Folks,
I am a US Citizen traveling ANA, DEL-HND-SFO on November 9th. I arrive in HND at 6:00 AM and my connecting flight to SFO is at 10:55 PM which is a whopping 16 hour 50 minute layover. The transit hotel in Terminal 3 is closed but the Royal Park JP hotel which is connected to Terminal 3 albeit you have to leave the security area to get there, is open. I obviously will get myself tested 72 hours prior to departure from DEL and I have vaccination records etc. Getting into USA is not the issue. I am wondering if I can leave the Airport to go the hotel connected to it for the duration of the day instead of languishing 16 hours in the lounge. I am not getting any answers on ANA website and the customer service lady was unable to answer my question. Can anyone shed any light?

That should all be fine. Generally I'd say make sure to have a print of all your e-tickets as well, they may ask to see proof of the whole itinerary.

No, you can't leave the airport. You'll have to spend the 16 hours airside in the terminal.

Thanks for looking at this.

Spoken to ANA on the phone too - they didn't seem too spooked by the plan and made some annotations on the bookings about the plan to connect. Confirmed no need for PCR test. They were mainly keen to stress that they should be able to - but couldn't guarantee - through check of bags.

My main concern remains the slight variation in ticketed names across the bookings (middle name on one booking, not on the other). APIS/SFPD submitted is identical however. If I were taking the flights in isolation I wouldn't be worried. It is more that it might throw off an airport agent with the already not-so-straightfoward situation.

I'm looking at using an award flight I have booked, flying in to NRT, for Christmas week to Tokyo as a base flight for onward travel to BKK given that Japan likely won't be open by then. Now that Thailand has opened, I'm thinking about canceling my change to Sweden, and using this LAX-NRT ticket with a separate ticket to fly in to BKK. How feasible is the connection time on these flights?

12/25 arrival @ 4:45PM in to NRT T2 JAL61 J LAX-NRT
12/25 departure @ 6:10PM from NRT T2 JAL707 Y NRT-BKK

1/1 arrival @ 3:55PM in to NRT T2 JAL708 Y BKK-NRT
1/1 departure @ 5:05PM from NRT T2 JAL62 J NRT-LAX

I know this is pretty close and doesn't give much wiggle room for late flights, but being that it's the same terminal, and with my seats being next to the exit for quick offload, would this be enough time for a transit connection? Pre-covid I could have made this with no problem, but I'm not sure how things are these days. Luggage will be carryon only.

Transit does not take any longer than before, maybe even shorter as connecting passengers are taken off the flight first. Coming from the US, the "no transfer security" rule in Narita is still in place, so should be pretty painless. To keep organised, all disembarkation is only from L1.

The risk in the connection is really do you want to risk it on a separate ticket, where it is your own cost if there is a delay?

Thanks CPH-Flyer I wasn't sure if that rule was still in place, that's great to hear. It's definitely risky, but if I decide to go this route, I can manage that risk.

The shorter connection is from BKK which does require transit security, but January first is probably a rather quiet travel day....

Just to make sure I'm fully aware of all potential risks, with it being NRT with no overnight stays, what happens if hypothetically I miss the last flight out before the terminal closes? I'm assuming immigration won't be too happy, but I can't find any data points to see what actually happens.

If it is known before the departure to Tokyo. You would probably be off loaded. And would have to wait at the point of origin for the next possible connection. The best guess for what would happen should you miss the last flight out, you would probably be "detained" somewhere in the terminal. Basically staying at a secure location, so you can't roam the terminal and can't runaway in to the country either.

Thanks for the insight, just wondering would happen in the worst case scenario.

Since it is not a "connection" but rather two separate tickets, would they even allow boarding at initial point of departure?

Transit on separate tickets through Tokyo has generally been allowed throughout the pandemic. I know people who have done it, it has been reported on FT multiple times. Even for people not allowed to enter Japan.

I am looking to connect in Narita on separate tickets. My understanding is that it is allowed but the airline for the flight to Japan may deny boarding if they are not persuaded by the separate ticket connecting out of Narita. Is that an accurate summary? Can you direct me to where people have reported doing so successfully? Would you rate doing this as a big risk, or do you think as long as I provide the evidence of the onward ticket and give myself plenty of time in original departure airport, i should be fine? Thanks!

There are a couple of threads where Japan transit comes up. This is the main one, so you'd probably find the reports here.

Your understanding is correct, I rate the risk of not being allowed to board quite low if you have your papers in order and with you. And allow yourself plenty of time for check in and transit. Don't show up and expect the check-in to take the usually 30 seconds. What is your exact routing?
​​​​