Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific - SYD and AKL wait times for checkin, security, immigration?

Would appreciate advice on how early we need to arrive at airport for international flights departing AKL (9:00) and SYD (15:15) and if the arrival queues are as bad as they are here in the US when a 747 lands. :eek:

In particular the breakdown:

AKL arrival - customs & immigration @ 3pm (express lane for C/F?)

AKL checkin (Quantas - C class)?
AKL security checkpoint queue - a.m.?
Any other checkpoints, i.e. outbound immigration?

SYD arrival - customs & immigration @ 10:30am (express lane for C/F?)

SYD checkin (UA - C class)?
SYD security checkpoint queue - p.m.?
Any other checkpoints?

The AKL website states that "Check-in time is three hours before departure of your flight" for international departures but appears otherwise devoid of info. Elsewhere I see KiwiFlyer has advised 80 min. is sufficient for AKL departures, and that others have cleared security in 15 min at 7am.

Tried a search, didn't see anything in the stickys either (admittedly did not check entire UA mileage run thread).

P.S. If there are some useful generalization it might be useful to add to them to the sticky. :cool:

AKL arrivals is busyish mid afternoon - mostly flights from Australia. No express lane for first/business. The immigration lanes are from quickest to slowest APEC/crew, families, NZ & Australia passport holders, other. Further queues for customs and for quarantine (x-ray). All up should take 15-45 minutes to get landside.

AKL departures early/mid morning are not too bad - a mixture of flights to Australia, pacific islands and Asia. If flying QF business class (or CX/LA or OW emerald or OW sapphire flying QF/CX/LA in economy) then can use QF premium check in facility (which includes dedicated immigration). Pay departure tax by credit card at check in. Then upstairs in the precleared line + security. Should be airside within 20 minutes.

At SYD assuming you are connecting same day and have either no checked luggage or bags already tagged through (show onward ticket at QF check in at AKL) there is no need to clear immigration. Instead go to international transfers, clear security and upstairs to transit desk to check in. You will need to change piers (can do this upstairs or downstairs) since UA uses a different pier than QF. Look for the high numbered gates.

Checked in at 0600 for a 0900 AKL departure. I was way early for my biz class AKL/SYD trip. The entire check-in process took all of 5 minutes (including security etc). :cool:

When you arrive in AKL, if you're staying a couple of days, you may be slightly detained (15 minutes) by officers asking you lots of questions. ;)

At SYD assuming you are connecting same day and have either no checked luggage or bags already tagged through (show onward ticket at QF check in at AKL) there is no need to clear immigration. Instead go to international transfers, clear security and upstairs to transit desk to check in. You will need to change piers (can do this upstairs or downstairs) since UA uses a different pier than QF. Look for the high numbered gates.

Thanks for the fast reply.

I am not connecting at SYD on the return so essentially starting from scratch. The United website (below) says to arrive 3 hours before your flight but that seems excessive, particularly if there are priority lines. Quantas website suggests 2 hours.

From ual.com: For travel out of Sydney, customers should check-in at least 3 hours prior to departure and plan to be at their departing gate 60 minutes prior to departure for additional security processing.

Security line information
Peak times: 7:00am-10:00am, 12:00pm-3:00pm
Peak days: Sunday, Monday, Friday, Saturday
Peak line wait: 30 minutes
Off-peak line wait: 10 minutes

When you arrive in AKL, if you're staying a couple of days, you may be slightly detained (15 minutes) by officers asking you lots of questions. ;)

Thanks. I don't feel I will be in a position to complain given the manner in which we treat non-citizens entering the US. :( I think my most amusing border crossing was back in the late '80s when I took a train from Belgrade to Romania. The Romanians border guards did not speak much english but were obsessed with narcotics and kept asking "cocaine?" "heroin?" etc. They searched my bags but didn't confiscate Ayn Rand or the Economist (both banned) or my carton of Kent cigarettes, which were treated as the equivalent of hard currency in those days. :D

At SYD if you have access to priority check in, and maybe even if not, 2 hours should be okay. There will be a queue at immigration and security though.

I agree two hours will be okay at SYD; it just depends on how long you want to spend in the lounge - and if your choice lounge(s) is open. :)

Unless it is a peak day, immigration and customs shouldn't take too long at 1PM; certainly less time than a major US airport, IMO.

Just checked in at SYD this morning (at approx 10:30AM). Lines were non-existent for UA passengers flying C/F or 1k. Express lane at customs was also completely empty.

The only snag I had was convincing the SQ lounge dragons to let me in (despite the fact that I'm *G). In the end it was a waste of time, the NZ lounge is much nicer.

Time for UA870 in 2J! :) I'm hoping for a good crew.

Just checked in at SYD this morning (at approx 10:30AM). Lines were non-existent for UA passengers flying C/F or 1k. Express lane at customs was also completely empty.

The only snag I had was convincing the SQ lounge dragons to let me in (despite the fact that I'm *G). In the end it was a waste of time, the NZ lounge is much nicer.

Time for UA870 in 2J! :) I'm hoping for a good crew.

NZ is a better lounge choice than SQ, IMO, despite the dragons there.
Were there any tasty treats on offer from NZ? :)