laurieco

Does anyone know how to easily connect from Narita to Haneda airport? ANA sent an email today saying our flight to Haneda has been changed, leaving 8 hours earlier and going into Narita. We have a connecting flight from Haneda to Bangkok. We will have plenty of time to make the connection but damn ANA says we have to make our own way to Haneda from Narita, at our own expense. We do not want to have to go through immigration, or security again if at all possible. Is there a connection between the two airports that will still be considered airside? This sucks. We paid a lot more to fly premium economy and ANA is doing nothing (although I think they should help regular economy passengers too). I suppose we should be happy our flight wasn't cancelled outright. Booked this flight in October and we leave in 13 days. This trip is turning into a nightmare thanks to COVID-19. I will curse the Chinese government for the rest of my life.

mrwunrfl

They are totally different airports. You will have to enter Japan. Driving distance is about 50 miles. Expect 90 min by bus.
https://www.limousinebus.co.jp/en/ar...haneda/dep/7/2

You could go by rail, but would be more complicated and not cheaper. The bus would be a no-brainer.

mrwunrfl

ANA changed your arrival airport to be Narita instead of Haneda? They can change your departure from Haneda to Narita so that you don't have to make that airport transfer. One question would be if they have premium economy seats available on a NRT-BKK flight. If not then you might have the option of getting regular economy seats. If you accepted that change then you might not be able to change back to premium economy even if those seats are available at departure time - that would be something else to ask about.

If they can make the change you want then, before accepting the change, I would make sure that your reservations will still show confirmed for your return trip. Then I would check online to make sure everything was confirmed.

Your inbound flight s 8 hours (maybe 8h 25m) earlier. There is also the connection time that you had to connect at Haneda. So you have, what, 10 hours between flights with your new itinerary?

Suppose you arrive NRT on time. Figure an hour to get from the gate to the arrival hall. A half hour to buy a ticket and get on a bus. A two hour bus ride to Haneda and an hour and a half to get to your gate. Add an hour to that. You might have 5 hours of extra time. At least 3.

kja

I'm sorry your trip isn't playing out the way you had hoped, laurieco, but the Chinese government is not responsible for Covid-19, and it really doesn't do any good to place blame where it doesn't belong.

Quite in contrast, the Chinese government is credited by most knowledgeable experts for having taking steps that effectively curtailed and slowed the spread of the disease.

You might want to look at serious, responsible reports from the CDC and WHO, particularly with regard to what you can do to travel in ways that are as safe as possible for yourselves, your family, your friends, and every single person you come in contact with along the way or before you show any symptoms.

Best wishes!

CaliforniaLady

The bus between the two airports is quite easy to manage. They wait until the bus fills up, and then take off. You can get your ticket from the guys at the curb, and then you probably won't have to wait more than a few minutes. The airlines are desperately trying to cut overhead, so you can't blame them for consolidating their flight schedule now. The current climate is rapidly changing, so I would ask for reimbursement of the bus fare and maybe a meal voucher as you get closer to flight time.

You didn't ask, but I would be more worried about whether it makes sense to fly internationally now, given the bans that countries are imposing. Argentina just imposed a ban barring all Americans from entering the country, which means no US flights back and forth. The ban will begin on Monday, and our son is scheduled to return Sunday. We're keeping our tossed crossed that he doesn't encounter a flight delay. Anything can happen with Japan.

Adastra2200

Take the bus - it really is a no-brainer. I've done it and it is very easy - throw your bags on the bus at one airport and take them off at the other. It's as close to door to door service as you can get.

Guenmai

That's good to know. Maybe I'll try the bus next time. I went by rail between Narita Airport and Haneda Airport on my first trip a few summers ago. I had flown, non-stop, from L.A. to Narita. Going by rail between the two airports worked out fine for me. I was on my way to Osaka-Itami Airport from Haneda Airport and then on to Kyoto by MK taxi van on that trip. I didn't have a rail pass and thus didn't need to make rail-decision routes according to such.

https://www.jrailpass.com/blog/narita-to-haneda Instructions for either rail or bus between the two airports.

