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May 11-12, 2023 - Day 1: Travel to Tokyo

Left home just after 5am to drive to LAX.  Average traffic and no significant delays for parking.  The shuttle was a tad slow but not bad.  Checked in at DeltaOne and then through TSA pre-check.  Went to the Delta Sky Club for a couple hours waiting to board.  No delays in boarding and pushed back a few minutes late.  The flight arrived in Tokyo on time and we went through immigration and customs.  Bought a bus ticket and had a little wait for our ride.   Checked into the Hilton and unpacked.  Stopped by the executive lounge for a bite to eat and something to drink then called it an early evening after traveling.

Thoughts & Observations
  • Today was a long travel day. Waking up at 4:30am Los Angeles Time and leaving the house just after 5am (9pm Tokyo Time) for our 10am flight.. Total flight time was just over 11.5 hours and after customs and a bus ride to the hotel we had a total travel time from leaving the house until in the hotel room of just over 20 hours.
  • The LAX Economy Parking experience was smooth again. The bus was a little slow coming so it was full and some people had to wait for a second one which pulled in right behind.
  • We flew DeltaOne, their Business Class today. That meant access to the DeltaOne check in area and Sky Club. The DeltaOne check in is at the far end of terminal 3. A representative is out front to greet you and you are shown in to a small reception area and a ticket counter. When we checked in there were no other guests so there were four people to check the three of us in. There were snacks and drinks in the waiting area too.
  • The TSA process is the same, we have pre-check so it was relatively quick.
  • The Sky Club access meant you get priority access, a separate line and they held the regular line (which was only two or three groups when we entered).
  • The Sky Club was filling up when we were there. The offerings were the same as the previous visit.
  • The boarding process was smooth for us and since they were using the 2nd door it was very quiet. This was my first time on an A330. We had what Delta calls their suites. The seat was comfortable but the plane felt a tad cramped. The overhead bin and ceiling seemed low compared to my memory of a 777. The business class area consisted of 8 rows, 32 seats. There were two restrooms. There were four flight attendants in the section most of the time.
  • The food was nothing I cared for. I really wish you could customize the order more or they had a more plain/separate option available. I did enjoy the ice cream dessert and the snacks included full size Dove candy bars which were nice. I did find it odd that the pre-arrival meal was breakfast when we were landing at 2:00pm local time.
  • Thanks to my T-Mobile subscription we were able to use the Wi-Fi on the plane for free. Normal price was almost $30. It still bugs me you pay thousands of dollars for a business class seat and they won't include wi-fi. The service was spotty and very slow. If I paid $30 I would have been upset.
  • As we were landing I took a look at the other flights and there were a half dozen international landing at the time. So the terminal was busy. Immigration had a very large queue set up and a large number of stations open so it kept moving but we had to walk quite a ways. We opted for the digital QR code and the process went very smoothly with our screen shot code. I did not want to risk doing it live and relying on wifi or cell service.
  • The customs process was also very smooth. We had pre-registered and had a QR code for that so while waiting for our bags to show up we went to a kiosk and scanned that. So after we picked up the bags we were able to just walk out through a designated lane with no delays.
  • Bought our bus ticket to the hotel with no problem and had plenty of time to spare before the next one. We were going to buy Sucia cards but the lines were long, the ticket counter was posted at over 60 minutes and even the kiosks were backed up. So we skipped it and will purchase tomorrow.
  • Two of our Three Cell Phones picked up a network and were working normally. One decided it did not want to work and will need to do some troubleshooting with T-Mobile to figure that out. Wi-Fi still works on it so that is better than nothing.
  • The bus ride to the Hilton Tokyo Bay was uneventful. The bus did stop at the Toy Story Hotel so I was able to see a little of its grounds which was interesting. Only guests are permitted on the hotel grounds so you cannot go visit like you can other hotels.
  • The check in at the Hilton was efficient thanks to no line. The room is an average hotel room but with a great park view on the 11th floor. They classified it as an executive select with club access. The price per night was around $270.
  • We stopped by the executive lounge to see the evening offerings and there was enough there to snack on that we opted not to venture out any more this evening and instead unpacked and relaxed in the room.


Pedometer Stats
Miles 1.57
Steps 3,363
Minutes Walking 37
 

Pictures
Day1 Travel to Japan & First Look Around

The long travel day from Los Angeles to Tokyo plus my first look around my room at the Hilton and view of Tokyo Disney Resort.
Related Links From This Trip

2023 Tokyo Disney Trip Summary

Links from today:

 

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