Another question on changing terminals at Narita
 

Hi everyone... hope you are having a great day. I have searched and read several threads on changing terminals at Narita, but they were mostly old and need to get updated info from the informed members here.

I am flying to Narita and then to ITM from MSP on DL 619 and then JAL 3007 in late November. When I bought my tickets the time between the arrival of DL 619 (4:30pm) and departure of JAL 3007 (6:30pm) was 2 hours. However, I got an email stating that the arrival time for DL 619 has been changed to 4:50PM. That means I have 1hr40mins to disembark, do immigration/customs, ride a shuttle to change terminals and then board the JAL flight.

I have been to Narita a couple of times, and the immigration and customs were very efficient. However, each time I stayed overnight in Tokyo, so I never had to change terminals.

My question is 1hr 40mins enough time? If the MSP-NRT flight is delayed, then it will definitely be a problem as the JAL flight is the last one to Osaka that night. There is not enough time to go to Haneda to catch a later flight.

I have a few more questions that I hope I can answers from here.

Will DL/JAL pay me for overnight accommodation if I miss the flight due to delays, not caused by weather?

Will DL/JAL provide me with a complimentary ticket from Haneda to ITM (or KIX) the next day morning?

Will DL/JAL issue a refund for this leg?

Thank you in advance.

Flyer1...9, welcome to FlyerTalk! Please follow as the thread moves to our Travel->Japan forum. Ocn Vw 1K, Moderator, TravelBuzz.

It's likely still makeable if you arrive on time. 4:50 is slightly past peak arrival time so lines should be down at immigration. Reclaiming bags and customs are rarely, if ever, a problem at NRT. Still, I would try to get from the plane to immigration as quickly as possible.

Unless you are travelling in paid F or have some super-secret status, I wouldn't expect much out of Delta in the event of late arrival.

If the arrival time of the DL flight was changed but not the departure time, it's quite possible that it was done solely to make their on-time stats look better. You'll still probably arrive at the same time as before.

Welcome to FT, flyer12345678--what's next?--9!

Bear in mind that you arrive at Terminal 1 and need to transfer to Terminal 2 for the JAL domestic leg.

http://www.narita-airport.jp/en/guid...om1/index.html

That means taking the terminal shuttle after clearing immigration and customs. Do-able, but quite tight, I think.

Thank you all for your replies. I will keep my fingers crossed and try to run the fastest I can :D

Is the terminal to terminal shuttle in Narita open to all transit passengers, or are the shuttles categorized by alliances... ie., if it is open, then the interval between shuttles is less than 10 mins. during my estimated time of arrival, which is not bad.

Also, do you have to tow your check in luggage with you in the shuttle and recheck it at the terminal 2, or is there a luggage transfer station at terminal 1 which will do it for me after I do customs and deposit my luggage there (provided I get Delta to check it all the way from my US boarding airport to ITM... it is in the same ticket, so I am hoping that!).

Thanks.

Yes. The landside shuttles are open to any person. (Even if you're a plane spotter, with no intention of flying, you can ride the landside bus between terminals).
I think that domestic transfer passengers have to carry all luggage to the relevant domestic check-in counters ... which in your case, means JAL domestic counters at T2. I think the bus has two drop off points at T2, so you can choose the one closest to the domestic check-in, to minimize the walking distance.

This is correct. You will need to carry your luggage with you onto the shuttle bus, and then re-check them in at the counters in T2.

In addition to the link posted by jib71 in post #4 here is a link to further info about the shuttle bus service between the two terminals.

http://www.narita-airport.jp/en/acce...nal/index.html

Thank you very much for your help... this is what makes this the no. 1 forum.

I had delays into NRT a number of times. The best route would be to take the 8:20PM Nozomi from JR Tokyo stn to JR Shin-Osaka stn. I would get to my end station in metro Osaka around 11:30PM. Buy a nice eki ben at the Tokyo stn for dinner on the train.

Thanks for the suggestion. However, I have to keep my options open depends on what the airlines do, in case of delays... even though I am hoping that we can make the connection as scheduled.

Ok... got back from my trip to Japan... enjoyed thoroughly :)

As for the transfer, the flight from MSP to NRT was late and when we got out of the aircraft, there was about 1 hour 20 mins left for the flight to ITM. Delta had a lady out there who was announcing for people getting off that flight and had tight connections. She rushed us through the maze of elevators and corridors to the immigration. Immigration was fast and efficient. She even helped us pull luggage off the carousel and get on the proper shuttle bus. Kudos to Japanese customer service.

We then had to check in our luggage after getting off the shuttle in the other terminal, go through security etc. We boarded the ITM bound flight with 10 minutes to spare! Was nervous all the way but Japanese efficiency helped.

In comparison, during our return trip we stopped over at Honolulu and had to change over to catch a flight to Maui. It took us over 2 hours before we got out of customs and changed terminals. That was before we checked in for the inter-island flight! The whole process took about 2.5 hours from getting off the airplane to reaching the other gate.

Hope my posting helps others in the future.

Makes Sense
 

Your experience is not a suprise on both ends. I have been helped by the Customer Service professionals a number of times when connecting at NRT. As for HNL they are friendly bunch, but speed is not their forte.