Happy Travels!

progol

<<Quite in contrast, the Chinese government is credited by most knowledgeable experts for having taking steps that effectively curtailed and slowed the spread of the disease.>>

Well. The Chinese government eventually took the dramatic steps to isolate cities long after it was very apparent that there was a serious problem and long after they were aware that there was a SARS-like illness. They suppressed that information until they couldn’t. Still, I agree that blaming any government isn’t going to help us move forward.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-51403795

Dukey1

In terms of getting from one Tokyo airport to another go to Youtube. There are all kinds of great tutorial videos which cover this particular subject quite well. Here's just one of several: https://www.youtube.com/results?sear...haneda+airport

Guenmai

I totally agree with using youtube tutorial videos. That's what I used to get between Narita Airport and Haneda Airport a few summers ago and also used Youtube to plan most of that trip and future trips to Japan and other destinations.

Happy Travels!

lcuy

Take the bus. They are comfortable buses, and you don't want to have to think about connections after a flight from NY. I would definitely ask for either a bus voucher or reimbursement before you accept the change. Make sure they route you now through Narita on the way home, as I'm guessing that Haneda is going to cancel most of their international flights until the airlines get closer to full capacity.

If you get through customs quickly (I did it in about 15 minutes total in mid-February) stop in the new food /shopping area before you catch the limo bus. I think it's on the 4th floor, and there is a nice variety of good restaurants therel

laurieco

The Chinese government is most certainly to blame for allowing the spread and getting out of control. They suppressed information about it and tried to shut up the doctor who saw a problem and tried to warn others. By the time they started taking measures to control it, it was too late. So yes, I blame them and will curse them for the rest of my life.

I am now seriously considering canceling the trip. Every flight and hotel has been booked separately and I am hoping the airlines and hotels will allow us to cancel without penalty. I’ll wait until next weekend and decide then.

mrwunrfl

laurieco, you should go to the airline and hotel websites and see what their policies are for cancelling or rebooking. See what your options are. Check again after you make a decision and are ready to act.

You might be able to cancel the trip and get a credit with the airline.

I was only able to change the travel dates without a change fee. I had to do so before my original departure date in April. I found dates in the summer at about the same ticket price - actually the fare dropped but the YQ surcharge increased and I had pay that $100 difference.

That was last Monday. If I had waited then I might (might not) have been able to get a refund because the airlinie (SWISS) cancelled an intra-Europe flight. The surcharge might change.

The airline policy changed since last Monday and they are cancelling TA flights.

Anyway, be prepared if you need to call. Avoid calling if you can do it online. SWISS is now asking people not to call unless their travel is in the next three days..

mrwunrfl

Am not sure I made the one point that waiting a bit might be worthwhile.

Adastra2200

Well, if you bought the ticket through a travel agent, if it's before the outbound departure, you almost always have to go back to the agency. Any change requires a ticket reissue, and the agent is the one who issued it in the first place. Typically this falls under force majeure, and as it's an involuntary change. you should be able to rebook without the date change fee (they still want your money, so it may be harder to get a full refund).

laurieco

According to their website, when I cancelled, it said I would get a full refund and they would send an email once the refund was processed. That was 4 days ago and I have heard nothing. When I go to the website and put in the confirmation number, it gives me an error message and says to contact ANA. I called and have been on hold for 45 minutes. I have a feeling I will be on hold for a very long time. Thank goodness for speaker phone. I want a refund, I cannot reschedule since I have no idea when it will be safe to travel or when we will be allowed to travel.

mrwunrfl

I would be patient and hang up the phone.

I would not expect that their reservation system would be connected to the refund processing.

mrwunrfl

That is to say that I doubt that a reservation agent would have any more info. You could try a search by ticket number if you want. I would expect the same result. The "contact ANA" part of the message isn't really applicable in this case. You cancelled the res, so the error message is a confirmation of that.

mrwunrfl

Did you get an e-mail that confirmed your cancellation? Read it, keep it.

laurieco

I finally got through, it took almost 3 hours but the ticket was cancelled and I am getting a full refund. I received an email a few hours later telling me I will get a refund of $2760.00. We will probably only lose money on the Vietnamese airlines, possibly Thai Air, even though Thai cancelled the flight. I have to call them, I'll leave that until tomorrow. The hotel in Hanoi is the only one who will not give me a refund. They offered 50% back, which I will not accept, or, a voucher good for a year. I want the voucher for 18 months, just in case this lasts longer than expected. I'm pretty annoyed with them as we booked their most expensive suite for several nights and they are acting as though we just decided to cancel for no good reason. They don't seem to get that my government won't let us go, and their government won't let us in. Every other hotel is giving us a full refund with no penalty. I will be sure to post on Trip Adviser about the hotel in Hanoi caring more about their bottom line than the health of their customers.