Hi everyone,

I’d like to double-check that I am reading the limousine bus schedule correctly. According to the website (http://www.limousinebus.co.jp/e/index_forforeign.html), I think that the limousine bus leaves Narita for the Conrad Hotel at 1:50p, 3:20p, 4:20p, 5:20p, and 6:50p.

Our plane is supposed to arrive at 3:55p (Saturday). We will not need to exchange any money as we will already have plenty of yen with us and we won't need to active our JR Pass then either, so basically we can go straight from Customs to the bus. Even so, I think that trying to make the 5:20p bus is probably unrealistic given that we will need to get through Customs and get our bus ticket (we will just exchange pre-purchased FIT coupons for our tickets which will be quicker, but not instantaneous). If we are able to make it, would it make sense to take the bus to. . .say. . .the Renaissance Tokyo Hotel at 5:45p (or the Palace Hotel at 6:00p or the Imperial Hotel at 6:15p) and maybe take a taxi from there to the Conrad rather than wait for the 6:50p bus to the Conrad? It just seems that if we barely miss the 5:20p bus, it’s a long time to wait for the next Conrad Hotel bus.

Our plan was to take the limousine bus when we arrived, but I’m wondering now if the train would be a better plan. I don't know if anyone remembers, but we're trying to get to Asakusa in time to see at least some of the fireworks festival. Maybe send our luggage to the Conrad and take the train to Asakusa instead?

Thoughts?

Thanks,
Judy

emd? mrwunrfl? KimJapan?

I just don't think anyone can know what your situation will be on arrival. Your flight may be early, on time, or late...we can't know in advance. Immigration could have long lines, or not. Luggage could take a long time, or not. You could have to land 30 minutes of taxiing away...we've come into Narita 3 times on that runway...it really does take 30 minutes to get to a gate, if you get to a gate at all. We've had a bus gate quite often at Narita, which adds more time still.

You'll have to keep both plans in mind and decide once you've gotten clear of immigration and customs. Don't buy any tickets in advance. It will take the same amount of time to buy a ticket for the bus as it takes to exchange a voucher. And if you've already got tickets and you miss the bus, you've spent money needlessly. It takes no time at all to buy bus tickets.

I do think the 5:20 bus is highly unlikely...but once or twice we've had early arrivals in Japan (over 11 years and many, many trips, though).

Hi KimJapan, thanks for responding. I realize that there may be a lot of different circumstances which could change even the best laid plans.

Do you know if, in fact, I'm reading the schedule correctly? I guess my questions regarding taking a different bus to a nearby hotel and then taxi to the Conrad or taking the train directly to Asakusa was assuming that we *just* miss the 5:20p bus and would have to wait an hour and half for the next Conrad Hotel bus. I just wondered if there were better options in this particular situation than just waiting around. I agree that buying the FIT coupon in advance probably is not the best idea for us since we're not sure what we might be doing, transportation-wise, once we arrive. Who knows? We might not even be on time to make the 6:50p bus which seems to be the last bus to the Conrad.

The more I think about it, the more I'm leaning toward sending our luggage to the Conrad and taking the train directly to Asakusa. If that's the case, then I have questions about the train schedule, but I'll post them on a different subject line.

Thanks!
Judy

You are reading the schedule correctly. I think you'll probably make the 5:20 bus. Maybe not.

You'll just have to see when you get there what time it is and what you can do re which bus you can get and what you want to or feel like you can do re going to Asakusa.

You have flexibility on your side and as Kin said, I would not lock myslef into and tickets now, as it takes 2 min. to go up to the counter and get a bus ticket. Or you will decide to send the luggage to Conrad Hilton and go to Asakusa, which involves finding the luggage counters (I don't know where you'll be going to find those counters) from where you land and go through customs.

You can figure all of this out when you get there. Plus you'll likely be going into the new south wing of terminal 1 that just opened (what airline are you flying) and that might cut down on your customs time- I don't know as we have not heard from anyone on this board who has arrived (or departed) from the brand new south wing of Terminal 1.

Your trip is getting close! Have fun; all of your planning will pay off. We need a new trip report on here, so come back here after you return.

oops, sorry, KIM!

Yes, can't wait for your trip report.
If you are flying into the new wing of terminal 1 be sure to give us the skinny.
Have fun, I am envious.

Thanks everyone. We're flying United from LAX and I think I'm going to make the train our first choice with the bus our second. I have a question about the train schedule (actually about the train schedules in general), so I will post a separate thread.

