Best connecting airport for South Florida to Tokyo?

[bebop bonnie]

Which is best connecting for departing out of MIA, FLL or PBI to NRT or HND?… DFW, ORD, LAX, others?

And which is easiest connecting airport for return?  Will (maybe) have choice of DL, AA/JAL, ANA.  

Thank you!

[taxatty]

It depends which airline. If you use JAL and AA, the easiest connections each way seem to be DFW, LAX, or ORD, at least through MIA. You could also check JFK, BOS, SEA and SFO.

[FlyerTalker]

Until you define "best", this is impossible to answer.  Your criteria and mine may be completely different.  (and probably are)

 

 

[bebop bonnie]

34 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

Until you define "best", this is impossible to answer.  Your criteria and mine may be completely different.  (and probably are)

 

 

Hi FlyerTalker. Best is where my routing will provide a 2-4 hour layover and easy walk or train to connecting flight.  Return includes relatively easy (with GE) process back to US.  Probably AA/JAL thru DFW makes sense but I haven’t been at DFW for years.  Really appreciate your posts, here and elsewhere!  Bonnie

[CruiserBruce]

I would got to something like matrix.ita and start looking at routes. 

 

As to ease of going through the airport, there are good times and bad times at all airports. Each airport has common international arrival times that are crowded, and other times less so. Having GE is about the best you can do at your end dealing with these issues.

[FlyerTalker]

2 hours ago, bebop bonnie said:

Hi FlyerTalker. Best is where my routing will provide a 2-4 hour layover and easy walk or train to connecting flight.  Return includes relatively easy (with GE) process back to US.  Probably AA/JAL thru DFW makes sense but I haven’t been at DFW for years.  Really appreciate your posts, here and elsewhere!  Bonnie

 

Just about any TPAC gateway will allow you that kind of connection coming in from MIA or FLL.  Not so much from PBI.

 

If flying coach, a consideration is how you want to break up your flight time.  You can have longer overwater flights from JFK/BOS/EWR to TYO, or shorter ones from SFO and SEA.

 

If in business, a consideration may be the ground amenities at your gateway.  The UA Polaris lounge at SFO is quite good, as is AA Flagship service at DFW.

 

In either case, my onboard product would be a greater consideration, as that's where the butt will be for hours.  And hours.  Check aircraft configurations and service.

 

You have lots of options, and lots of price points.  Evaluate YOUR cost/benefit calculation.

 

 

 

[CruiserBruce]

3 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

If in business, a consideration may be the ground amenities at your gateway.  The UA Polaris lounge at SFO is quite good, as is AA Flagship service at DFW.

 

We like the SFO Polaris Lounge, and we have been there several times as SFO is our home airport. Oddly, though,  many UA regulars will tell you SFO's Polaris Lounge is the worst of the Polaris Lounges. The OP could connect through IAD or ORD and perhaps get a better PL.

[bebop bonnie]

Thank you FlyerTalker and CruiserBruce.  Funny, I’ve been on CC for years (flying and cruising even longer) but I just discovered this (helpful!) forum.

 

I’ll be flying in Business and yes, time spent on the plane is most important to me.  So…hope for the A350 on JAL TPAC.  Or maybe SQ from west coast…..Probably means AA out of FLL to DFW. Realize I have no control, and few options, for aircraft.  But thanks for helping me maximize planning!😁

[Gardyloo]

Should I gather this is a Regent cruise and your business class airfare is included?  None of my business, of course, but I just looked up business class fares for Florida - Tokyo for next spring (April, right?) and wowie, ouch.  How much flexibility do you have in declining or modifying the included air tickets?  If you don't take Regent's air, do you get a credit against the total cost?  

 

The reason for asking is my usual and repetitive suggestion about round-the-world fares for persons who travel long distances for cruises (or other reasons) annually or perhaps more often.  "RTW" fares are sold by member airlines of the Star and Oneworld alliances (Skyteam no longer since Covid) and allow up to 16 flights over the course of a year, starting and ending in the same country and requiring that the Atlantic and Pacific both be crossed in the same direction (east > west or v.v.)

 

The thing is, these products are priced very differently depending on where the travel begins and ends, and at present, business class RTW fares using Oneworld airlines (American, British, Japan, Qantas, Qatar, others) that begin and end in Japan carry the lowest base prices for any country.  For example, a 3-continent ticket (Asia, North America, Europe) in business class from Japan has a base price of US$4,141.  (The same ticket with travel originating in the US has a base price of $10,426.)

 

So imagine you ask Regent to sell you a one-way ticket to Tokyo rather than the round trip.  You do the cruise, then start the RTW with a trip home.  You spend some time at home, or maybe you use the ticket to get to Alaska and back for a cruise, or for a non-cruise holiday in California, or Canada, or someplace in the Caribbean or Central America (all considered part of "North America" for the ticket's purposes.)

 

Then maybe later in 2025 you use the ticket for a European or Middle Eastern cruise (the Middle East and Mediterranean Africa are part of "Europe") or it's back to Asia - the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Singapore...? - before ending back in Japan.   Or for around $750 more in base price, add a fourth continent - Australia and the South Pacific?  South America?  Africa? to the plan.  Here's an imaginary map of a 3-continent trip that would comply with the Oneworld rules.

