I am arriving in HND on international flight JAL 1 (SFO-HND) at 7:15pm. I am looking at going to Osaka KIX on JAL 229, which takes off at 9:05. Any issues with making that connection? The first flight is an AA reward flight. Will JAL allow me to check my bags all the way from SFO to KIX? These will be two separate tickets.

My real wish was to go straight to Hiroshima that night. But landing at 7:15pm, it looks like I am out of luck on flights or even the train. Do you agree? Just want to make sure I have considered all the possibilities before settling for the second choice of flying to Osaka first and later going to Hiroshima

Thanks,
Reza

Why not overnight in Tokyo and take flight to Hiroshima the next morning?

JAL can tag it all the way through to KIX if you ask them, but you'll have to pick it up upon arrival at HND for customs anyways and drop it back off.

I agree with nishimark. I would just fly to Hiroshima the next day.

Thank you, that's helpful.
It seems this flight has an average 20-40 minute arrival delay, so that's worth knowing.
Can anyone advise how long it would usually take to clear customs, get bags, and get over to the domestic terminal? We're UK citizens, travelling from China, on vacation.
Thanks again

Thanks [MENTION=41629]nishimark[/MENTION] and [MENTION=638900]evergrn[/MENTION]. Spending the night in Tokyo is of course the safer option, but will burn some of our time on the ground, and then there is the hassle of going to a hotel, checking in/out, back to the airport, ... If 1:50 is enough time between flights, I am willing to take that chance. If we miss the HND-KIX flight, we'll find a place to spend the night and fly/take the train the next morning. It won't kill us!! I just want to make sure a 1:50 layover is not unrealistic for an Int-Dom connection in HND

I sort of got my answer by searching for flying SFO-KIX on the JAL web site. They do give me the option of flight #1 SFO-HND connecting to flight #229 HND-KIX. I take that to mean that's a reasonable connection.

Thanks,
Reza

Seems like you've put some thought into to it, so wish you good luck.

However, I don't understand the reason for wanting to fly to KIX that night so as to go to Hiroshima the next morning, when you could just go straight to Hiroshima the next morning from Tokyo. Maybe I'm missing something.

It is a reasonable connection on one ticket. On separate tickets you would generally want to leave more time between flights as your connection is not protected. If you are late for the domestic flight, it will be your own cost and responsibility to rearrange flights. Checking the luggage through does not necessarily mean they protect your connection fully.

Since KIX is far from the city and the trains, getting to Shinosaka station and then on to Hiroshima will not be much quicker than starting from Tokyo.
Stay at one of the airport hotels in Haneda if you want to fly, or by Shinagawa station if you want to take the train. It will probably be more efficient.

Won't you have to do all of that at KIX? I don't see much advantage to that, as others have said.

If your flight arrives at 19:15, I suggest taking a Keikyu Airport Express train to Shinagawa station to catch the 20:37 Nozomi, which will get you all the way to Hiroshima that evening. As long as you land on time and don't dawdle, it should be possible.

Should you miss the 20:37 Nozomi, you could stay at Shinagawa or catch a Nozomi train as far as Shin-Osaka. (The last Nozomi to Shin-Osaka departs Shinagawa at 21:30).

Sorry sorry, everyone. I see that I have succeeded in making myself look totally confused, rather than just somebody with OCD for optimization :-)

Here is the full story: we will be visiting Tokyo, Osaka, Hiroshima, and Kanasawa on a 2-week vacation. Since our return flight leaves HND at 8pm, it would be more "optimal" if we do Tokyo last because we get to still go sightseeing that last day with our luggage still at the hotel; versus returning to Tokyo from one of the other cities and just heading to the airport. We have done this on other international trips; and it works very well

If we do Tokyo last, then the most optimal (here is that word again!) route would be flying from HND to Hiroshima, train back to Osaka, train to Kanasawa, and train back to Tokyo (or the reverse of that route). That's why I wanted to go to Hiroshima first. But Osaka first is OK, too. We will then go to Hiroshima; then take the train to Kanasawa, which takes about 1:30 longer than if we took the train from Osaka.

Yes, those are small optimizations, but if it can be done without too much hassle, why not do it? But I won't be pulling scheduling stunts just to save an hour here or there

Thanks,
Reza

Ah, the full story makes sense. I'd still recommend considering flying to Hiroshima first thing the next morning after arrival. Moving in one direction from south to north (Hiroshima, Osaka, Kanazawa, Tokyo, and maybe places between) seems to be better, or at least that's how I would do it. Also, by making the decision now, rather than day of arrival, will give you the opportunity to secure hotel reservations. Hope you have a great trip.

With an 8pm departure from HND, you could also "optimize" by visiting Tokyo first, then Kanazawa, Osaka, and finally Hiroshima, taking a flight from HIJ to HND to connect with your flight home. But, whatever works for you works for you.

AIRPORT: FUK

Inbound: international on AY
Outbound: domestic on JL
Connection time: 2 hrs

and on the way back:

AIRPORT: NGO
Inbound: domestic JL
Outbound: int'l AY
Connection time: 90 mins

My guess is that I should be OK, but never flew to FUK and never transited at NGO. Same ticket, so no biggie (but ennoying) if missing the connection.

Both connections should be more than adequate.

Fukuoka Airport, domestic terminal and international terminal is located at an opposite side of the airport, another side of runway. There is free transfer bus between domestic and international terminal, which takes 15 minutes.

Last time I was at Fukuoka Airport, there was no domestic transfer check-in upon exiting from customs at international terminal. Had to take luggage along on transfer bus and check-in for domestic flight at domestic terminal.

Airport website says it's still the same way - http://www.fuk-ab.co.jp/english/sp/transit_int_dom.html