What to do in NRT for 10.5 Hours?
Apr 12, 2012 | 2:58 pm
#16
Join Date: Dec 2010
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ANA Suite(F) Lounge: F quality amuse bouche, cooked to order hot noodle/tempura don
Haven't been to UA IFC lounge at NRT, but given their in-flight F meal (even ex. Japan) is like food court stuff at home, I never wanted to go in. Did try RCC @ NRT years ago and IFC at HKG recently, nothing spectacular.
Haven't been to UA IFC lounge at NRT, but given their in-flight F meal (even ex. Japan) is like food court stuff at home, I never wanted to go in. Did try RCC @ NRT years ago and IFC at HKG recently, nothing spectacular.
Apr 12, 2012 | 4:46 pm
#17
Join Date: Jan 2008
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Nope, other than the beer machine it's the SOS. The ANA lounges are far superior. Sake bar, fresh udon noodles, quiet area, less crowded, and far better behaved patrons since the Americans mostly don't know to look any further than their own rather large noses.
Apr 12, 2012 | 5:50 pm
#18
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I prefer the UA IFC to the ANA IFC lounge, but they are both nice and it's really a matter of personal preference. Together with SFO, the NRT F lounge is the nicest in the system.
Also, UA F will get you through the F security entrance, which is always very quick. Immigration is rarely longer than 5 minutes going into the airport.... but could be a bit longer getting out of the airport.
I would recommend a trip into Tokyo. Take the Narita Express to Tokyo station. You could wander around Ginza and/or the Imperial Palace. Also get a nice lunch. It's a very easy trip. You would easily have 5 or 6 hours in Tokyo. Well worth doing if you've not been to Tokyo before.
Also there is spa in Terminal 1 (*A) on the 2nd floor between the North and South wing. Clean but not too fancy.
Also, UA F will get you through the F security entrance, which is always very quick. Immigration is rarely longer than 5 minutes going into the airport.... but could be a bit longer getting out of the airport.
I would recommend a trip into Tokyo. Take the Narita Express to Tokyo station. You could wander around Ginza and/or the Imperial Palace. Also get a nice lunch. It's a very easy trip. You would easily have 5 or 6 hours in Tokyo. Well worth doing if you've not been to Tokyo before.
Also there is spa in Terminal 1 (*A) on the 2nd floor between the North and South wing. Clean but not too fancy.
Apr 12, 2012 | 6:19 pm
#19
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Nope, other than the beer machine it's the SOS. The ANA lounges are far superior. Sake bar, fresh udon noodles, quiet area, less crowded, and far better behaved patrons since the Americans mostly don't know to look any further than their own rather large noses.
And then go to the ANA lounge for food.
Apr 12, 2012 | 6:31 pm
#20
Join Date: Jan 2012
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Posts: 82
Narita city is readily accessible from the airport, has some nice walking, places to eat and drink, the Shinsoji temple, etc. and would be a nice way to stretch your legs, so to speak, without the time pressure and lengthy transits. There are cheap buses that run every 90 minutes, local trains to the 2 Narita city stations (and, of course, cabs as well).
I love the ANA C and F lounges near the 50's gates, but 10.5 hours in ANY airport lounge is an awful lot of time. Basically - that's the same amount of time you'll be in the air to ORD.
Apr 12, 2012 | 7:06 pm
#21
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Whether or not you should go into Tokyo depends on which 10.5 hours you will be there. If it is from 7am - 5:30pm, put your stuff into left baggage and go. If it is from 7pm - 5:30am, unless you are into partying all night and taking a $300 taxi ride back to the airport, go somewhere to sleep.
Apr 12, 2012 | 8:01 pm
#22
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Given 10.5 hours I definitely recommend going into Tokyo. Your itinerary would look something like this:
8:00 - Flight arrives from BKK, go through inbound immigration and customs
9:10 - Hop on Skyliner train from NRT
10:05 - Arrive at Ueno Station
What you do for the next 4-5 hours is up to you, but options in the immediate area include Ueno Park (big park with art museums and a zoo), Ameyoko (crowded shopping street, lots of places to get lunch), Asakusa (about 5 minutes away on the subway, big temple, all the tourists go there) and Akihabara (about 5 minutes away by train, electronics/subculture district, all the tourists go there).
2:40 - Leave Ueno Station.
3:20 - Arrive at NRT, go through security and outbound immigration
4:30 - Flight leaves for ORD
The Skyliner train costs 2,400 yen each way. You can also take a slow train for about 1,000 yen each way, but I don't advise this because (a) you are likely to get packed in like a sardine during the morning rush hour and (b) it would take an extra 45 minutes or so each way.
Getting back to NRT two hours before your flight is perhaps good from a conservative perspective but it is almost guaranteed to leave you with more than an hour to kill at NRT. I would expect something like a 2-minute wait at security (which is generally very fast and easy in Japan, no shoe carnival here) and a 5 to 15-minute wait at outbound immigration. ANA tells people to get to NRT an hour before departure if they are already checked in.
