Originally Posted by
AlwaysAisle
There is a fast lane service for passport control at NRT, but it is still experimental stage. Need a pass to use a fast lane and the pass is given to passengers via airlines. Not much information regarding how many passes which airlines get. Also, it is up to each airline to decide which passengers get a pass. The fast lane is available only to non-Japanese passport holders
At NRT, once you go through a transit area upon arrival at NRT and come out on departure gate side, then there is no way for a passenger to go through a passport control/customs and come out on land side of the terminal. This is the way all Japanese airports are set up.
If you want to come out on the land side then you have to go through passport control/customs upon arrival at NRT and not to go through the transit area.
You can get a boarding pass for ET at the gate if you go through transit upon arrival at NRT. If you go through passport control/customs and come out at land side then get a boarding pass at check-in counter which is shown as opening three hours before the departure.
Thank you! Great info and might have saved us from getting 'trapped' in the departures area. Customs/immigration --> friend --> check in desk --> departure. Got it!
Originally Posted by
msb0b
Do you mean landside? I wouldn't want to stay airside for 9 and half hours.
Are both flights on the same PNR? If so, you should be able to get boarding pass for the ET673 leg at SFO when you check in for UA837.
Yes, screwed up the words, thanks for catching that! And yes, both flights are on the same PNR, but in my experience (1) UA staff can't print boarding passes for some partners [happened to us going SFO-PEK-SYD] or (2) the UA printed boarding pass won't work or will cause a bunch of confusion (I once had a partner gate agent tell us our boarding pass wasn't a UA flight and I needed to go to a different gate even though the boarding pass was for the partner flight - they just saw UA printed on the boarding pass and refused to read anything else). I'm sure it can work, but IME it's better just to have a paper boarding pass on the operating carriers stock.