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Hi all! Wanted to ask some quick questions I had. Am going to Japan in less than two weeks – was lucky enough to snag Business Class with companion voucher.
1) Is there an arrivals lounge in HND that will allow use for BA Business? I’ve had a look but it seems not, just wanted someone to confirm.
2) Can I use the JAL lounges on departure from HND back to LHR if I’m in Business?
3) Does anyone have any eSIM recommendations for whilst I’m in Japan?
Thanks!
1) There isn’t an arrivals lounge, you can pay for TIAT shower rooms.
2) Yes
3) How long are you staying? I have used Airalo before, but don’t find them very good. I recommend you purchase Pocket Wifi from one of the companies such as Japan Wireless. They’ll deliver to your hotel directly in advance of arrival and if you let the hotel know they’ll put it in your room.
3) recently used Airalo with no issues there. Download the app and buy the card while in the UK the have all ready. Clock won’t start ticking until you activate it there
2) of course. There is also a CX lounge
Check out Tokyocheapo.com for advice on eSIMs, as well as lots of other tips on travelling to Tokyo.
Personally I find installing an eSIM at Haneda (using the airport wifi) easier than carrying a pocket wifi router around, although I’ve used both.
1) 3) How long are you staying? I have used Airalo before, but don’t find them very good. I recommend you purchase Pocket Wifi from one of the companies such as Japan Wireless. They’ll deliver to your hotel directly in advance of arrival and if you let the hotel know they’ll put it in your room.
We’ll be there for 12 days.
The things with Airalo it’s device specific and with pocket wifi you can use it to connect many devices so if there are two of you it will be cheaper than Airalo. You also can’t do hotspots with Airalo in Japan.
The things with Airalo it’s device specific and with pocket wifi you can use it to connect many devices so if there are two of you it will be cheaper than Airalo. You also can’t do hotspots with Airalo in Japan.
I think we both wanted eSIMs as we don’t want to carry around another thing we have to remember to charge and there’s only the two of us so we dont mind buying an eSIM each. If we were a family we might feel differently.
A couple of weeks ago we used NinjaWifi for a WiFi (basically 4g) device. It was so easy, pick up at NRT and drop off at KIX. There’s a postal return option too.
Just needed charging once a day (overnight) and wasn’t a burden at all, very light. I’m pretty sure they do esims too so check them out
The aforementioned TokyoCheapo has a 20% off code for them if you search their site. All very easy and smooth, not that you should expect any else in Japan of course.
My last couple of trips I have used esims from Holafly, they do unlimited data for various lengths of time from 5 days upwards, most recently was last month.
No issues at all on either my Android phone or my wife’s iPhone. Not sure how they compare cost wise but coverage was good. They are actually China mobile Hong Kong esims with roaming to Japan just in case that is a concern.The things with Airalo it’s device specific and with pocket wifi you can use it to connect many devices so if there are two of you it will be cheaper than Airalo. You also can’t do hotspots with Airalo in Japan.
I think we both wanted eSIMs as we don’t want to carry around another thing we have to remember to charge and there’s only the two of us so we dont mind buying an eSIM each. If we were a family we might feel differently.
Obviously you should just use what suits you, but the other benefit many hotspots offer (in addition to being usable on devices such as iPads) is acting as a battery pack. We find that on these sort of trips one uses up much more battery than usual with photographs but also quite a lot of use of Google maps and translate, plus if it’s warmer weather the battery seems to run down quicker. I don’t know if Japan now has the same as China where for a fairly nominal sum you can pick up a charge pack almost anywhere and drop it off elsewhere – a very useful service.
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