Thanks, patchmonkey, that's very helpful.

Unfortunately the ANA F Arrivals is only for their F/C pax (I guess you could try access if you are on a NH codeshare(NH codeshare flt. # on your BP).

Thanks for bringing this up I will be arriving at NRT and then on to the Conrad for four days on 3/29 since I plan to intilize my JR 14 day pass at arrival it will be the NEX and then taxi.

mike

Thanks joejones & Sanosuke!

BTW, any comments on the "taking the Sobu Line to the Tokyo station + taxi" option?

Also, if the flight is scheduled to arrive at 16:30, what are one's chances of catching the 18:50 departure of the "Airport Limousine"?

My experience taking the redeye on SQ is that it often arrives early and there are few people going through customs at that hour. I've been out of customs well before 8:00am. Also, even if your bag doesn't have wheels, the luggage carts at Narita are designed to go down the escalator and you can take them almost to the platform escalator. It is more of a pain when you exit at Tokyo Station since there are no carts there.

Regardless, I agree with Patchmonkey's advice to take the NEX to Tokyo Station and then a taxi to Conrad.

On arrival at Narita, I went to the JR ticket office and bought a Suica pass for 3500 Yen. This included a ticket on the NEX to Tokyo Station for 1500 Y, 1500 Y of credit for local transport, and a 500 Y deposit. Given that the normal fare to Tokyo Station is 2800 Y, I felt this was quite a bargain. It cost me an additional 1200Y by taxi from Tokyo Station to the Conrad. Thus, my total for train and taxi was 2700Y.

It was extremely convenient to have the Suica pass. I was able to use it for all my subway/train/monorail travel during my station. You simply swipe it on entering the station and then when you leave. The fare is automatically deducted.

Great tip, SanDiego1K!

My partner and I will be staying at the Conrad next month. For our arrival, I think we will probably take the limo bus straight to the Conrad. For our departure back to the US, we will be flying out of Narita on Aug. 20 (a Monday) at noon and I'm not sure what our best option would be. There are limo buses that leave the Conrad at 7:10 AM and 8:40 AM. How much time is it likely to take on a Monday morning? Would the 8:40 AM bus be too late given traffic? Is the 7:10 AM a safe bet?

Not many flights to the U.S. leave that early! Anyhow, it depends in part on whether you have to wait in a long line once you reach NRT -- if you have elite status or are in business/first class, the later bus should be fine.

I'd also suggest you at least think about taking a taxi to Shinbashi and riding the N'Ex.

I'm almost sure that RichardSF meant to type "taking a taxi to TOKYO Station and riding the N'EX."

That would be the best option IMHO.

The N'EX from Tokyo station takes one hour to reach NRT.

Going to the eastern half of the US, all of ANA's flights and most of JAL's flights depart on or before noon.

I found the N'EX's online website in English, so I can see the times and I think that might work. How easy is the N'EX system to navigate if we don't read or speak Japanese? At the Tokyo station, are there signs in English to help us find the right train (or can anyone type the name in Japanese so I will at least know what characters to look for)? Also, how do you say "two tickets for the Narita Express" in Japanese? Sorry to have so many questions. Thanks for any tips you can provide - this will be our first time in Asia, so we are excited and a little daunted.

(1) You should tell your taxi driver to drop you on the Marunouchi side of Tokyo station.

(2) At the station
There are signs in English to the Narita Express but ... the N'EX platforms are not terribly easy to find. The problem is, they are four levels down in the basement of the station. Once you know that, it's not too hard. Allow yourself 20 minutes to get from the station entrance to the platform. (No doubt Robyn will join this conversation to recommend that you need 30 minutes and a guide dog. Suffice to say, it's not just a question of walking into the station and hopping on a train).

(3) Buy your tickets in advance
I recommend reserving your tickets on the day before your departure (or earlier). You can buy tickets at Shinbashi Station, which is very close to the Conrad Hotel. You may find that there is a line at the ticket office. For this reason (and because of my rabidly anti-social nature) I prefer to use the machines. The machines do have an English interface - although the translation is not perfect.

If you want to deal with a human rather than a machine, I recommend that you write down the date and time of the train you want - and the number of tickets.

Hi,
I'm in the Conrad at the moment and am leaving Tokyo on the 23rd on a 9 and am　leaving Tokyo on the 23rd on a 9.35 am LH flight to FRA. The limo bus Ｆｒｏｍ the Conrad won't have me there on time obviouslｙ, especially since I'm flying in Y and will have to brave the mayhem of the baggage check and check in.
Anyone got any suggestions on alternative routes? Seems strange that the earliest limo bus from the Conrad is 8.30. I was in the Tokyo Hilton a couple of weeks ago and they had a bus to NRT at 5.35. I could take a taxi to Tokyo Station and get the NEX but I'm a little concerned that the 6.30 NEX (the earliest) will have me at NRT just 2 hours prior to departure. In my only other experience of departing from NRT, actually on the same flight, we arrived 3 hours before departure and still had to run to the gate.

Any tips would be much appreciated.

Tonto

I've flown on LH711 to FRA a number of times and it's a nuisance when it departs at 9:35 instead of 10:30 as it does during winter, since I usually go to Narita on NEX3 which arrives at 7:56 and would like to leave a little more time.

I think you should be ok on NEX1 arriving at 7:29 because you have well over the minimum check-in time of one hour needed for LH flights. Both airline and airport staff at NRT are pretty good at looking after passengers and will make sure that anyone held up in queues at security and especially passport control won't miss their flight. You could try online check-in starting 23 hours before departure though in my experience this doesn't seem to save any time.

According to LH's Japanese language website check-in desks for LH711 officially open at 7:30, so you should be fine!

P.S. Make sure you reserve a seat on NEX1.