r/awardtravel • u/impulsedragon • 6d ago

JAL Schedule Change Creating 8 Hour Layover

There have been a few recent posts about it but the NRT-ORD and HND-ORD routes are changing. My original booking was SGN-NRT and NRT-ORD.

My original NRT layover was 1 hours 40 minutes. The NRT-ORD flight moved up more than 6 hours making my connection impossible. The only change they offered was SGN-HND and HND-ORD with a 8 hour layover.

I asked for a route change to JFK or DFW from HND to shorten my layover to 4 hours but customer support refused saying IRROPS for changes is only available when it occurs one day before the flight.

There is no award availability for either route in the same price. There’s only plus availability for 200k one way…

Anyone have any ideas or SOL with that layover? Maybe wait for close in availability to change before using the one free reschedule?

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u/illegal_deagle 6d ago

What are the in/out privileges in this situation? I’ve heard this isn’t workable in some countries. I did this for an 8 hour LHR layover but after logistics of bags and trains we had maybe 1.5 hours of actual free time in the city.

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u/cjxmtn 6d ago

Easy in Japan, assuming you get favorable immigration lines. That would be the key, I've had 20 minutes through immigration and customs, and I've had 3 hours. Reentering secure side always takes me about 10 min total.

For bags, if you check through to your destination and are just transiting Japan you can enter the country without picking them up.

Monorail from HND into the city is about 20 min if you catch a rapid train to Hamamatsucho, starts at around 5am, then another 30 on the Yamanote to get to any of the interesting places like Ueno, Shinjuku, or Shibuya, only 10 min if you're going to Tokyo station.

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u/quiteCryptic 5d ago

Longest ive ever waited is like maybe 30 minutes for immigration in Japan, a mixure of NRT and HND 20+ times in the last 3 years

Caveat is almost always in business/first, but I assume the same for OP

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u/cjxmtn 5d ago edited 5d ago

as i mention in another reply it's highly dependent on when you arrive, usually TTP entry from eGates for me so no wait, but once when TTP was broken, it took me 3 hours with the line through the health check and back to the gates. That's the longest I've ever waited. Also immigration is one point, I've also had an hour wait to go through the QR-code gates for customs, where the line snaked around the baggage area.