Oceania (Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific) - How long should a layover be? (SFO-SYD-MEL)

Hello,

I am planning to travel from SFO to MEL, and most flights have a layover in SYD. For example, I found this following flight offered by United:

SFO 10:33 PM Tue, Feb 7, 2012
SYD 08:10 AM Thu, Feb 9, 2012

SYD 09:40 AM Thu, Feb 9, 2012
MEL 11:15 AM Thu, Feb 9, 2012

However, I feel like an hour and a half is not enough time for an international layover. How long should such a layover be?

Thanks!

Where will you be clearing customs, SYD or MEL?

Sorry, I don't much experience in international travel. Since the first flight is from San Francisco to Sydney, wouldn't I have to clear customs at Sydney?

The same UA aircraft operates the SYD-MEL leg. You won't clear customs until MEL. Because it's the same aircraft there is no problem with worrying about layovers.

I looked up the flight and the first one is United 0863 and the second one is United 0839. I thought that the numbers meant that they were different aircrafts.

As they are both UA aircraft, do not be concerned.
UA only have 1 aircraft SYD-MEL-SYD per day, but if 1 incoming is late they will/may put you onto Virgin or Qantas. There is a separate thread on the UA MEL/SYD delays
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/united-mileage-plus-pre-merger/722245-more-syd-mel-related-delays-cancellation-merged-threads.html

Okay, so it seems like I should be safe with selecting this flight. Thanks for the help you guys!

You could try booking onto UA839 the whole way through.

You could also fly to LAX and then fly direct to MEL. if you have to have a "short leg" somewhere, it may be easier to have it in the US. If it was me, I'd rather have the short leg at the start, rather than have to face another flight after a 13 hour long haul flight. Whether the fares SFO-LAX-MEL will work for you is, of course, a different matter....

As they are both UA aircraft, do not be concerned.
UA only have 1 aircraft SYD-MEL-SYD per day, but if 1 incoming is late they will/may put you onto Virgin or Qantas.

If this occurs it will cause the OP to have to go through Customs/Immigration and change of terminal in Sydney, would it not?

You could also fly to LAX and then fly direct to MEL. if you have to have a "short leg" somewhere, it may be easier to have it in the US. If it was me, I'd rather have the short leg at the start, rather than have to face another flight after a 13 hour long haul flight. Whether the fares SFO-LAX-MEL will work for you is, of course, a different matter....

If flying on United, LAX-MEL isn't a direct leg either, it also involves a short stop in SYD even though this is only listed in small print on the ticketing...I just flew that route last month

If flying on United, ....Who flys United? :). I'd take the direct QF A380 out of LAX -- but then I only fly oneworld, so a UA flight is of zero interest. My impression was that the OP was not particularly wedded to any particular airline so a direct LAX-MEL flight might be preferable.

The OP has limited options if trying to fly SFO-MEL. United is the only carrier who flies direct to Australia (and then only SYD) from SFO. The UA flight that continues on to MEL is the LAX-SYD flight whilst the SFO-SYD flight terminates in SYD. MEL passengers are held in the international sterile area and then board the MEL flight from the international area. The same goes for the MEL-SYD return.

The other alternative is to fly one of the Asian carriers out of SFO and then onto MEL. CX is a possibility.

I would not recommending a transit through to any QF flight through LAX as it can be more than challenging especially as there is often a change in terminal, especially if one wants to get the A380.

If you flights are on the same ticket then the airline will have a minimum connection time built in to the reservation so the time difference between the flights will be fine. If you are on the United flight from SYD to MEL then you will go through immigration and customs in MEL. If you are on any other flight, including a UA codeshare with another airline, then you will have to do them in SYD and transit through to the domestic terminal for your onward flight.

If your looking for another *A option other than United. You can fly NZ SFO-AKL-MEL.

Example would be

SFO-AKL
Flight: NZ7
Aircraft: 777-200er or 747-400
Flight time: 13hours
connecting to
AKL-MEL
Flight: NZ123
Aircraft:777-300er
Flight time: 4hours

It does take 2hours more than the UA option. Due to the approximate 3hour layover in AKL.

If your planning to fly Y this is a much more comfortable option than UA. You will also get full in-seat AVOD on NZ, unlike UA's main screen IFE on this route.