Questions and Answers

hey all just wondering for those of you familiar with Tokyo airport situation, is it a HUGE plus to fly to HND and not NRT ?? Or is it really not that big of a deal? I see HND is much closer too city center

I noticed the miles went down from 120K to 80K for my same day trip to tokyo in april. I am currently going lax to dfw to nrt on 60K for business. However, its the 772 which presents that whole issue of not knowing which seat and i personally HATE the Zodiac seats (the 787-8 and 772 ones, not the 77W ones)

I was thinking for only 20K more miles i should switch to the non stop from LAX. Not only do i avoid a 1am flight to dallas and a 6 hour lay over (although i was quite looking forward to the lounge in dallas) but i also guarantee myself of the good seat. The lax to nrt or hnd is a 787-9. In fact the HND seems to be running 77W now but in april its 787-9 either way.

So first off i imagine everyone would say no brainer for 20K more miles to switch it to lax non stop but what about HND vs NRT. I am on hold with AA right now trying to get them to waive the fee from switching NRT to HND. if they wont waive it i may just save the 150 and keep it to NRT. The HND flight leaves at 1015am and NRT at 1145am. They are saying now they wont waive the 150 if i want HND

Is HND really that much better to fly into ?

I’ve not flown in/out of HND but NRT is WAY out if you’re staying anywhere near the city center. If I ever go back to Tokyo I am certainly going to be looking into flying into HND though it will depend on my companions’ flight availability from their departure cities.

I had the miles redeposited then kicked in 30K more miles and booked LAX to HND. Originally for 140K or whatever it was the 60K going through dallas and NRT was a steal but ya i saw this 90K today and basically added in 30K and switched so i can just leave straight from LAX. 10am kind of a weird time but i guess to Asia it times out well. I think the $150 they charged me due to switching airports (even though its still same city technically) might be what i will save in a Cab from HND vs NRT. Best part is I dont have to worry anymore about checking Flight Tracker and trying to figure out which 772 it is and hoping i dont get stuck on the Zodiac. I even prefer the 787-9 J seats over the good Zodiac ones the good 772 would have had (i much prefer that IFE over the the good Zodiac seat one). So for $150 and 30K i did the switch and can fly direct and not have to kill 6 hours at dfw

While HND is closer than NRT, there are frequent trains from NRT to the city center. There are also multiple shuttle bus companies at NRT that drop off at numerous hotels throughout the city. (Mine was called the Happy Bus.) You can check on-line to see if your hotel is one of them. Shuttle tickets can be purchased just past baggage claim. The only catch with the shuttle is that the last ones generally leave the airport between 5:30 and 6 pm. A taxi from NRT to the city can run over $300. If traveling in F from LAX to NRT, the purser provides an express pass that gives access to a separate, quick immigration line. Otherwise, the immigration line at that time of day can be lengthy. Also, I found that everything in Japan is quite orderly, except the area where the lines are for shuttle tickets. I doubt I would have made it to the shuttle in time had I not been traveling in F.

Thx for the info. That taxi ride charge from Narita is insane.

Although they made me pay $150 to switch lax-dfw-nrt to lax-hnd they just let me switch nrt-sin to hnd-sin for no charge. I believe since it was the same exact mileage needed on the latter so there wasnt any re issue of a ticket. On the flight to HND they said they re deposited my 60K miles then grabbed 90K for the new ticket. At any rate for a total of $150 & 30K more miles i got both my flights switched to HND. I wish i had done more research at the beginning and i would have just done HND from the get go, as the cab ride is far less time and money.. The flight time to SIN of 1130am vs 6pm si so much better to, imo.

Michael in regards to the pursor giving the express pass you mentioned, is that only for F but not for J?

Thanks

As I was the only one in the line, I think the express passes are only for F. If taking the speedy and affordable train from NRT to Tokyo Station, it would then be possible to take a taxi from there to your Tokyo destination without breaking the bank. It is possible you could make the shuttle. You could get in line for the shuttle ticket (before the line gets too long) and then retrieve your luggage.

Cool thx. I think with my flights now both going into and out of HND i will just do a private taxi ride. Its so much cheaper than to/from Narita

I confirm that NRT is much, much less convenient than HND. There are indeed express trains but it’s still well over an hour to get to Tokyo and some of them like the Narita Express stop early in the evening.
HND on the other hand had the monorail that is cheap and very quick (15 minutes to Minato and then you can take a subway or a cab if you’re not already by where you’re staying).