Flight schedule changed - enough time in Narita?

[PamMo]

Just heard from AA that our connection time in Narita has been decreased to exactly one hour. We'll be flying in from San Diego and out to Ho Chi Minh City, all on JAL (Terminal 2). It's been a long time since we've connected through NRT, and I remember walking for what seemed like miles to get through all the checkpoints. Is it realistic to think 60 minutes is enough time for an international connection?

 

[Passepartout]

Have you tried to call (or email) JAL customer service? I think it would be OK, but I've just had one lengthy layover there and one 'catch a train to downtown' stop there. You shouldn't have customs/immigration as you're just transiting through.

Jim

 

[VacationForever]

Narita is very fast and efficient. One hour should be fine. I just did a transfer there a year ago. I used to travel through the alot. Even with the be terminals now it was easy peasy.

 

[PamMo]

Thank you for your quick responses. I'm checking with JAL to see if they recommend I book later flight. We already have to overnight on the west coast (the joys of flying out of a small town in the Midwest), and don't relish the idea of spending another night en route.

 

[bnoble]

I connected with about an hour (a bit less) from Detroit on my way to Singapore. You have to clear security internally but it goes quickly.

 

[PDXGolfer]

We've flown through Narita several times en route to other parts of Asia. Personally, I think an hour may be cutting it close. As noted, you will have to go through internal security. While the lines there move fairly well, I've also seen a bottleneck of passengers arrive at one such area from different international flights at the same time (think of the volume of passengers from two different 747s converging into the same area at the same time), and the resulting delays from the bottleneck.

Add to that, as you've noted, you may have to walk a distance to your next flight even if you are traveling on the same airline (as we had to do on connecting Delta flights), though I don't know if staying in the same JAL terminal would minimize this. On top of all that, factor in the cutoff time for boarding your next flight before they close the gates (especially an international flight). If all of the above factors happen to come into play on the day of travel, I personally would be a nervous wreck worrying about whether I would make the next flight.

I'd recommend giving yourself a bigger cushion. Better to be safe.

 

[Dori]

PamMo, we are going on Tuesday, flying Air Canada into Narita and on to SGN (Ho Chi Minh). We have a two hour layover in Narita. Such a coincidence! when are you going?

Dori

 

[dsmrp]

I would also allow more than 1 hour between flights. You're really dependent on your long San Diego to Tokyo flight being on time.
If plane is delayed, you might make your connecting flight, but your checked bags might not. Will you be staying in one place in Ho Chi Minh city long enough for JAL to get your bags to you? I'm assuming on international flight you'd have checked bags.

I'm reminded of DH & my own experience and those of 2 canadian ladies last year flying to Italy. We flew Vancouver to Toronto to Rome on Air Canada with an 1.5 hour layover time. Our Toronto flight was delayed 45 minutes from landing. We raced to the Rome plane but our bags did not. We didn't know until after almost a whole day in Rome if we'd get our bags back.

We met the 2 ladies at a lost baggage claims desk in Rome airport. This lost baggage desk was run by a contracted Italian company. The ladies flew a similar route the day before us, except from Ottawa to Toronto, for a cruise leaving outside Rome. They had arrived 2 days before cruise, and the italian contractor & Air Canada still had no idea where their bags were. So they were resigning themselves to finding some new clothes in Rome and boarding ship with far less than planned.

JAL, I'm sure, is much more efficient than some italian companies in getting missing bags to their customers. But your end destination of Ho Chi Minh city does make me wonder...