Looking to jumpseat into Narita in late March/early April on a personal visit.

Couple of questions for those with Pacific experience...

How easy should I expect this to be?

Any easier out of MEM vs IND vs LAX?

Will I most likely need to go thru ANC?

Any special requirements in scheduling an international jumpseat?

Any requirements/tricks in navigating Narita from the FDX cargo facility....or clearing Japanese immigration at Narita as a FDX jumpseater on a personal status?

Any gotchas in getting out of Narita headed back home?

Any/all advice is greatly appreciated.

Arigato Gozaimasu,

DLax

Depending on where you live, we operate a trip that goes SFO-NRT. It'll have an RFO on it but there should be no problem unless the captain decides to be a pain about it. There are a lot of motels around the airport and the cab ride to our ramp should be fairly cheap.

If you get a sleeper model bring a sleeping bag. 14 hours on the floor sucks.

It might be best to go through ANC. Most Int'l flights with an RFO can get crowded in the back (crewmember sleeping). Out of ANC, no RFO. As for getting to NRT, once you land, the FedEx Rampers bring the crew and jumpseaters over to the terminal for customs & imm. out the door you go to a cab or the train station. Depending were you live, you might also want to look at NWA.

Any idea on how it works clearing customs & immigration on the outbound flight?

Just do the reverse? --- i.e.Check in with FDX rampers first, who then take me to customs & immigration again, before boarding the jet...???

Domo

If you are taking the Fedex flight back, just meet up with the crew and ramp agent in the terminal, and they will walk you through it.

I often jumpseat to Japan to visit my inlaws. Very simple but I have a few suggestions: Firstly, email the ramp in NRT in regards to your inbound and outbound flight. 2ndly, let the crew know you are jumpseating for personal travel rather deadheading--a capt got worried that I wasn't on the gen dec. 3rdly, if you are taking the shinkansen (bullet) trains, you can get a pass for a very discounted rate--do a search for JR trains in japan for the link.
Immigration is a breeze both inbound and outbound--all you need is your ID but a printout of your jumpseat confirmation would be a good idea too.
The ramp is well versed with us who travel over there!
Ganbattekudasai!

POTW - Domo summimasen!

Couple of other questions for you....

Have you tried jumpseating on other carriers (i.e. pax) besides FDX?

If so, logistically easier or more difficult --- which would you recommned?

Also, I live on the east coast --- getting to MEM or IND is easy for me with A300s to both twice a day, which domiciles have you found it easiest to get to NRT --- MEM, LAX, ANC?

Finally, are the JR passes they sell in the US still good for "1 week" only?

I had guests who visited me in Japan in the late 80s purchase those before they arrived, but they only seemed like a "good deal" if you were in fact taking the Shinkansen somewhere --- if you were riding mostly local trains during your visit it still seemed cheaper to purchase tickets a la carte.

Thanks,

DLax

Am reviewing the ANC-NRT flights....many show MD-11 (with the numerous jumpseat configurations), others show SC7 w/out any ability to look at the jumpseat configurations.

OK, I'll ask --- what the heck is a SC7?

Is it possible to reserve a jumpseat on the SC7 flights?

Thanks,

International Jumpseat Novice

Just a guess, but I wonder if the SC-7 is an MD-11 with the sleeper in the back (so no j/s in the back). I would call jumpseats and ask if that's the case? Then I would ask them if you can get a cockpit j/s with capt's permission? If yes, email the capt and ask nicely. My suspicion is that most guys will take you (and maybe let you sleep in the bunk also)