Osaka to Kansai International (KIX)

Hi,

My return flight from Japan will be leaving at 11:45 on the 6th July from KIX. I've never been to this airport, and will be staying in Osaka (Yodogawa) at this point in my trip so I was looking for some advice on the best way to get from Osaka to KIX for that flight.

It looks like I have basically two options:

1) Kansai-Airport Limousine Bus (from near Umeda station).
2) Nankai Limited Express train (from Nambda station).

Are either of those preferred over the other, and are pre-booked/reserved tickets required or recommended in order to guarantee I can make the trip when I need to?

I will say that in the UK I'd never trust public transport on such a tight deadline, and am in fact travelling to London the night before my 15:45 flight as I simply don't trust the trains to get me there without delay on the Sunday. I do have more faith in the Japanese public transport though, given its reputation.

An alternative plan would be to do something similar here, and travel to a hotel nearer the airport the night before, so that my morning trip is relatively short. I'm not sure whether that would be overkill though?

Thanks!

It sounds like you have plenty of time you�fd need to be at the airport probably around 9:45, so you don�ft even need to get up super early plus you have at least two modes of transport.

I personally would prefer the train, as I dislike buses, I find it harder to find their stops, they tend to be less frequent ,slower and exposed to road conditions.

Now if you are super nervous about it, and know you�fd not be able to relax the night before, I�fd consider the option of getting a hotel at Kansai airport and head there the evening before. You can sleep 1-2 more hours. You�fd not be doing anything in Osaka that morning anyway. But you obviously add one more hotel change to your itinerary.

Lately when flying back from Narita to EU, I have started to stay in a hotel there, which simply gives me those 2 h extra of sleep!

But from a transport perspective Japanese railways are the definition of reliable. BUT there are certain exceptions:
- natural catastrophes: eg the mega typhoon that destroyed the bridge (partially) and flooded KIX (also partially) 2 yrs ago. (That added one more week in Japan all paid by KLM to my Japan trip back then :-)
- suicides on the railway track. Unpredictable. Relatively quick to �gresolve �g but can stop a given train line between point A and B for a few hours. In such a case it is obviously great that you actually have at least one alternative option (there are other alternatives as well be train, that are slower)

Enjoy your trip to Japan!

My return flight from Japan will be leaving at 11:45 on the 6th July from KIX. I've never been to this airport, and will be staying in Osaka (Yodogawa) at this point in my trip so I was looking for some advice on the best way to get from Osaka to KIX for that flight.

Sixth July is Saturday so you don't need to worry about the morning rush of trains. As far as I know many airlines set the check in time 60 min before departure at KIX, so you need to go there at 10:45. You might better take 1 hour margin, so you might better be there at 9:45, as LikeBike wrote. You are staying at Yodogawa which includes Shin-Osaka and Juso. I am not sure where you will be staying, but if you will stay near Shin-Osaka, the obvious winner will be Haruka limited express by JR. It's a direct train so you don't need to transfer.

https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2359_icoca_haruka.html

If you are staying close to Hankyu line station, it will take you to Umeda, but not to Namba. So if you want take Nankai line you need to transfer at Umeda to take subway and then to Nankai at Namba. From Umeda Tthere is direct bus and direct JR train.

Bus 1550 yen, 50 min

http://www.kate.co.jp/en/timetable/detail/UM

JR 1190 yen, 65-70 min

http://www.hyperdia.com/en/cgi/en/search.html?dep_node=OSAKA&arv_node=...

In this case I would prefer the limousine bus since the seat is secured and it has luggage storage. In any case you don't need to reserve for train or bus.

Thanks for the info, that's given me some useful alternatives that Google Maps wasn't showing me.

I'm staying at Plaza Osaka, so Juso would be my nearest station, but getting to Shin-Osaka from there isn't difficult and looks like it would give me the option of using either the Haruka or Nankai-Limited Express, plus a few other local options.

I'm guessing from that page you linked to that the Icoca & Haruka discount is only available to people who actually have a Icoca card (rather than any compatible IC card)? I'll be using my Suica card, and it looks like buying an Icoca card just for that trip would negate any potential discount.

Actually it's a little confusing since purchase of the ICOCA Card is not required and it says already having one negates that requirement and doesn't say anything about if you have a different IC card like a Suica

https://www.westjr.co.jp/global/en/ticket/icoca-haruka/

Since it's not going to sell out, I would perhaps take the time to ask someplace like Shin-Osaka at the ticket window in advance.

I guess technically you could get a Icoca card and completely empty it and then just turn it in when you leave so that you get your 500 yen deposit back. I admit, I got multiple Suicas when JR East had a similar offer because they didn't offer a discounted NEX ticket without a Suica and I figured I could just run down the card and get my deposit back.

I didn't think Nankai went to Shin-Osaka. I'm pretty sure you would need to take the subway to Namba and change there.

Good luck!

Yeah, I'm guessing it's similar to the old "Suica & NEX" package that you used to get for the Narita Express (my Suica card is actually one of those from 2012).

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that I could get straight on the Nankai from Shin-Osaka, but rather that it would be an option (via Namba) should the Haruka not work out for whatever reason (though if I knew I was taking the Nankai, then going to Namba straight from Juso would be a bit faster). I would also have the option of using the slower Osaka Loop Line if all else failed.

I'm staying at Plaza Osaka, so Juso would be my nearest station, but getting to Shin-Osaka from there isn't difficult

Well, I don't think so. While Plaza Osaka to Juso (Hankyu line) is walkable 600 m but to Shin-Osaka it is about 3 km away. You can go with Hankyu and subway but it still take about 10 min from Juso, and transfer at Minamikawa/Nishinakajima-Minamikata is somewhat difficult.

If you want to take Nansai line, take Hankyu line from Juso to Awaji and then transfer to Hankyu Senri Line/Subway Sakaisuji Line to Tengachaya and then transfer to Nansai Main Line to KIX. But from Plaza Osaka I would recommend you to go to Umeda/Osaka and then take limousine bus or JR rapid service (without additional seat fee). As I have mentioned, I would prefer limousine bus for this section. If you take JR train, note that not all train will go to KIX: most trains are on the loop of Osaka so if you take wrong train you will come back to Osaka station.