Originally Posted by
tkcdao
I am planning a rewards flight LAX - NRT UA business class in Aug with the hopes of Japan opening up for tourism sometime in the next few months. However if it does not open by then I am planning on booking a separate flight NRT - BKK on a different carrier (JAL) the same day 3 hours after arrival in Tokyo. I understand international to international transfer is allowed but are you able to stay airside without going thru customs for lets say arrival NRT in terminal 1 and lets say departure Terminal 2 or 3 or you restricted to terminal 1 departures
Carry on bags would probably be required as checked bags would have to be picked up after customs and not possible with current restrictions
I don't know how UA works and what your status is (I'm with American airlines), but I had the same plan a few months ago, with a flight from LAX-TYO that I already had booked.
Since I can cancel without fee, I cancelled my RT to Tokyo and I booked a through flight to bkk and two return flights, one from BKK and one from TYO. Figured if Japan opened, I would miss my onward flight to bkk and stay in Japan then cancel the return flight from bkk. Obviously Japan didn't open, so I just cancelled my to flight back to LAX. Just a thought.
This saved me a bunch of mileo and made my flight much less complicated.