Anyone have any extras they aren't planning to use? Not sure if they are easily transferrable but figured I'd ask

Non-rev transiting in NRT or HND
 

Does anyone had an experience transiting in NRT or HND as non-rev from USA if AA or JL will through check bags since visa free exemption is suspended and therefore can't go through Immigration, collect bags and re check in to final destination? Will they also issue confirmed tickets or will they just not let you board the flight from US?

Are you going from AA/JL to JL? If so, then no problem. I just did this on two separate tickets SEA-NRT NRT-BKK on JL awards with AA miles and checked through no problem.

When I arrived a few weeks ago I was taken off the plane first (before any announcements were made) as there was someone waiting for me to escort me to processing (I am GS with United). They told me that the airport chooses who gets off first based on the backup (if any) in processing (there are typically still far more transit passengers than those arriving to stay). If the processing area is clear then arrivals get off first -- if it is backed up then transit passengers go first... This was Narita terminal 1...

interesting, thanks

It's all JL but I was told this morning by a JL CS agent that because of the visa free exemption being suspended and JL do not issue confirmed tickets for the connecting flight, most likely we'll not be allowed to board even from here in the US even if the connecting flight is wide open. I guess this is the scenario for non-revs who are planning to connect in Japan or HongKong as both countries have almost the same transiting rules. It worked for you because your tickets are a combo of award and non-rev.

The issue is that you are essentially on standby for the connecting non-rev flight out of Tokyo?
Would you be allowed to board the first flight if you had a full fare / fully refundable reservation for a flight out of Tokyo - with the intention of cancelling the full fare flight as soon as the non-rev flight is confirmed? I guess that would satisfy the requirement for a confirmed onward booking, but perhaps it would fall short of how the airline expects non-rev passengers to behave.

The challenge is probably that we who understand the most about the transit rules in general, probably know very little about the intricacies of non-rev/ID travel.

If you can't get your second flight confirmed until you are in the airport in Japan, then that might be a bit of a challenge to allow you to board in the US. If we ignore covid and entry restrictions for a moment, what would the normal flow be for this journey, go through transit flow and go to the next gate and do the "stand-by rain dance" and hope for a seat fall down in your lap, or to go through arrivals and start nagging the check-in staff until a seat magically opens?

I have seen reports of UA staff travelling on UA to Guam via Japan, only getting a confirmation of the second flight in Japan. But I don't know if that is easier for UA staff on UA than it is for non JL staff on JL.

Most of the time when flying as a non-rev, you get a boarding pass but without a seat assignment for your onward flight but what they want since covid was for every passenger to have a confirmed seat even before you reach Japan because, unless you are a Japanese national or permanent resident, you can't go through Immigration and enter Japan in case you don't get on your connecting flight.

That is the same scenario for AA; you'll know the confirmation of your second flight only when you've arrive at your connecting airport. The situation gets very challenging when you're on an international travel especially in Japan during covid.

Seemed no problem for the UA staff to get to Japan though, but I suspect it is easier on your "home" airline.....

Four transits through HND in May and June - each time transit passengers were deplaned first. There's a longish walk down a corridor with all restrooms closed off till transit security which was very slow and long queues (two machines operating out of four). That one transit security handles most if not all the international transit and I learned a lesson, racing ahead on subsequent flights to beat the rest.

For those of you who have transitted NRT from BKK on the way back to the US, do you think a 50 minute layover is workable for bags to make it to my next flight? I might have to head back to the US a few days early and my only award option to get to LAX is 50 minutes layover in NRT or I have to go through SFO which would give me an extra hour. Would prefer straight to LA though.

Is 50 minutes within MCT? I guess that would need to be ANA to ANA or JAL to JAL. It does not leave a lot of wiggle room for delays or whisky shopping, but if within MCT they will do their darnedest to get you through the hoops of the connection. There will be transit security when coming from BKK.

It's JAL-JAL.. The flight is consistently early/on time and gates are pretty close to each other, so i'm not worried about delays, but JAL's website only shows MCT info for Domestic-Domestic, International-Domestic, and Domestic-International, so I'm not sure what the MCT is for internatonal to international is. That's my concern is if 50 minutes is enough for bags to change planes and recent experiences from someone transitting to know how long transit security coming from BKK has been taking.