808 Flyer

Just a note on getting into Central Tokyo. The Tokyo-To government is talking about keeping the Toei Asakusa Line open 24 hours a day, so there will be some train access. Also, the Limo Buses are suppossed to run throughout the night. Even taxis would be an option (though you have a surcharge at that time of the night) since it is HND not NRT.

This is a first step. Hopefully, there will be more slots, and more flights in the future.

Channel 9

So, when they apply, how is it decided who wins?

Is it a $ thing? is it who has a more appealing application? Will they give it to an airline that doesn't fly to japan yet for variety? How do they decide?

Axey

Hence...

ps: My CEO (me) sends his thanks for your concern about my meeting schedules!

synergypi

I hope many SFO to Tokyo travelers love this new Haneda route; may make it easier for me to use SWUs on the NRT flights.
I definitely value my 'down time' in Tokyo; day of arrival and day of departure.

mahasamatman

Actually, I'm more concerned about your stockholders seeing so much waste.

By your schedule description, it looks like you don't work at home and only work on the road? Your boss doesn't seem to care about you losing a full day's work at home. Must be nice.

I take it you haven't worked in Tokyo before? More work gets done over dinner than at any other time (except during smoking breaks).

Traveling Consultant

Personally, I would welcome this new route/schedule. But for those of you who don't, you can always use NRT. Unless I am missing something, UA hasn't said that they would cancel the SFO-NRT flight...

Rpcfly

LOL.....especially when the sake is flowing ever so freely. Get more pen to paper business wise over dinners than I ever do during the day. Now where is that smoke free zone again ???

npei

Flying to/from Tokyo, best way to look at HND schedule is it complements NRT schedule and gives you extra option depending on your circumstance

HND schedule bad for connections beyond Tokyo or via SFO to east coast (which many people require), but ok if Tokyo stop is your primary destination and you end in USA West Coast (many people can benefit, however, because of ability to have full day business meeting, then dinner with colleagues /friends in Tokyo, then leisurely go to HND at late night, and avoid the mad afternoon traffic to/from downtown Tokyo if you were flying to/from NRT).

+1. Many in high tech industry on West Coast should benefit from the HND option.

I have often flown to Tokyo for meetings, and I look at HND schedule as complementary option to NRT schedule. It just gives me more choices depending on when I need to finish meetings and leave Tokyo.

npei

No news on Shinkansen hours extension to Yokohama or other nearby cities within 2 hours of Tokyo ?

SportsTech

LOL thanks for the advice, if I ever get back to Tokyo for, oh, the 30th time, I'll ask my cousins and my permanently resident son how to do business in Tokyo. Maybe they'll advise me to take up smoking again?

Your arithmetic is off, sam: you're missing a day in your calculation. Thursday in SFO is simply Thursday in SFO: you leave Tokyo at midnight Wednesday (technically 00:00 Thursday but you arrive at 5:20pm the day before (really the same day - Wednesday). And Axey IS the boss, maybe (at least partly because) he can count. He's not missing a day of work at home; you're not counting accurately.

jhayes_1780

So.... sort of off topic,

But could the announcement of this route give an indication that UA is seeing a better uptick in premium TPAC travel? Could it mean we could see the return of SFO-NGO (if that authority is still available)? Or that CAN service will start sooner rather then later?

SJUAMMF

UA flights into SIN both scheduled just before midnight and routinely run late.

SJUAMMF

There hasn't been a 2nd SFO-NRT flight all winter. It is coming back by March end.

That will be a great thing for connecting into other cities. Currently inconvenient thru NRT and over night via late night HND arrival.

earendil31

So in short, you are paying for a night in Tokyo in which you do nothing but sleep, and getting some daytime productivity the day you depart SFO and the day before you depart HND in return.

My only conclusion is that this timing has 0 to do with SFO-HND-SFO, and everything to do with HND-SFO-HND. The HND-SFO 17xx arrival could be earlier, but its good for people that are going to work west of Denver the next day. The 2240 arrival at HND doesn't matter if you live in Tokyo, as you are going to sleep at your home anyway. This flight is mainly meant for people that live in Tokyo, aren't going too far east in the US, and don't need to have "time in Tokyo" the day they get back. Everything else costs extra money (hotel nights), wastes huge amounts of time (connecting flights), or both.

carbonchaser

First of all, sure its not optimal to fly for one meeting. But sometimes its a heck of lot less optimal to NOT fly in for one meeting. Picture a deal worth 100x somebody's salary to the shareholder bottom line. It's your deal - it has to get done. You fly in - you get it done - you fly out. Is it better to risk losing that so that you can schedule a couple busy-time meetings to make your corporate travel department happy that you haven't "wasted" shareholder resources? Give me a break.

I completely agree with Axey - on a three day turnaround, the current NRT schedule gives you a bit of an an evening (Tuesday) and half a day at best (Wednesday) in TYO and half a day in SFO (Wednesday after landing, clearing customs, getting to the office,etc). This schedule gives you a full day in SFO (Monday) and a full day in TYO (Wednesday). And basically, you land and sleep both ways. Good deal.

Now, the reality is the most best way to do it is to outbound on the normal NRT flight on Monday, do the traditional jet lagged Tuesday night meal with your counterparties, slam through all of Wednesday, finish around 7pm, go out and grab some celebratory sushi/sake, stagger over to HND and pass out the whole way home. Heck of a lot better than cooling your heels for a whole extra day waiting for the flight home the next afternoon