Do you think a 2 hours connection between flights is enough?

Thanks for any thoughts,

From international to domestic? What time of day, and what passport do you hold? Separate tickets?

It would be domestic(ITM- HND) to international.

US passport

Seperate tickets, Both JL

HND-SFO departs 16:25pm

Thanks for your reply

If you go to the counter for international connections at ITM they can check your luggage through to SFO (if you have) and issue your boarding passes. You can take a bus from airside T1 to T3, and 2 hours is generally fine. Of course, the risk of a mis-connect due to a delay is on your credit card, so you have to weigh your risk appetite. But if on time or a slight delay all will be fine.

Thank you very much for your thoughts on this.

I feel good about the punctuality of JL so I’m happy to go for a 2 hour connection.

Much appreciated,:tu:

Interesting thing happened on check-in at PEK for JAL's PEK-HND flight:
Check-in process stopped and asked for a visa for Japan (traveling on US passport).
Never had that happen before.
I had another flight on UA departing HND to the US on the same day, and that satisfied the check-in process.
Not sure what would have happened if I couldn't have proved transit.
Odd.

If you are not resident, you are required to have a flight out of Japan within 90 days. When they can't see that in the system, they should either ask for the visa that allows you to stay or to show a ticket leaving Japan again. As JAL are often very detailed I am not surprised that you were asked. I am frequently asked to show my resident ID when checking in. Though sometimes their system will just show the flight for the next trip lined up, and they will assume I am not overstaying.

Prety SOP situation you experienced.

Ah, thanks for the great explanation. Definitely makes sense.
Strange that I've not encountered this before, although admittedly I mostly fly *A.
At any given time I have 2 to 6 flights booked leaving Japan in a 90 day period, and this never happened before.
But like you suggested, JAL might be particularly strict in this regards. Only fly them to/from Japan maybe 2 times a year or so...
Cheers.

Have a question about layover in Narita: I have two separate flights from PVG-NRT (China Eastern) and NRT-SFO (United).

PVG-NRT lands at 12PM

NRT-SFO leaves at 5PM

1. If I checked in luggage, would I need to collect luggage at NRT, then exit, and recheck them landside?
2. Since I have a Chinese passport and US green card, would I need to get a Transit Visa or Shore Pass for the layover in NRT?
3. Will China Eastern let me board the first leg without having a visa for Japan?

Overnight connection HND
 

I'm flying AKJ-HND-CDG. Both flights on JL.

Can I get JL at AKJ to ticket my bags straight through to CDG even though:

1. it's an o/n connection and
2. each flight is on a separate ticket

Hi,

I believe it will be yes to both

Regards

TBS

As long as TG connection is under 24 hours. Which with the timing of the CDG flights should probably not be an issue.

I don't know if the AKJ has a separate counter for international connections. Leave some extra time for check in.

The best outcome would be to check the luggage all the way through. Ground staff at both SHA and PVG have the capability to interline. Sometimes you have to escalate to find competent staff.

But if you can't, you'll need to get a shore pass. Usually, this is airline dependent (LCC's won't support this). Since you're ticketed on a non-MU airline after arriving at NRT, I'm not sure about this. But since you'll have a ticket leaving a few hours later, I do think that Japanese immigration will be understanding.

I believe MU will let you board. Because the worst that can happen is that you continue on to the US without your luggage. Their worry is having you sent back to China (where they will be penalized).

IMO, separate tickets on separate airlines in separate alliances is asking for trouble. You may not be able to interline bags or get a shore pass, and if the first flight is delayed you could be totally screwed. It would be much safer to have a transit visa, or maybe a multiple-entry tourist visa if you qualify and would like to visit Japan in the near future.

Thank you, YariGuy and joejones, for the very helpful replies! I understand that Shore Pass is airline dependent so it does seem that MU wouldn’t have any responsibility to help me get a shore pass, and it’s dependent on Japanese immigration.

I am considering switching to PVG-NRT (ANA) and NRT-SFO (ANA). This will be 2 separate tickets (2 separate award bookings) with the same airline.


1. Will ANA ground staff at PVG be able to check my baggage through to SFO?
2. If there are delays with the first leg, I assume I'm still the one responsible for figuring out what to do (and not ANA)?