Also note that most of the shops in the Edo Market close at 22:00, though the restaurants are open later.

A bit of an update. I arrived at HND as planned, but there was no transit counter open. The ANA lounge was happy to allow me in based on the booking details. An hour or so later the 'concierge' clocked on and was able to print my boarding pass. ^

Footnote: When I entered the lounge I was one of about four guests, and I wondered if they could ever fill such an expansive area. By 8am I knew they could. :shock:

Just wondering. Did the ANA lounge have cooked-to-order noodles, curry, meat items and all that stuff early in the morning? Or was the selection more limited or more geared towards breakfast items? I don't think I've ever been to ANA Lounge in the morning, so just wondering. SilverKris lounges have extensive hot dinner offerings right from the crack of dawn, but some of the other airlines' lounges have hardly anything in the morning.

Only the breakfast style offerings that I could see. Of course there might have been a sign in Japanese.

They have signs in both Japanese and American at ANA Lounge and, of course, the food (other than cooked-to-order) is all laid out. So you will not have missed it. If you go to ANA Lounge in the afternoon and evening (only times I've been), their buffet spreads are really comprehensive. It's too bad that they limit their offerings in the morning. SilverKris and CX's lounges have extensive food selections with many kinds of hot food, even if you go at 6am.

OK, I have read thru about 15 pages of this and think i have the jist, makign sure what I am thinking is correct

This is a J award on ANA
IAH-NRT-HND-SIN

8h 55m layover, so plenty of time to get there

We will have checked bags - so they must be retrieved and we have to completely immigrate into Japan, take the bus or train to HND, then recheck bags and go thru security

That sound about right?

I am assuming with 1-2 large checked bags the bus will be easier and less hassle.....

yes, yes, yes and yes!

Note that the Limousine Bus will only put 2 pieces underneath with stated limits of 30kg and 50cm x 60cm x 120cm each.

I haven't ran into weight or dimension limits (and not sure how the weight would work other than the handlers' judgement; I don't recall ever seeing scales used) but I have had to bring my cabin bag onboard instead of underneath due to three total pieces.

Hello,

I have a flight Delta 120 HND- MSP 16:20 Gate 145.

I am looking at taking ANA (NH) 572 WKJ-HND arriving 14:55 HND

It would be a domestic to international connection with 1 hr 25 minutes in between. It appears the NH flight tends to be late and the DL flight tends to depart early. Is this enough time? I understand I would need to transit from the Domestic to International Terminal.

No it is not enough time. D/I MCT is 2 hrs at HND (if both flights are on a single ticket). If the flights are on separate tickets, you should allow more than MCT minimum connection time.

Really? I'm surprised it's that long. What is I>D MCT then? It's usually ~1/2hr longer.

I do agree that 123Go's proposal is not advised, esp on separate tickets.

It really depends on the Airline combinations JL to JL is 60 minutes domestic to international, NH to NH is 70. To other Airlines varies case by case. In both cases add, 10 minutes extra for the other direction.

On seperate tickets, OP would need to meet the standard check in cut off with Delta, so I would leave at least 3 hours, possibly more inbetween.

If your domestic to international connection at HND meets MCT (minimum connection time) which is set by NH (ANA) then you will through check your baggage at WKJ to DL flight to MSP if NH has an interline agreement with DL. Unfortunately, DL is not an airlines listed on NH website as airlines with interline agreement. Which means under any circumstances, no matter how much connection time you have at HND, NH at WKJ will not able to check your bags to DL flight at HND. You have to pick up your checked bags at HND, carry to international terminal and check your bags with DL at HND. DL closes check-in for international flights 60 minutes before the departure so you will have only 25 minutes to do all these at HND.

If you do not have checked baggage then you can risk by doing online check-in on DL flight before your departure form WKJ and see if you can get off the flight at HND, take inter-terminal bus to International Terminal, go through security check and passport control, and arrive at a gate of DL flight to MSP, all in 40 minutes. DL does require passengers to be at the gate ready to board 45 minutes before international departure. Which means if your DL flight happened to be overbooked and if you are not at HND gate for DL flight to MSP 45 minutes before the departure, then technically DL can give your seat to somebody else who is at the gate on standby list.

P.S.
I realized there is not that many WKJ-HND flights and NH 572 arriving at HND 14:55 happened to be the first flight of the day. Other options do not look any better:

NH 4842
WKJ 11:45
CTS 12:40

NH 64
CTS 13:30
HND 15:05

ANA group is the only one serving WKJ, JAL group does not, so 14:55 arrival at HND is earliest can be done from WKJ. Only option could be over night at Sapporo or Tokyo to catch DL 120 to MSP.

JR Hokkaido used to have overnight train between Wakkanai and Sapporo, then that would give option of taking overnight train from Wakkanai to Sapporo and catch morning CTS-HND flight. But there is no more overnight train between Wakkanai and Sapporo.

Thanks for the suggestions. I reversed my trip and will now have a 3 hr 50 minute layover at HND.

Just wanted to resurrect this thread/topic to ask if anyone has any recent experience in arriving at NRT Terminal 2 on JL from an International flight and connecting onward to the US, going through transit security check, going to one of lounges to shower, eat and change and then tried to get out by going to the immigration desks to get out of the airport for 8-10 hours before returning to make your connection. I am hoping to do this during a layover of about 12 hours where I land early morning and connect to my onward flight early evening. Has anyone done this recently?