Our flight from Chicago arrived at 2:10PM, and our connecting flight to Nagoya was at 5:05PM, so we had just under three hours.
Immigration was super efficient. I find that Narita has really inconsistent wait times, though we were the only flight arriving at that time, it seemed. They even have fast track passes for premium passengers in Terminal 1, though that ended up taking longer than just using the regular line. That’s because they don’t just take the passes from you, but they have to enter all kinds of information in the computer before they let you through.
Once we were in the arrivals hall we followed the signage towards the domestic area of the terminal, which was immediately to the right. This was really easy to find — the check-in counters were only a few steps away.
The check-in queues were short, and there was even a separate business class line. To my surprise, they didn’t even ask to check the size of our carry-ons, which were probably technically a little too big for a flight within Japan.
ANA domestic check-in Narita Airport
The escalators to the domestic terminal were close by.
Narita Airport domestic departures area
Just next to that elevator was the ANA Arrivals Lounge. The sign noted that the domestic terminal doesn’t have a lounge, so this is also the lounge for premium class passengers, as well as Star Alliance Gold members, traveling on domestic flights.
So the ANA Arrivals Lounge is open to:
- ANA first & business class passengers arriving on international flights
- ANA Diamond, Platinum, and Super Flyer members arriving on international flights
- Premium class and Star Alliance Gold passengers departing on domestic flights
ANA Arrivals Lounge signage
The ANA Arrivals Lounge is open daily from 6:30AM until 7:30PM, so that should cover just about all departures and a majority of arrivals.
ANA Arrivals Lounge Narita exterior
We scanned our boarding passes at the entrance to the lounge, and were reminded by the staff that we still had to clear security, so should leave time for that. Just inside the entrance to the lounge was a business center with some communal workstations.
ANA Arrivals Lounge Narita business center
There were also some magazines and newspapers near the entrance, though they were almost exclusively in Japanese.
ANA Arrivals Lounge Narita magazines & newspapers
The lounge was quite large, and wasn’t very crowded. So while the decor was fine, unfortunately it didn’t have any natural light, which sure is challenging after a long haul flight where you need that to stay awake.
The lounge had rows of seats in the center facing one another, and then along the walls they had rows with pairs of seats, separated by drapes.
ANA Arrivals Lounge Tokyo Narita Airport
ANA Arrivals Lounge Narita seating
ANA Arrivals Lounge Narita seating
ANA Arrivals Lounge Narita seating
Towards the back of the lounge was even more seating.
ANA Arrivals Lounge Narita seating
Off to the side was yet another room with more seating.
ANA Arrivals Lounge Narita seating
The dining area and buffet were back towards the entrance of the lounge.
ANA Arrivals Lounge Tokyo Narita Airport
ANA Arrivals Lounge Narita dining area
ANA Arrivals Lounge Tokyo Narita Airport buffet
I’m not sure what exactly the dining tables were for, though, since there wasn’t exactly much to dine on. 😉 The food selection was really limited, and included some wrapped finger sandwiches, bread rolls, pastries, a very limited selection of sushi, crackers, and candy.
ANA Arrivals Lounge Tokyo Narita Airport snacks
ANA Arrivals Lounge Tokyo Narita Airport snacks
ANA Arrivals Lounge Tokyo Narita Airport snacks
ANA Arrivals Lounge Tokyo Narita Airport snacks
ANA Arrivals Lounge Tokyo Narita Airport snacks
ANA Arrivals Lounge Tokyo Narita Airport snacks
The drink selection included coffee, juice, water, soda, beer, and a limited selection of liquor.
ANA Arrivals Lounge Tokyo Narita Airport coffee & tea
ANA Arrivals Lounge Tokyo Narita Airport drinks
ANA Arrivals Lounge Tokyo Narita Airport drinks
ANA Arrivals Lounge Tokyo Narita Airport drinks
We spent a bit over an hour in the lounge working, as we connected to the Narita Airport free Wi-Fi network.
At that point we decided we had to leave the lounge, since the light deprivation was really getting to us, and we could barely stay awake. Narita Airport has a pretty nice shopping & dining area that’s located landside, so we walked around there for a bit, just to get some movement.
Narita Airport shopping & dining area
With boarding for our flight scheduled to start at 4:35PM, we decided to head towards security around 4:15PM. There was a sign indicating that there were no bathrooms airside due to renovation work. Ouch.
Narita domestic terminal refurbishment work
While the security checkpoint was empty when we walked up to it a couple of hours prior, it was packed at this point.
There was a priority security line, which saved us quite a bit of time. Funny enough as we got through security a guy came running up to Ford with a measuring tape to measure his bag. Oddly he measured it and then walked away and didn’t say anything, even though I have to imagine it was probably too big?
The domestic ANA departures area at Narita is quite small, which isn’t too surprising given how few flights there are (most people take the train within Japan, and Haneda Airport also has more domestic departures).
We were departing from Gate F.
ANA domestic terminal Narita
ANA domestic terminal Narita
Boarding started at 4:35PM, exactly as expected, and was orderly.
ANA departure gate
At this point I had three boarding passes — my initial boarding pass, then I was handed another sheet of paper at security, and then I was handed another sheet of paper when I boarded. Is that really necessary?
Lots of boarding passes
All the domestic departures are from remote stands, so we got onto a bus. Fortunately it was about as civilized of a remote stand departure as you’ll ever find. There was no pushing or shoving, and when the bus was ready to depart an ANA representative walked onto the bus, confirmed our flight number, said “thank you for waiting,” and bowed.
“Thank you for waiting”
We had a roughly five minute drive to our nearby 737.
Bus to plane
ANA Arrivals Lounge Narita bottom line
While the domestic Japanese flying experience is pleasant enough, it’s not exactly a seamless passenger experience. The lounge is located landside and there are no bathrooms airside.
The arrivals itself was alright. The lounge was spacious and had fast Wi-Fi, though that’s about all I can say — the lounge had no natural light, and also had a lackluster food & beverage selection.
In other words, this isn’t one of the best airport lounges I’ve been to, but was an okay place to wait prior to a domestic flight. Though I can’t imagine ever using this as an arrivals lounge, short of showering here.
If you’ve used the ANA Arrivals Lounge and/or flew domestically on ANA within Japan, what was your experience like?
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