What to do in NRT for 10.5 Hours?
 

Hi all,

Just a quick advice question. I will be stuck in NRT in a few weeks for a little over ten hours. I'm arriving from BKK in TG F and departing for ORD in UA F. Never been to NRT before, what's the best lounge to kill some time in. What lounge has the best food? Similarly, who has the best showers?

Thanks for your help, these forums are amazing.

I went to the Delta lounge at Narita before
It was very nice, when I arrived there weren't a lot of people there
I also went to take a shower which was clean
They have a self-serve bar there that has some decent selection of food
I got some sushi, cold noodle, and some other good stuff
The best Delta sky lounge i have ever been to so far:D

Welcome to FT.

You will find most of your questions answered in this master thread.

You can get into any UA partner FC lounge in NRT, by showing your bp, and allot of them are definitely FC. Check for UA partners on their website.
Delta ain't one of them!

Would you say the ANA Suite Lounge or the United IFC lounge has better shower facilities?

I would get a day room at the airport Hilton. They have a nice spa/sauna area where you can spend a few hours.

You've got ten hours, why not try 'em both and report back to us?

Gotta fill in the time somehow! :)

If you haven't been to Tokyo before - why not catch the train into Tokyo and spend the time looking around there?

If this is actually feasible, I might try and do this. I suppose I should have no trouble leaving the airport and getting back in.

you can narita express round trip and the tokyo metro system is superb, but there's no elite entry to nrt so keep the 2 hrs buffer before departure. the security/immigration lines can run long. united's lounge at nrt is one of their best. probably due to the high standards set by asian lounges.

this is a guesstimate please check schedules but arrival departure and express train inclusive you have about 2 hours of sightseeing and possibly cheap world class sushi at tsukuji market.

lastly do not count on wifi or cell coverage. japan is proprietary and you'll need a japanese plan in most if not all cases. plan your excursion to the exact details to avoid getting lost and not having your google maps in hand.

All solid advice right there.

If you're leary of traveling all the way to Tokyo for ~2 hours of sightseeing, 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.

I can second this. I've spent a few hours at the F lounge waiting for a flight out to BKK, and the food was quite good. I was pleasantly surprised by some very good sushi.

With the amount of time you have, I would take a trip to Narita-san (成田山) Temple. It is a wonderful property to wander through with some great gardens. Afterward walk back down to the rails (nice walk with some great shopping along the way) to catch a train back to the airport.

I took the airport shuttle to the ANA Crowne Plaza (if I'm remembering the hotel name correctly), checked a bag with the concierge and took a local shuttle bus from the hotel all the way to the temple. It was an awesome way to kill an otherwise wasted day. I'd highly recommend it. I can go back and look through my old expenses (when I'm back in the office) if you'd like me to provide a definitive hotel name.

How does it compare to the ANA biz lounge? When I'm in Narita and I'm looking for a lounge, I see United Club and think "cookies, cheese, crackers, snack mix" and I see a ANA Lounge and think "sushi, udon noodles, finger sandwiches, beverage variety" and I don't even pause at the UA entrance on my way to ANA.

Is the NRT UA Club that much different than it's US counterparts, even the hub locations like SF, SEA, IAD, etc?