I ended up cancelling the Hilton and rebooked the Crowne Plaza because my rate was half of Hilton’s - but I didn’t consider the free breakfast buffet as a Gold.

Is the Hilton buffet all that worthwhile as an alternative to trying to cram a visit into the Sakura Lounge before boarding? Or is it just a basic, pedestrian offering?

I'm considering making the reckless decision of connecting between separate tickets in NRT. I would have four hours between arrival and departure, and I would need to get between Terminal 1 and Terminal 2. Both are international, and I would not have any checked bags. My chief concern is if I'm not able to get a digital boarding pass for the second flight, and they will not allow me to re-clear security after landing without passing through immigration. Obviously, spending an hour in line for immigration greatly increases my risk, but it still seems like I would be OK unless the flight is delayed 2+ hours.

Is there a connections desk or kiosk upon arrival where I would be able to get my BP (flight is not on JL or NH)? How much times does such a transfer usually take (late afternoon)?

Transit security are normally perfectly OK with a print of the e-ticlet.

Taking your advice for this leg. Staying at either Moxy or DT Ariake. NRT Express from T2 to Tokyo station at 9 PM. Any issue with taxis to either property and pay by credit card? Either property seems to be less than a 10 minute ride. (At DCA, the taxi operators get quite irritated when waiting in line and a customer just wanting a ride to a Crystal City hotel (less than 10 minutes away).)

(To clarify - I am traveling heavy, a long day, so I'm not interested in figuring out the Tokyo train system for a transfer. :).)

Well, now I'm confused...it looks like NRT Express moves to hourly after 2047. I doubt I'll be on the platform by that time given that I land at 2000 and it has taken me over an hour to get through immigration and customs my past three transits. Any suggestions other than waiting until 2147, which I guess will put me at the property around 2330; which kind of defeats the purpose of a day in Tokyo? :(

TIA!

Hi,

Taxi will not be a problem for the short drive from Tokyo station ( I have used a taxi from Conrad in shiodome to tokyo station ( around 7 mins for Y1000 or so with no issue)
I did think that when you said an early evening arrival , you meant more like 5-7pm
For an 8pm arrival, public transport at Narita is a bit more inconvenient so staying in Narita in this case might be better

Regards

TBS

That's a comically bad plan. Ariake is Tokyo's Staten Island - - both from a logistical perspective and in terms of its suitability as a place to enjoy a stopover. Book somewhere that you actually want to be and that doesn't require an expedition to get there.

As for your route into Tokyo - An alternative to taking the N'EX to Tokyo station would be Skyliner to Keisei Ueno. Service is frequent and Keisei Ueno station is not a crowded labyrinth. My suggestion would be to book a hotel within a short cab ride from there. (And your cab time estimates seem to be rather optimistic, so ... that's also worth considering).

I'm glad to have provided comic relief to jib71 :).

Japan is country #96 for me and I am just having a brain block. These things normally don't challenge me. And points and miles, i.e. the current Hilton promotion, was getting in the way of sense. Knowing that I'm not going to stay in the room at all, I didn't want to spend the money for the other amenities. I've also adjusted my UA flight by a day.

I'll checkout jib71 's suggestion and thanks for the The _Banking_Scot taxi info! I'll report back!

Currently have CTS-HND-DFW and CTS-HND-ORD booked for first week of Jan next year (both are single ticket itineraries). The CTS-HND flight is in the morning, giving us about 1hr 50min connection. Should I be worried about weather delays for CTS-HND around this time of year, or it's still early enough in winter that there aren't usually weather delays?

Weather delays are not frequent in CTS, but they do happen. Yesterday the airport was closed for some hours which created some havoc in schedules. Heavy snowfalls could happen in January as well, but it does need to be quite heavy, as they are generally well prepared to handle it.

Thanks to all of the FTers that provided advice to me. I'm not sure why Tokyo was so daunting. Arrived at NRT T3 a few minutes before 2000. I assumed that I wouldn't be free from immigration/customs for an hour. Starting at 2100, the frequency of the NRT Express and Keisei Skyliner Express lessened. I ended up focusing on Keisei and looked for hotels around Keisei Ueno accordingly using booking dot com.

I ended up making the 2100 train (I was off the plane and through I&C in about 40 minutes). Boarding was so very organized. And straight to Keisei Ueno. I went to the underground taxi stand, pressed a button, and a taxi appeared. It was a 1200 JPY cab ride to the Hotel Gracery Asakusa, which turned out to be a short walk to the Asakusa subway station. Hotel was perfect for my needs in that it had a simple breakfast and a decent enough room for my not being in the room. I also scored a 11 x 17 subway system map which will be very useful for my next trip.

I took a taxi back to Keisei Ueno, stored my luggage in very convenient luggage lockers, and continued a day in Tokyo.

Lesson learned for me is that while I do focus on points and miles, there are hundreds of non worldwide chain hotels to chose from in Tokyo. While I walked by most of the Marriott properties in Ginza, I'm just not sure I'd pay the premium when there is so much to do in Tokyo. Having my new understanding of transportation options as well as a subway map, life will be easier for my next trip where I plan to stay two weeks.

Thanks again!

FWIW, you can get on an Airport Express train from the Asakusa Line platform at Asakusa station. It offers a cheaper but less comfortable option (many stops - commuter style bench seats - no dedicated luggage racks - prone to crowding at times) to reach the airport.

+1.

I was told by JL that there was no bag drop-off

Self-transfer between international flights at NRT
 

In a couple of weeks, I'll be arriving into NRT on ZG23 and departing for TPE a few hours later on SL395. I've been instructed to check in at the airport for SL395, so does this mean that I'll need to clear Japanese customs as if I were entering the country to stay, and then proceed to the landside SL check-in counter? Is it possible to use the standard international-international transfer route and check in airside somehow (perhaps I need to contact SL to find out, though their communication has been rather poor in the past)? Any insight is helpful.

Thai Lion Air is low cost carrier, LCCs would generally not have an airside counter as it is a superfluous cost to their style of operations. The reason why they tend to insist that you present yourself for check in at the airport for international flights is for document checks, with tight turns of the aircrafts they don't want to do those at boarding time.

While I have no experience with SL, plenty of other Asian LCCs would require that you go through immigration to enter Japan, and present yourself at the airport check in for your specific situation.

HI All,

Have first ever trip to Japan coming up. I have a question regarding departure logistics.

We will fly SQ J NRT LAX. 2 adults, no checked bags. 1815 departure time. (Obviously), we are unfamiliar with NRT.

What time should we arrive to NRT? Would be open to spending a bit of time in J lounge. Is 3 hours enough?

Ultimately, I am trying to determine what time we need to leave Tokyo City on our departure day.

Thank you!