noon) and how many people do intl to intl at PEK?
In any case, it looks like I might be able to catch a 5 pm flight to MUC and fly ANA MUC-NRT. It might be a better option than dealing with PEK. Connecting at MUC is pleasant.
p.s. I have flow into NRT probably 20 times since late 2010 and immigration for non-JP residents has been empty half the time and if there is a queue (like at peak US arrivals around 17:00) it moves quickly. It has never taken more than 30 min from touchdown to exit immigration even with checked bags. At HND (only arrived there twice) I once saw a long line with fewer agents because we arrived just after a DL flight. I went to the JP resident line together with my travel companion but I think the wait otherwise would have been longer than NRT.