Hello,

My wife and I are flying Northwest from Minneapolis to Tokyo, then Tokyo to Guangzhou, China (also on Northwest). Our layover is not very long, but checking out Narita's website, I see that the arrival gate is very close to the departure gate in the same terminal (at least for now). My question is, when we land in Tokyo, do we have to clear customs/immigration or can we just go to the gate?

Many thanks in advance

Jason

no jason....here is how N/W works in narita....the terminal is basically a series of concentric circles, 2 or 3....you arrive at the outer circle...you deplane and are set walking usually to your right....you then join a long line which is to allow you to reenter the gate area in the inner circle, but first you must pass through a check-point...they screen and check your hand luggage and you walk through a metal detector....it takes quite a while as all the flights generally arrive within 30-45 minutes of each other....its a true hub situation, the way it was designed....it is actually quite brilliant....after you pass the check point you are in this large circular room with about 10 departure gates...there are a few bus gates as well, but most planes pull right up to the dock....it is crowded...the restrooms (very nice and clean) are on a lower level...take the central elevator or stairway---in the center of the room....there is one small canteen selling drinks, etc at very high prices...i think the last time i noted a small restaurant down by the restrooms as well....

its very easy but you need to move along and not doddle as the planes come in and turn around quite fast...

so there is no customs or immigration, just a simple screening...

Good information.

You also don't have to worry about short connection time. Since most of the passengers on your MSP-NRT flight are connecting to other NW flights to the rest of Asia, they will hold all those flights. [Unless your plane is really really late.]

I've also made that transfer twice at Narita (NW to NW). If you move quickly, you'll be able to take the moving sidewalk down the aisle to the massage, reflexology, and shower/day hotel area. Clean refreshing showers with liquid soap and shampoo provided cost 300yen or $US5 for 20 minutes. A great bargain that all can enjoy during the transfer period.

Does anyone know how United works at Narita? We were supposed to be on a direct flight from Chgo to Narita and then on to Bangkok. However, United just changed its schedule and now we are on a different flight out of Narita to Bangkok. We have approximately 2 hours between flights at Narita and I am wondering whether there is any cause for concern about making what is the last flight (that day) from Narita to Bangkok?

Same thing with UA. All connecting flights will wait. UA and NW have no intention to strand passengers in Tokyo. Their planes will overnight in Bangkok, Singapore, Hong Kong, etc, anyways. No hurry to get there on-time, really.

And 2 hours transit at NRT is way more than enough.

Like Northwest above, United will generally hold the flight to BKK as there will be many passengers connecting. 2 hours is a huge margin of safety though.