8:00 - Flight arrives from BKK, go through inbound immigration and customs
9:10 - Hop on Skyliner train from NRT
10:05 - Arrive at Ueno Station
What you do for the next 4-5 hours is up to you, but options in the immediate area include Ueno Park (big park with art museums and a zoo), Ameyoko (crowded shopping street, lots of places to get lunch), Asakusa (about 5 minutes away on the subway, big temple, all the tourists go there) and Akihabara (about 5 minutes away by train, electronics/subculture district, all the tourists go there).
2:40 - Leave Ueno Station.
3:20 - Arrive at NRT, go through security and outbound immigration
4:30 - Flight leaves for ORD
The Skyliner train costs 2,400 yen each way. You can also take a slow train for about 1,000 yen each way, but I don't advise this because (a) you are likely to get packed in like a sardine during the morning rush hour and (b) it would take an extra 45 minutes or so each way.
Getting back to NRT two hours before your flight is perhaps good from a conservative perspective but it is almost guaranteed to leave you with more than an hour to kill at NRT. I would expect something like a 2-minute wait at security (which is generally very fast and easy in Japan, no shoe carnival here) and a 5 to 15-minute wait at outbound immigration. ANA tells people to get to NRT an hour before departure if they are already checked in.
Apr 12, 2012 | 11:37 pm
#23
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: NoCal
Programs: UA 1K 2.7MM
Posts: 232
Brilliant Post
The thought of wasting 10 hours inside an airport when one of the world's great cities is nearby makes me shudder in horror. The excellent advice below is spot on. I'd add: buy the Tokyo pdf from Lonely Planet ($5), print it out and ponder your options. You won't need a smart phone or other gizmos people used to travel *without*.
http://shop.lonelyplanet.com/japan/j...kyo-chapter-12
http://shop.lonelyplanet.com/japan/j...kyo-chapter-12
Given 10.5 hours I definitely recommend going into Tokyo. Your itinerary would look something like this:
8:00 - Flight arrives from BKK, go through inbound immigration and customs
9:10 - Hop on Skyliner train from NRT
10:05 - Arrive at Ueno Station
What you do for the next 4-5 hours is up to you, but options in the immediate area include Ueno Park (big park with art museums and a zoo), Ameyoko (crowded shopping street, lots of places to get lunch), Asakusa (about 5 minutes away on the subway, big temple, all the tourists go there) and Akihabara (about 5 minutes away by train, electronics/subculture district, all the tourists go there).
2:40 - Leave Ueno Station.
3:20 - Arrive at NRT, go through security and outbound immigration
4:30 - Flight leaves for ORD
The Skyliner train costs 2,400 yen each way. You can also take a slow train for about 1,000 yen each way, but I don't advise this because (a) you are likely to get packed in like a sardine during the morning rush hour and (b) it would take an extra 45 minutes or so each way.
Getting back to NRT two hours before your flight is perhaps good from a conservative perspective but it is almost guaranteed to leave you with more than an hour to kill at NRT. I would expect something like a 2-minute wait at security (which is generally very fast and easy in Japan, no shoe carnival here) and a 5 to 15-minute wait at outbound immigration. ANA tells people to get to NRT an hour before departure if they are already checked in.
8:00 - Flight arrives from BKK, go through inbound immigration and customs
9:10 - Hop on Skyliner train from NRT
10:05 - Arrive at Ueno Station
What you do for the next 4-5 hours is up to you, but options in the immediate area include Ueno Park (big park with art museums and a zoo), Ameyoko (crowded shopping street, lots of places to get lunch), Asakusa (about 5 minutes away on the subway, big temple, all the tourists go there) and Akihabara (about 5 minutes away by train, electronics/subculture district, all the tourists go there).
2:40 - Leave Ueno Station.
3:20 - Arrive at NRT, go through security and outbound immigration
4:30 - Flight leaves for ORD
The Skyliner train costs 2,400 yen each way. You can also take a slow train for about 1,000 yen each way, but I don't advise this because (a) you are likely to get packed in like a sardine during the morning rush hour and (b) it would take an extra 45 minutes or so each way.
Getting back to NRT two hours before your flight is perhaps good from a conservative perspective but it is almost guaranteed to leave you with more than an hour to kill at NRT. I would expect something like a 2-minute wait at security (which is generally very fast and easy in Japan, no shoe carnival here) and a 5 to 15-minute wait at outbound immigration. ANA tells people to get to NRT an hour before departure if they are already checked in.
May 14, 2012 | 3:04 pm
#24
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Chicago, IL., U.S.A.
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Where the crews go
I haven't been there. But somebody whose opinions I trust has been, and he lives in Tokyo {far from Narita}: The Barge Inn in Narita is a keen venue styled after a British pub.
He wrote that flight crews spending the night in Narita before their next assignment especially enjoyed it.
I also though, concur, with RichardInSF, that it depends on which 10 hours you will be there.
He wrote that flight crews spending the night in Narita before their next assignment especially enjoyed it.
I also though, concur, with RichardInSF, that it depends on which 10 hours you will be there.