Crofton138

Hi, I'm fairly new to FT but picking up masses of useful information! I have a quick query that I was hoping someone with experience of flying on the LHR-HND route may be able to help with. I'm looking to book flights for Mar/Apr 2019 using a 2-4-1 voucher and I have enough Avios for one leg in J and one leg in F (I'm about 25k Avios short of being able to do both legs in F). I haven't travelled on this route before so what would be the best use of the 2-4-1, outbound (BA007) or inbound (BA008) in F? One consideration is what the lounge options are like at HND?

lost_in_translation

Lounge options at HND are quite good - you'll get the JL F lounge if flying F or the JL J lounge if flying J. I think there's a much bigger difference between the CCR and the GC lounges at LHR than the two JL lounges if that's a consideration. You can also use the CX lounge when in J if your flight is on a day that there's a CX morning departure (pretty much every day, I think), which is close in standard to the JL F lounge, to be honest.

I think the consensus FT recommendation is normally F ex-LHR and J return is the best way of maximising the experience on most routes.

The _Banking_Scot

Hi,

I agree with lost_in_translation that the HND lounges are pretty good ( the CX lounge is a lot better than the CX lounge at NRT but the JAL F lounges ( 2 or 3 at NRT depending if the upper lounge is open) were good also

There are 2 or3 Sakura lounges at HND including a skyview lounge as well as the Cathay lounge ( plus the JAL F lounge). When I was there in 2017 ( most of my route choies involved NRT) I loved the JAL F lounge with the JAL memorabilia in the Red suite and found the Cathay lounge practically empty before the BA flight.

The timings of the HND flight are not conducive for a good sleep outbound from LHR as you leave in the morning and land in HND early in thre morning.

As HND-LHR is in daylight and longer than LHR-HND I would be tempted to go LHR-HND in CW and HND-LHR in F ( although you miss the CCR on the outbound)

PS depending on where you are staying in Tokyo you could consider NRT as the train service to Tokyo station takes about 53mins on the NEX ( no changes) or the Keisei skyliner to Ueno) as well as the limo bus.

Regards

TBS

lcylocal

Worth remembering that BA only guarantees the two J seats on each flight 355 days before. So this might be driven by where F availability appears as well. You might want to book the J seats and and then wait and see where F appears, though you will have to pay the Ł35 fee for each change I believe.

lost_in_translation

Yes, definitely need to factor departure / arrival times into things here, but from a making the most of the lounges perspective I think the optimal combo is CCR at LHR and CX lounge at HND. OP would also get to use the F wing at LHR, which surely massively improves the overall ground experience.

The BA LHR-NRT flight has a slightly better departure time than the LHR-HND one, so don't think that should be discounted either.

dcmike

And if you do get F, the good champagne in the HND F lounge is in the back. Don't stop for what they have up front, continue to the back of the lounge, in a separate room, and there it is. Laurent-Perrier Grand Sičcle if I remember correctly.

lost_in_translation

Standard Laurent-Perrier for most of the year, LPGS occasionally appears for a few days around occasions like Christmas

GinFizz

Indeed - this was the bubbles in the back room of the HND JAL F lounge last Thursday.

flatlander

I would take F on the back given a choice, because it's a long daytime flight during which you can enjoy the experience the most.

Not that F on the way out is too shabby, the flight is long enough that you can wine, dine, watch entertainment, and still get enough sleep.

The JAL F Lounge at HND is quite nice. You could, if you wished to be creative, book a flight to somewhere else on the same day as your return from HND and present your F boarding pass for CCR access on the way back

ESFLYER95

Yes, don't rule out NRT. It is made out to be hours away but in reality it really is not that bad either on the NEX or bus (depending on time of day). I stay by Tokyo station when in Tokyo and in some ways find NRT easier. Oh and they have the sushi bar at JL F lounge!

Ruth4325

I’m flying To NRT in F on 22nd, looking forward to the CCR for the first time and I recall selecting the NRT flight to try and minimise jet lag a little as we’re hoping to get 5/6 hours sleep. From LHR you’ll also get to use the first wing if not connecting from the regions. We are flying back In F from HND and I’ve read a lot about how marvellous the Sakura first lounge is...so that may swing your thoughts too. Happy to report back with my comparisons at the end of Feb...

Starship73

This is all very useful info for me too, as Mrs Starship73 and I are flying F to HND and back in March. Managed to get the flights on an off-peak 2-4-1 voucher redemption only two weeks ago, which I found surprising. Had the option to take the 789 to NRT on the outbound, which has the better F hard product, but given the current Trent 1000 engine problems I decided not to take the risk and stick with the 77W services to HND and back. This will be our first chance to use the CCR at T5 and the JAL F lounge at HND. Looking forward!

Crofton138

Update to my original post, I managed to secure F outbound on BA5 LHR-NRT and W inbound on BA8 HND-LHR. There's no J availability inbound from Tokyo at the start of April but I've got Expertflyer alerts set-up just in case something pops up. Interesting that I had an Expertflyer e-mail last night notifying an aircraft change from 777 to 787-9 on BA5.

Woodbinerich

Good outcome. Not sure if you have been much to Japan before, but if not one thing to keep in mind is Japanese hotels tend to be very strict around check in time (unless you cough up yen!!) and I don't think there's an arrivals lounge to spin things out.
If you are staying central Tokyo, with the NRT flight timings and transfer time, this shouldn't be too much of an issue (It is with the HND one), but just keep in mind as my guess is you might get to Tokyo by around 1.30 with the wind behind you. The international chains tend to be more flexible than the domestic chains.

Crofton138

Thanks for the tip, this will be my first trip to Tokyo. I've got a stash of IHG points to burn so will be at one of the three Intercontinentals. I'm a Spire Ambassador so hopefully that will count for something with regards a slightly early check-in.