Chuo line (Rapid) to Narita Airport

In October a friend and I will be visiting Tokyo, and we'll be staying at another friend's who lives in the Tama area. Our flight back to Europe departs on a monday at 11.40am, so we'd like to arrive in the airport around 9.30. We're now looking at the best way to get there from our friend's place while carrying one big suitcase and one carry-on each, and here are our options:

- NEX: most convenient because it requires only a transfer in either Shinjuku or Tokyo stations, but also the most expensive and possibly the slowest option.

- low-cost bus from Tokyo station: cheapest and convenient, but we're worried it might get caught in traffic and be late.

- Keisei Skyliner: cheaper and faster than NEX, but we'd have to get from Kanda or Tokyo to Ueno with our luggage, so presumably our time and money savings would go out the window then.

Also, how crowded can we expect the local lines to be on a monday morning between 7am and 8am? And if we end up going with the NEX, is the transfer easier at Shinjuku or Tokyo? I've looked at maps for both stations but didn't feel any more elucidated.

Thanks in advance!

If you travel to NRT on Monday, 13 October 2014, that day will be a national holiday, so you will not encounter a morning railroad rush like ones occurring on weekdays.

And if we end up going with the NEX, is the transfer easier at Shinjuku or Tokyo?

At Shinjuku.
Rapid and Special Rapid trains for Tokyo on JR Chuo Line arrive at Track 7 or 8 in Shinjuku Station. From around the platform�fs south end (i.e. end in the direction of the train) you can go down an escalator to the concourse on the basement. Then you can go up a nearby escalator to the platform for Tracks 5 and 6, which are used by "Narita Express" trains.
- Keio Corporation: Map of Shinjuku Stations
(of Keio, Toei subway, Tokyo Metro subway, Odakyu and JR-East)
http://www.keio.co.jp/train/station/station_map/pdf/ksb01_shinjuku.pdf
: JR-East has Tracks 1 through 16.

In Tokyo Station, Rapid trains on JR Chuo Line arrive at Track 1 or 2 above the ground, while "Narita Express" trains for the airport use Sobu Underground Track 3 or 4 (in one of the two underground annexes); the two platforms are apart both vertically and horizontally.

Your station in NRT depends on the terminal used by your flight. (Narita) Airport Terminal 2 Station of JR / Keisei is the second last station for NRT-bound trains to make a stop at, before arriving to Narita Airport (Terminal 1) Station.

Thank you for the detailed explanation, Omotenashi! I found the Keio map easier to read than the JR ones, so thank you for the link as well.

We depart on the 27th from Terminal 1, so I guess there will be the usual mornign rush on that day. On the 13th we plan to visit Yokohama.

Airport Limousine Service is available from JR Hachioji Station or Keio Hachioji Station daily around 7 a.m. The bus arrives around 9:40 a.m. in Narita Airport.
https://www.limousinebus.co.jp/en/platform_searches/index/1/106
https://www.limousinebus.co.jp/en/platform_searches/index/1/104
The service costs you 3,800 Yen. Pre-booking is recommended.

If you like to go on budget, depart JR Hachioji Station(by Chuo-line) by 5:40 a.m. There is a Chuo-line service departs at 5:50 a.m., the train arrives JR Tokyo Station by 7:00 a.m.(6:55 a.m. actual time), move to JR Tokyo Yaesu Exit bus stop, go to Tokyo Shuttle Bus(900Yen) Stop either 7:20 or 8:00 a.m, or, by Access narita(100 Yen) at 7:36 a.m. The bus arrives at Narita Airport by 8:45 or 9:10 a.m. This is only the way you can avoid rush hours on Monday morning between Hachioji and Tokyo.

The fare of Access Narita is 1,000 Yen. Not 100 Yen.

Thanks for the tips, tokyo friend 48. It didn't occur to me to track back to Hachioji and look up buses departing from there.

In the end it'll be a matter of a few more minutes of sleep that morning vs a few more yen in our pockets :)