Narita to Haneda stopover From Melbourne to New York

[More_skip]

I booked a flight Melbourne to New York via Tokyo not looking at the finer details!
I fly into Narita Tokyo at 15:15 and fly out of Haneda Tokyo to JFK departing 19:45.

I know there is a lot of time between however I think it’s a bit cheeky to advertise this flight!

Is this very doable? Would appreciate some tips!

Thanks

 

[yachty]

Welcome to AFF, More_skip!

It is extremely doable. Do you think it's too long or not enough? This will be more than enough time for a transit at NRT

 

[Quickstatus]

@More_skip

Welcome to AFF

Very Doable - if the flight out of MEL is on time or even if 1 hr late in arrival.

Are both sectors on one ticket and which airlines please? - this will be important if the ex MEL is cancelled or very delayed such that you miss the second sector

 

[More_skip]

Thank you for your replies!
I booked through qantas but they are Japan airlines flights. It appears on my qantas app as two flights though

 

[Quickstatus]

With JL flight numbers?

 

[More_skip]

Yep JL774 and JL4

 

[bcworld]

Welcome to AFF, More_skip!

It is extremely doable. Do you think it's too long or not enough? This will be more than enough time for a transit at NRT

They're not doing a transit at NRT...they're doing a self transit from NRT to HND.

 

[Himeno]

Sounds like JL774 > JL4

You'll need to enter Japan at NRT and everything that entails (immigration, customs, etc) then make your way to HND.
There are two reasonable ways to transfer between the airports. The bus and train.
The train option is a partnership between 3 train companies which operate direct trains across the lines of each company. Not all trains between the airports operate under this service, and getting the wrong train would require transfers. They are also normal trains which make normal stops at many of the stations on the way.
Then there is the bus. The bus takes the most direct route between the airports, taking into account traffic conditions at the time.

The bus is the best option, and you have more then enough time to make such a transfer.
I've done this before in the other direction and arrived at NRT early.

https://www.airport-bus-alliance.com/limousinebus/result-t.html?airport=%E6%88%90%E7%94%B0%E7%A9%BA%E6%B8%AF&area=%E7%BE%BD%E7%94%B0%E7%A9%BA%E6%B8%AF&lang=en&frto=1

You want to go from NRT T2 to HND T3

 

[yachty]

They're not doing a transit at NRT...they're doing a self transit from NRT to HND.

Good catch. Could be a little fine then!

 

[Himeno]

Good catch. Could be a little fine then!

It's a 4.5 hour connection.
Depending on timing, it is possible to go from aircraft door at one airport to departures area of the other in 2.5 hours.

With the 1515 arrival time for 774, I assume the booked flight is later in the year once AU daylight saving starts (current arrival for 774 is 1620). That puts it near the start of the NRT T2 afternoon peak. Assuming the flight is on time (or even early), then it misses the bulk of the afternoon arrivals from the US and SE Asia, possibly saving time in immigration.
Baggage collection and customs in JP are more often then not a non issue.
Traffic at that time of the day would be heavier going in the other direction and the bus might route south to the Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line to avoid traffic through Chiba City and Tokyo (the Tokyo end of the Aqua Line is very close to Haneda).

The longest likely delays with this transfer would be security at HND and immigration at NRT if something isn't as scheduled.

 

[encryptededdy]

I know there is a lot of time between however I think it’s a bit cheeky to advertise this flight!

With award flights, I think Qantas will show anything that meets the operating airline/transit airports minimum connection time.

 

[yachty]

Traffic at that time of the day would be heavier going in the other direction and the bus might route south to the Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line to avoid traffic through Chiba City and Tokyo (the Tokyo end of the Aqua Line is very close to Haneda).

The longest likely delays with this transfer would be security at HND and immigration at NRT if something isn't as scheduled.

I make the drive often and it can be unpredictable, even when going against the flow But not bad enough to be worried about in this case. I think as you say immigration will be the possible issue. T2 can be a mess in the afternoon. But it's a single ticket so should be fine.

 

[drron]

And JAL always tries to be on time. If there is a minor problem such as with the IFE they won’t waste time on the ground trying to fix it.
This happened to us out of SIN. They gave people free wifi and in J we both got a Visa gift card.
They still apologised to us when they were 3 minutes late into NRT.

 

[elanshin]

The single biggest point of worry in 2024 for thus transfer is NRT immigration (and HND if you're doing the reverse). You could be out in 5mins or 4 hours and everything in between. It really depends on the day, load factors, arrival times, which season etc.