Which airport for Tokyo
 

Long range planning. We will going into Tokyo 3/16, few days in Tokyo then train to Osaka to meet our cruise ship.. Any preference for arrival airport, NRT or HND?

HND is much closer to central Tokyo. You could take a taxi and be in central Tokyo in 20 minutes, or a bus in 25 - 30. There is also a monorail and JR trains that can get you into central Tokyo in 15 - 20 minutes. Bus can take 30+ minutes, depending on your destination.

The fastest option from NRT is the N'Ex train or the Keisei Skyliner train, each of which takes about one hour. You can use a JR Pass on the N'Ex train by obtaining it first at the NRT Train station near each airline terminal. There is also bus service which may take you closer to your hotel, which can take 90 to 100 minutes.

That said, I would not take a less convenient flight to fly into HND vs. NRT.

For more info, try these links:

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2027.html
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2430.html

Thanks Russ, for your reply. We may not have much choice HND vs NRT, we are using AA miles from DFW. We are looking at DFW-HNL-HND, a plane change in HNL is OK. Do you have a suggestion for a hotel in Tokyo, mid-price range? I haven't been to Tokyo in over 50+ years so I don't know what "mid price" is, last time was on expense account so it didn't matter.

A lot of people on this forum like Dormy Inn. I've never been. I just stayed at Hotel Ryumeikan. Both have very tiny rooms (about 215 sq ft including bathroom) for a $150 to $200 per night depending on time of year and exchange rate. Both have options for upgrading to larger rooms. It also comes down to where you want to be. Dormy is in Shibuya/Shinjuku area, the other near Tokyo Station.

Check to see what types of planes/seats they have going to HND and NRT, especially in business class.

ANA has/had full lie-flat seats in biz class to NRT but angle-flat seats to HND.

I would assume that they (AA or JAL?) would not have their best biz class seat on HNL-HND or HNL-NRT. But they would (I expect) have their best on DFW-NRT. I won't guess about DFW-HNL.

I would probably take a free stopover at HNL for a couple of days.