shelleyk

We are scheduled to arrive at Narita at 4:15PM on a Wed. in Nov. We want to purchase the Tokyo Wide Pass and go to Nikko that night. The last train to Nikko leaves the airport at 7:50PM. What are the chances we would miss that train assuming our plane comes in on time? Does any one have any tips on which JR Offices at the airport have the shortest lines? I've heard that some of the lines are out the door at Narita. Does anyone have any recent experience? If we miss that train, we will lose our hotel deposit in Nikko and will need to find a room elsewhere, not a pleasant prospect.

hawaiiantraveler

you will make the train. If you arrive at 4:15 you will be on your way or at least waiting for a train 6:00 latest

hawaiiantraveler

We arrived at 4:00pm once. I went thru customs, got some yen from the bank, bought my bus ticket and was standing in the bus cue at 5:05 pm. Really depends how many flights arrive at your time that is the factor that makes a difference.

Aloha!

BigRuss

We progressed through Narita rapidly. It is NOT the CDG of the Far East.

shelleyk

I wasn't concerned about customs. I was more concerned about the lines at JR ticket office with people turning in their JR vouchers and getting reserved seats, buying Tokyo Wide Passes, and getting reserved seats on the NEX train. i had read that the lines can be very long at the airport. Hopefully they will have enough agents on had so that the lines move quickly.

Big Russ-I'm glad Narita is not the CDG of Asia, or all of the workers at the airport might be on strike when we arrive. lol

DonTopaz

HT hit the nail on the head: it all depends on how many planes arrived shortly before yours.

I just came through NRT 3 days ago, on the early flight from Chicago (2pm arrival). There were 0 people in line at immigration, and I was out of customs less than 10 minutes after the plane door opened. I'm reasonably sure that there would have been no line at the JR office.

A 4pm arrival is a very different story, as the majority of flights from N America arrive between 2pm and 5pm. On previous trips arriving around 4pm, I've waited 20-30 mins at immigration, then saw a long line downstairs at the JR office.

If you're only buying a NEx ticket, you can skip the line and buy it directly from one of the machines, which have an English language option. However, you may have to pay in cash if using the machine. (Unless things have changed, JR ticket machines don't accept foreign credit cards.)

Kavey

On our first trip it took us maybe half an hour to 45 minutes at the JR office but only because we requested several seat reservations. They, quite fairly, did the pass itself quickly but then asked for us to wait while they did a few more voucher exchanges (with no reservations) in the queue and then sat and did all of our reservations in one go. The second time, we were only looking for Nex so there was a separate quick line. Same for a PASMO card this time. Very quick. They won't keep quick needs waiting for slower to process JR passes.

janisj

I've only done it once so purely anecdotal . . . but when I hit the JR office at Narita the line was quite long (but not out the door) and I was worried because I was traveling on to Kyoto and it was going to be a late arrival even w/o any delays at Narita. But it moved very quickly and they had a staff member trolling the queue looking for people who were just exchanging the voucher.

CaliforniaLady

I still would have a plan B for getting to Nikko in case you have a flight delay. Personally, I would book a hotel in Nikko that has a 6 PM deadline for check in without deposit, and not one that has a non-refundable one. I would then call in my deposit at 5:30 PM or so.

Someone here recently posted that the trains sometimes have weather delays, so you could have a flight or a train delay.

I'm sure it will all work out for you, just have a plan B and you'll be fine.

shelleyk

We won't be arriving in Nikko til 11:30 PM so we have to stay at the only hotel that is right at the train station. Their cancellation policy is 3 days prior, so we would lose our deposit if we did not get there. I usually don't like rolling the dice this way, but DH feels that this would be a more relaxing way to start the trip than waking up at 5:30am to catch a 7:30 am train to Nikko the next day. For him it's worth the gamble. Our Plan B will be booking a hotel in Tokyo at the last minute on booking.com.. I sure hope we don't have to resort to Plan B.

BigRuss

The lines at the JR office were short. Hopefully that'll be true in November when we descend upon Japan (oh the poor Japanese who don't know the havoc my kids will seek to wreak . . . ;-)).

Mara

shellyk, so your Plan A is to take the N'ex to Tokyo Station, change for the shinkansen to Utsunomiya where you change to the local train to Nikko? At least that's what I find on hyperdia.....and a three and a half hour trip after flying in from the East Coast...

For me, that might be a bit much....I think I'd just as soon stay overnight in Tokyo and go on to Nikko the next am...why do you need to take a 5:30 am train? You can leave Tokyo at 7:12 and get to Nikko at 9:12....seems doable to me....

hawaiiantraveler

Mara is right plus with the jet lag you will be up early the next day anyway lol

shelleyk

Mara-DH would have to be up at 5:30 to make a 7:30am train, something he does not look forward to. He is a night person.

We are used to travelling 24-30 hours to get to Thailand and Vietnam from the east coast. The trip BOS to Narita to Nikko is less than that. If it were me alone, I'd go to Nikko the next morning, but since DH hardly gets any input into our trips, I'm going to allow him to make this decision.

CaliforniaLady

In that case, your Nikko hotel may be understanding if you have a logistics delay, and put your deposit towards the next night, if necessary, provided you call them. I would count on the Japanese to do that for you.

I did want to mention that the last time I was in Japan in September 2014, I arrived about 4 PM on the JAL flight from Los Angeles. I made a bee line out of the plane, and I was probably the first one from my flight in line at immigration. Nonetheless, the lines were huge. I believe it took about 45 minutes to get through. I had a transit flight to Fukuoka a few hours later, so I didn't care.

shelleyk

Thank you all for your comments. After reading your comments, looking at the number of flight arrivals between 2 and 5, and considering the shlep from Narita to Nikko with jet lag, DH has decided he would rather sleep in Tokyo and go to Nikko the next morning, even if he has to get up early to make a train. So thanks again for making the beginning of the trip less anxious for me.

CaliforniaLady

Good decision, shelley. The original plan was meshuga, lol.

Mara

shelleyk, sorry I spelled your name wrong in my earlier post.....

Glad that DH has been convinced....

My longest trips have been to Japan - usually direct from JFK to NRT or HND but once I did stupidly change in DFW as there was a flight from there to KIX at the time - after that I have always flown direct - don't know if I could travel longer like you have said to other parts of Asia....

Even if you arrive and go through Immigration quickly as well as getting yen at the ATM and getting your Tokyo pass all within in a short amount of time you still would have had a long involved trip to reach Nikko....

I don't remember how long you plan to stay in Nikko but a couple of hours shouldn't make a huge difference I hope...