The closer we get, the less prepared I feel. I guess it's because I was doing quite a bit of research a while ago, but haven't had much time to think about it for the past couple of months. Things have been incredibly crazy, both family and work, to the point that I was wondering if I could even go on the trip. But, it looks like everything will work out, so I'm back to looking at the trip again. One "good" thing is that I've lost 15 lbs (stress related, I'm sure), so maybe I'll be able to tolerate the heat a *little* better.

Thanks again.
Judy

You'll be fine- you've been there before, and Japan is a friendly country to travel in, as you know. You can just go and relax (if you can let yourself relax). Maybe go a little slower and not cram it all in, if the stress has been that bad before the trip. Japan is a great place to relax and let it go, if you can. I am seriously thinking of just doing a "beautiful places and soaking" trip in 2007, no sightseeing of any great significance, just soak (literally) in some lovely natural environments. That is the luxury of a 3rd trip, I think...

Hi emd,

I've been to China and to Thailand, but this is my first time to Japan.

I am feeling a little bit more confident about the whole transportation from the airport issue now that I'm getting confirmation that I'm at least reading the schedules correctly.

Thanks,
Judy

Oh, sorry, I must have been thinking of the other Asia trips...

FWIW, for those interested in arrivals at the new Star Alliance wing at Narita, this was our experience today on UA883 from Chicago.

Wheels down at NRT: 3:33pm (scheduled, 4:15pm)
At the gate: 3:50pm
Cleared immigration: 4:08pm
Checked bags arrive on baggage carousel: 4:10pm
Cleared customs: 4:13pm
Limousine bus tickets purchased: 4:16pm
Bus leaves for Shinjuku: 4:30pm
Bus arrives at the Hilton: 5:50pm

You go girl!

That is PHENOMENAL! I guess they certainly have hit the mark on their intention of making the deplaning and clearing customs faster in the new wing! That is recordbreaking time. VERY impressive.

Please report back on the experience w/departure!!

HAVE A WONDERFUL TRIP, MS GO!!

ms_go, thank you for posting your times experience. It makes me hopeful that we'll be able to get out relatively quickly and make it to the fireworks festival after leaving our luggage at the Conrad.

Thanks!
Judy

emd - I'm actually leaving out of Osaka (KIX) on the non-stop to Chicago, so unfortunately won't be able to report on departures at NRT.

Having a good time in Tokyo. It is hot and muggy but not a lot of rain so far, which is good. In a hurry now (mainly checking in to get my work email); will report more later.

Oh darn, ms_go. I was looking forward to hearing about your departure experience from NRT. Well, maybe I'll be the first to post how the departure is from the new terminal now.

Our departure from NRT to LAX on Singapore Airlines on June 26, was by far, the easiest most efficient airport experience we've ever had. 6:45pm flight, we arrived at about 3:30. The new wing is easy to navigate with lots of signage. The airline desk was fast and efficient with no line. No stress, very organized, basically no lines anywhere I looked, yet the airport seemed somewhat busy. There were lots of security lines whisking everyone through. Lots of good shops past security too. We also had plenty of time for a leisurely late lunch.
We had an issue with my 9-year old daughter leaving her wallet by accident at security. I ran back up there and at least four employees began searching for us. My husband comes upstairs about five minutes later, and says they found it buried at the bottom of the backpack. They were all so polite and helpful, and seemed okay when we had embarassed ourselves, and not left it there at all.
We've travelled a lot in the US, and some in Europe, with this being the best we've seen. We had to connect in LAX onto a Delta flight. What a nightmare. Lines a mile long, slowwwwwww to get to the counter. A little better and friendlier in immigration and customs at least, than at the Delta counter. IMO the US airports could learn a lot from the Narita airport.

Wow, thanks redhead. I was fully anticipating a nightmare from reading previous posts about departing from NRT. Sounds like the new wing is a big success and I'm glad that we'll be able to experience this improvement.

Thanks,
Judy

redhead, thank you for the report, have been waiting to hear this info.
So no pre-screening for luggage before you get to the counter. That to me was the worst part of Narita departures.

I assume from your post that the lines for passport control (after you leave the counter)were short and organized, instead of the cattle call craziness of hundreds of unorganized people trying to fit through one door, as it was before.

Plase tell us how the experience was on boarding your flight. How did they announce that it was time for you to board? Did the flight attendants hold up the signs silently, or were announcements (real announcements that you can hear, like the ones in the U.S.) made instead?

And my biggest question: What did you think of the very different way they have check-in set up, instead of by different counters for each airline? How exactly did that work?