 

You'll have earned enough frequent flyer miles in the course of the year to cover the "cost" (in points) for a one-way business class flight home, or just buy another RTW ticket and keep going around and around, as it were.  

 

Put "RTW" into search box at the top of this board and you can see all the (boring, repetitive) times I've brought up this idea.  Maybe it could work for you or maybe not, but thinking about it is free.  

[bebop bonnie]

2 hours ago, Gardyloo said:

Should I gather this is a Regent cruise and your business class airfare is included?  None of my business, of course, but I just looked up business class fares for Florida - Tokyo for next spring (April, right?) and wowie, ouch.  How much flexibility do you have in declining or modifying the included air tickets?  If you don't take Regent's air, do you get a credit against the total cost?  

 

The reason for asking is my usual and repetitive suggestion about round-the-world fares for persons who travel long distances for cruises (or other reasons) annually or perhaps more often.  "RTW" fares are sold by member airlines of the Star and Oneworld alliances (Skyteam no longer since Covid) and allow up to 16 flights over the course of a year, starting and ending in the same country and requiring that the Atlantic and Pacific both be crossed in the same direction (east > west or v.v.)

 

The thing is, these products are priced very differently depending on where the travel begins and ends, and at present, business class RTW fares using Oneworld airlines (American, British, Japan, Qantas, Qatar, others) that begin and end in Japan carry the lowest base prices for any country.  For example, a 3-continent ticket (Asia, North America, Europe) in business class from Japan has a base price of US$4,141.  (The same ticket with travel originating in the US has a base price of $10,426.)

 

So imagine you ask Regent to sell you a one-way ticket to Tokyo rather than the round trip.  You do the cruise, then start the RTW with a trip home.  You spend some time at home, or maybe you use the ticket to get to Alaska and back for a cruise, or for a non-cruise holiday in California, or Canada, or someplace in the Caribbean or Central America (all considered part of "North America" for the ticket's purposes.)

 

Then maybe later in 2025 you use the ticket for a European or Middle Eastern cruise (the Middle East and Mediterranean Africa are part of "Europe") or it's back to Asia - the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Singapore...? - before ending back in Japan.   Or for around $750 more in base price, add a fourth continent - Australia and the South Pacific?  South America?  Africa? to the plan.  Here's an imaginary map of a 3-continent trip that would comply with the Oneworld rules.

 

You'll have earned enough frequent flyer miles in the course of the year to cover the "cost" (in points) for a one-way business class flight home, or just buy another RTW ticket and keep going around and around, as it were.  

 

Put "RTW" into search box at the top of this board and you can see all the (boring, repetitive) times I've brought up this idea.  Maybe it could work for you or maybe not, but thinking about it is free.  

Thank you Gardyloo!  Yes, it’s a Regent cruise with Business Class included.  A very long time ago I booked RTW tickets.  Not to take anyone down memory lane, but my first RTW was with Pan Am and SQ!  Loved putting the puzzles together to make some great itineraries so especially appreciate yours! Most likely it won’t work for me this time, but the B Class Japan-Japan is quite a deal.  Thanks for reminding me of past adventures!

Bonnie

[bebop bonnie]

Gardyloo, I forgot to mention that yes, I can get air credit / $ and book my own air.  I used to do that for FC air to Asia, but that process is now a bit overwhelming for me!🤪

[Hlitner]

My own preference is to look for the best deals on decent carriers.  From MIA to HND (Haneda is a better option for cruisers out of Japan) we would either fly Air Canada, via Toronto or Turkish Air (a personal favorite for business class) through Istanbul.  The nice thing about Turkish Air is you should be able to arrange  a stopover in Istanbul, which breaks up the trip and gets you to a fabulous city for a few days.  Either one of these airlines will likely save you several thousand dollars, per person, over most other options.

 

I do practice what I preach and we have actually booked Turkish Air to get to Tokyo next year.  We broke up the flight in Istanbul so we could spend a few days in one of our favorite tourist cities.

 

Hank

[bebop bonnie]

15 hours ago, Hlitner said:

My own preference is to look for the best deals on decent carriers.  From MIA to HND (Haneda is a better option for cruisers out of Japan) we would either fly Air Canada, via Toronto or Turkish Air (a personal favorite for business class) through Istanbul.  The nice thing about Turkish Air is you should be able to arrange  a stopover in Istanbul, which breaks up the trip and gets you to a fabulous city for a few days.  Either one of these airlines will likely save you several thousand dollars, per person, over most other options.

 

I do practice what I preach and we have actually booked Turkish Air to get to Tokyo next year.  We broke up the flight in Istanbul so we could spend a few days in one of our favorite tourist cities.

 

Hank

Thank you Hank!  Turkish Air hadn’t occurred to me!  Flew them in FC ages ago and loved it!  Will definitely give that a serious option.

[vster5]

Hank, did you book return flight on Turkish Air or on different airline?

[Hlitner]

18 hours ago, vster5 said:

Hank, did you book return flight on Turkish Air or on different airline?

Not an issue.  We will be cruising from Tokyo to Vancouver.  But if one does buy a round trip on Turkish Air, and its business class, I believe that Turkish Air will pay for two nights in a 5^ hotel (in Istanbul) if a person wants the stopover.  The procedure is a bit complicated so its best to call Turkish Air if one wants that deal.

 

Hank