Report: HND security / immigration lines June 2023
Jun 23, 2023, 12:17 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2008
Location: San Francisco, where else?
Programs: EXP,EX-CK 2.5mm, now lifetime Platinum, ex-UA1K, Marriott- Platinum, Hertz 5*
Posts: 991
Report: HND security / immigration lines June 2023
In case this helps others...
Arrived Haneda June 16 15:00 and had zero issues with immigration and customs. They did not use our QR codes and preferred to use the forms we filled out on the plane even though we kept showing the QR code.
Departed Haneda June 23 15:00 and WOW the lines for security were INSANE.... like back to 9/11 insane. NO priority lines for business / first class. We did end up using their "Face Express" screens which got us into a much shorter queue - 20 mins in all. But the people in the regular line and the lines for the checkin desks were in Disneyland - level lines of I'm guessing at least an hour. Flying First we were able to skip the huge lines for the check in desk... they snaked throughout the front of the airport just after taxi dropoff.
Hope this helps someone else. Thank goodness for Face Express!
Arrived Haneda June 16 15:00 and had zero issues with immigration and customs. They did not use our QR codes and preferred to use the forms we filled out on the plane even though we kept showing the QR code.
Departed Haneda June 23 15:00 and WOW the lines for security were INSANE.... like back to 9/11 insane. NO priority lines for business / first class. We did end up using their "Face Express" screens which got us into a much shorter queue - 20 mins in all. But the people in the regular line and the lines for the checkin desks were in Disneyland - level lines of I'm guessing at least an hour. Flying First we were able to skip the huge lines for the check in desk... they snaked throughout the front of the airport just after taxi dropoff.
Hope this helps someone else. Thank goodness for Face Express!
Jun 26, 2023, 6:19 am
#2
Join Date: Aug 2019
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 169
Similar experience for me too lately though not quite as bad.
Arrived 19 June at 10am, Immigration took seconds, much better than earlier in the year where it was over an hour.
Departed 24 June at 1pm, arrived just after 10am. I'm BA Gold so I could skip the line for baggage drop, but the line for Economy was massive. Then security had just two belts open and the line was very long. We were lucky with timings because it took maybe 20 minutes, though the line quickly grew as more flights were leaving. Sadly, unlike last time I didn't get an escort through the airport.
Arrived 19 June at 10am, Immigration took seconds, much better than earlier in the year where it was over an hour.
Departed 24 June at 1pm, arrived just after 10am. I'm BA Gold so I could skip the line for baggage drop, but the line for Economy was massive. Then security had just two belts open and the line was very long. We were lucky with timings because it took maybe 20 minutes, though the line quickly grew as more flights were leaving. Sadly, unlike last time I didn't get an escort through the airport.
Jun 30, 2023, 5:50 pm
#4
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 10,234
Arrived into HND last week around 14:00 at the same time as a few other planes arriving. I used APEC card to get through in about 5 minutes. Regular foreigner line was very long and kept filling up. Looked to be a 30-45 min wait.
Departed Thursday mid afternoon and there were no lines for security when I went through at 13:00.
Very smooth experience entering and exiting HND for the first time post Covid. It’s a pleasure to have a 30 min train into town rather than 1 hour and 30 mins from Narita which I did 3 times earlier this year.
Departed Thursday mid afternoon and there were no lines for security when I went through at 13:00.
Very smooth experience entering and exiting HND for the first time post Covid. It’s a pleasure to have a 30 min train into town rather than 1 hour and 30 mins from Narita which I did 3 times earlier this year.
Jul 16, 2023, 12:44 am
#7
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2008
Location: San Francisco, where else?
Programs: EXP,EX-CK 2.5mm, now lifetime Platinum, ex-UA1K, Marriott- Platinum, Hertz 5*
Posts: 991
Update: We landed on JAL 1 at about 15:00 today (same flight and day I took last month and saw the horrible lines for international transfer) and the international transfer security line was 3 people!!! We were through in just a few minutes. I don't know if this is because we "beat" some of the other big planes that land around this time or.... it seemed to me like this international transfer was closer to the moving walkways - I am wondering if they perhaps opened a second international transfer security area / entry?
In any event, we were prepared for an hour and were in the lounge 15 mins after disembarking our SFO HND flight.
In any event, we were prepared for an hour and were in the lounge 15 mins after disembarking our SFO HND flight.
Aug 3, 2023, 4:09 am
#11
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: SVG
Programs: SAS EBG
Posts: 53
A bit late to the party, but I landed on HND on last Thursday (the 27th of July) around 8 AM in the morning.
Even though I was one of the first ones off the plane got stuck behind a queue, it took around 35-40 minutes to pass immigration. Luckily there was no queue at all in customs.
Even though I was one of the first ones off the plane got stuck behind a queue, it took around 35-40 minutes to pass immigration. Luckily there was no queue at all in customs.