Kathrynb25

Hello all,
I'm after a little guidance on connections with Qantas flights please..

My husband and I are travelling from LHR to SYD (vid DXB) landing at 7am 25th Dec this year. I booked via the flight centre in UK.
We were hoping to get on the 8.30am Qantas flight to Coffs Harbour and have contacted Qantas regarding luggage transfers and had a slightly confusing conversation with a customer service rep.

Essentially, Qantas are now saying that as we are buying the flights as separate tickets (the SYD>CFS were half the price on Qantas online so we planned to buy separately) we would have to collect our baggage and check it in ourselves.

Now I'm pretty certain this is near impossible to do in 1.5hrs, and would hate the stress of risking it on Christmas day after a long flight!
Does anyone know a way around this? It seems odd that Qantas couldn't transfer our luggage simply due to the fact tickets weren't purchased together?!
Thanks in advance for your help, and happy flying! Kat

thadocta

Firstly, flying LHR-SYD-CFS you will have to collect your bags anyway, to go through Australian Immigration, Customs and Quarantine processes. So, if even on the one booking, your bags will end up in SYD, you will need to reclaim them, go through the rigamarole, and then drop them off again, so no difference between one booking or separate bookings.

I think that 1.5 hours is too tight for this connection, even on a low traffic day like Xmas day, by the time you go through Immigration, then Customs, then Quarantine, then check in your bags for the domestic flight, then get across to T3, I think you will seriously be pushing it.

I note the next flight is at 1535., getting you up to Coffs at 1650.

Have you considered the train? The Grafton XPT will leave SYD at 1135, will get you into CFS around 2030, you will get to see a huge swag of the Australian countryside, you'll have adequate time in Sydney, and the train will only cost you around $90 or so.

Dave

Dave Noble

Looking at the schedule for 25 Dec, QF2 seems due to arrive at 06:30 , giving a 2 hour connection time. The 08:30 flight would be a valid connection on a through ticket

With separate tickets, if you miss the onward flight, Qantas is under no obligation to assist and you may have to just purchase new tickets for a later flight

Virgin Australia has a flight at 10:40 which would seem a reasonably safe bet ( $229 one way on a saver ticket or $329 on a flexi )

Regardless of what flight you take and whether it is a through booking or 2 separate bookings, you will need to clear immigrattion, collect luggage and clear customs/quarantine on arrival into Sydney.

I would look at how much you save with separate tickets over the benefits that a through purchase would give , especially if this is a return trip and you are connecting on the way back to UK

Daxiuyi

Welcome to FT.

Another thing to remember is that at SYD, the international and domestic terminals are completely separate buildings, meaning you need to catch a 10-15 minute shuttle bus/train/taxi between the two.

I agree with the earlier posts; if you really need to book separate tickets, build plenty of buffer to allow for the unexpected. You're on your own if you don't make your next flights...

Exec_Plat

OP- As stated above, the issue isnt the 'checked through bags', it is too tight a connection for everything required at SYD.

I would book VA1163 at 10:40AM. Saver fare is only $119 when I looked now.

littlegreenman

Personal experience in 2013 flying LHR-SYD-ADL with SYD-ADL on a completely separate booking.

At checkin in LHR they checked our bags through to ADL and we got the SYD-ADL boarding passed as per usual. We left LHR two hours late due to the air crew being stuck in a traffic jam on the orbital. We arrived 1.5 hours late in Sydney and only had 45 mins to make our connection. Needless to say we didn't. Once we were through customs we went to the transfer desk straight away hoping to to drop off our bags and get a quick lift to the domestic terminal. They told us immediately we wouldn't make the connection and moved us onto the next flight. To make up for it they put us in J. This was despite the booking being on a separate ticket.

I had something similar a couple of weeks ago when work required me to be in Sydney. So following LAX-BNE I added a separate booking BNE-SYD. Flight arrived late and there was no gate for a while... I missed my connection. They put me on the next flight leaving an hour later without complaint.

I'm not saying this is the norm but certainly my experience.

madrooster

Generally QF will move you to a later flight on separate bookings if you're connecting between QF metal and it was a QF delay. It's uncommon for them to deny you this.