Anyone know if wheelchair users bypass the security lines at NRT?
 

I need some advice on a topic that is provoking dissent Chez LapLap.

Our outbound flight leaves NRT at 1pm - there's a (free) Wa-shoi! bus leaving Shinjuku at 09:10 on a Sunday I would like to catch in order to make this flight (bus journey time is predicted as being 2 hours).

I'm of the opinion that this will give us ample time at the airport to collect 'takkyubined' bags, check in and get to the gate (we've no status this year, so no lounge option).

MrLapLap is concerned in case here is a long queue at passport control/security.

I will have checked in a wheelchair and will, presumably, be provided with a temporary one to get to the gate. As airport wheelchairs often come with a kind soul to push them, will this help us bypass the security queues?

Basically - leaving Shinjuku by bus at 09:10 for 1pm departure.

Enough time? Not enough time?

The previous Wa-shoi! bus leaves at around 6am - way too much time to be sitting in a wheelchair, so not an option. Alternative would be the Keio line (nope - Keisei line - post#4).

Impartial opinions appreciated.

Seems pretty giri giri to me, you being immobile , the bags, the no status part might be a problem too....... I might get MR Laplaps Father to give you a ride to Chiba in his limo:D..........Then of course there is always the option of going out to NRT in a leisurely fashion the day before and staying at a hotel for your last night.........I am sure others will weigh in here. I don't think you will be able to bypass the security but might be given priority in the line.......

I've never taken the Wa-shoi! bus to NRT before, but I've always been able to make it through security and passport control and make it to the gate within two hours of arriving. If the bus is scheduled to arrive around 11:00, I'd be comfortable trying to make a 13:00 flight.

However, I've had a couple of close calls after especially long lines at passport control. I remember sprinting from passport control all the way to the gate and barely making it on one occasion, and I'm not sure how well that will work in a wheelchair. But I have only seen lines that long once, and have had time to spare and even grab something to eat or do a little shopping most of the times I have arrived with two hours to spare.

I've also been given a less than one hour connection from domestic to international at NRT, and made it with no problem.

While I can't speak specifically to your circumstances (Wa-shoi! bus and wheelchair) as I've had no experience with them, I think you'll be fine with two hours. :)

Sunday morning traffic is likely to be light. So I would expect the bus to reach the airport by 11.10am.

(1) Check that Wa-shoi! drops you off at a convenient location. Hopefully it's on the departures level at NRT. Not a schlep to the takkyubin counter and then to check-in.

(2) How long will it take you to get off the bus, pick up your luggage from Takkyubin and get to the check-in queue? Maybe 20 minutes? That would put you in the check-in queue at 11.30am...
(Maybe you can split up. While Mr. Lap goes for the bags you can grab a place in the check-in queue).

(3) If you don't have elite status, you'll be in an economy check-in queue....
Verify when your airline will close the check-in counters.
I think it's going to be close. I was quite surprised with Air Canada last week. They made an announcement for "final check-in" about 100 minutes before departure. Maybe they were bluffing. I'm not sure.

(4) If you can make it to the check-in counter before the cutoff, then I think you should be OK with the security and immigration lines. When flights are close to departure, the airline staff generally make the rounds of the immigration hall to pull people to the front of the queue. So even if there is no special treatment for wheelchairs, you will get special treatment for being late ... ;).

Come to think of it, I don't think I have ever seen a wheelchair going through security and immigration at NRT. Maybe they do get to bypass the lines. I suppose it makes sense to keep the wheelchair pushers productive rather than having them dawdle in immigration lines. But I think this is not the main issue. The first thing you need to consider is whether you can make it to the check-in desk on time.

BTW - Keisei trains go to the airport. (Not Keio).

If you're not going to the US and don't have bags to check, at least on ANA you can use electronic check-in and then simply swipe your passport and touch your mileage card / keitai to the reader and get your boarding pass.

More info (in Japanese) here: http://www.ana.co.jp/int/checkin/che...kup/index.html

Thanks! That's what I meant.

A night at the Mercure was already on the cards for our last night, but the Strings for ¥3,000... Nngh! Couldn't resist it!

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For Alitalia flights the 'official' info on my reservation is:

Dettagli aeroporto
Città: Tokyo - Nome aeroporto: Tokyo, Narita - Codice aeroporto: NRT

Tempo limite per il check-in
TIPO MINUTI
Nazionale 0
Internazionale 0
Intercontinentale 60

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I was thinking MrLapLap could leave me at the check in queue too (makes sense on a logistical level). I can't help but assume we'll be checked in by 12am.

But I hadn't thought about where the bus would actually drop us off - the maps only show the pick-up points. I'll send an email and try to find out.

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I had one very close call on an early visit to Japan (before I'd ever heard of FT) where I boarded a train at Nippori. I had a timetable, the train left at the exact time and had Narita as a destination. Unfortunately I'd gone to the JR platform and boarded a train to Narita Town. Now I know I could have hauled myself to the Keisei station and continued from there - but not then. It was an hour or so before I could get a train to the airport (didn't have the money for a cab) and the KLM flight was already boarding when I arrived. Staff were amazing though :-:. I was resigned to losing the flight, but they checked me in, a member of staff rushed me through to the gate and I was amongst the last to board. Even my luggage arrived. Absolutely extraordinary!

Perhaps I shouldn't be pushing my luck though...

(When I grabbed the Strings I reasoned that two Limousine bus tickets plus the cost of buying 2,000PC points was less than buying lodging at NRT... it's just that it would be nice to have a couple of extra meals in Tokyo or Narita... sigh...)

Air Canada never bluffs.........

Laplap I wasn't trying to pee on your parade, you know yourself best . If you think you can manage it, by all means do........I still think Mr. Laplaps fathers car is the best option :D

Then sell his car and take a helicopter to the airport.

:D:D:D

I was under the impression that on any Asian carrier that passengers who needed assistance all used priority check-in and priority security lines. I think the same applies for US carriers, but there is often a fee.

I've dug up this:
http://www.narita-airport.jp/en/bf/service/info04.htmlI'm getting quite excited about going through Narita this way (I take my jollies where I can find them lately :))

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Adding the following link as I just happened upon it

Osaka Taxi firm offering service for wheelchair users
http://www.asahi-jd.info/topics2.htm
http://www.mk-group.co.jp/english/shuttle/
They currently have 7 of these vehicles

Shin Osaka Taxi
06-6323-1120
Has 18

Uh....how about online check-in? If it exists for whatever airline you're taking, the line to finalize the formalities at the airport should be short or it defeats the purpose of online check-in.

Also, if you are running late, just go to an elite line and when they ask, say you are elite. The guardians of these lines hardly ever check and the check-in agents typically don't hassle you either. Cheating, I know, if everyone did it...but still, in a pinch....

I know JAL says not to use electronic check-in. Go right to the first class line so they can determine how much assistance you need.

Great minds think alike :p:D!