Narita to Haneda, concerned about delays

Hi there,

Travelling to japan for the fourth time in a while. I'll be on a BA flight that gets in to Narita at 10:35, and want to get a JAL domestic flight from Haneda at 14:45.

Is this more than enough time to get between the two? The only thing I have to do between this time is exchange my JR pass, which at a push I could probably just do in Okayama later in the same day.

Only reason I'm being extra cautious is because obviously different airlines so there's no obligation to be covered if I miss my connecting flights. I've read through the forum and there seems to be a lot of conflicting advice as to whether the timeframe I've got would be ample time if you take into account delays etc. Any advice greatly appreciated!

So you have to be at Haneda by 13.45 right? You can take the Narita skyaccess that departs Narita airport at 12.04, the train is scheduled to arrive at Haneda at 13.34 (Please check the timetable again on the day of your arrival, as sometimes you may need to change train at a certain station). If you miss this train, then i doubt you will be able to catch your next flight. Thus, forget about exchanging your JR pass at Narita.

This past August I flew into Narita, and it was the busiest I've ever seen the airport, yet I still got through immigration and customs within an hour of landing (but I'm not a tourist, so my line is always a lot shorter through immigration).

If I were you, I would make "Plan A" and "Plan B" and play it by ear when I arrive. Plan A would be, you got through everything really quickly, you've checked your train and there are no delays, great! You've got time to exchange your JR pass before heading to Haneda. Plan B would be you've gotten delayed somewhere in the system, your plane is late, customs was really backed up, your luggage lost etc. Nope, no time to exchange, just head straight for Haneda ASAP. Consider that 12:04 train your must-make time; if you can go earlier, then awesome, but if anything delays you, make sure you're on that one and worry about the pass later. But overall I think the timing is doable as long as there are no extenuating circumstances... and if there are some of those, you might well have more to worry about that missing your Haneda flight anyway!

Immigration and Customs at Narita 2 in our experience have always been superbly efficient and very swift. However, having spent intolerable and abominable amounts of time (2hours+) in lines waiting to exchange JR Passes at Narita 2 on our last 2 trips (arriving 7am ish each time, and barely making it onto a Narita Express until after 11am) my advice would be to get to Haneda as a priority and possibly attempt to exchange it if you have time there (Tokyo Monorail area). Or exchange later as you said at Okayama.
My advice is definitely to prioritise the time to transfer to Haneda....that, after all, is where you need to be within a time frame.

Narita 2 and the disgracefully inefficient JR Pass exchange system is THE only complaint I have about anything to do with being a tourist in Japan, after 6 trips.

Narita 2 and the disgracefully inefficient JR Pass exchange system is THE only complaint I have about anything to do with being a tourist in Japan, after 6 trips.

Tourists with JR Pass vouchers arriving at the Narita 3 mostly come to Narita 2 to exchange their vouchers. This has exacerbated the already inefficient service in this exchange office.
Japan has become so popular, millions come each year, and the Japanese government expects 20 millions in the year 2020, I think JR should open one exchange office in terminal 3 to ease the congestion.

Thank you for all the help in this thread. It looks like I should be fine to take the 14:45 flight as long as I forget about exchanging my JR Pass. In previous years when I've gone I've generally done this anyway, as the queue is normally backed up for miles at Narita so I normally just head in to Tokyo and handle there.

Thanks all!

Only reason I'm being extra cautious is because obviously different airlines so there's no obligation to be covered if I miss my connecting flights.

That doesn't matter; what matters is whether the flights are on the same ticket.

You can check in at Haneda with about 30 minutes for your domestic flight, so you really don't have to be at the counter until 14:15 at the VERY latest. That gives you a bit more time.

Barring any delays, you're fine.