kpc

Hi Guys,

Recently I flew out of T1 @ Syd and went through immigration and security via the T1 Departure Gates 8 to 37 - B pier. It was like a zoo (1500 passengers passing through that hour, I was told) and took me nearly an hour to get through ...so no time to get to the QP . It got me thinking...can I go through immigration and security via T1 Departure Gates 50 to 63 - C pier, assuming it is quieter, and then walk over to B pier as the maps above seem to indicate without any security questions / concerns by the airport staff?

Thanks for your input!

KoalaGuy

I supposed you can do so. A friend of mine has once gone thru security and immigration in Pier B so to see her parents off to HKG on a CX flight before she walked over to Pier C to join her SQ flight to SIN.

In terms of the line at the immigration, I think SYD has a lot of things to learn from HKG. At least the immigration should do something to move some of the line over to other pier when one pier is very crowd. I once lined up for an hour at the immigration to get on a flight of 3 hrs to AKL.

Alan in CBR

If I have time I'll give it a try next week when I pass through SYD.

I can't see it being a problem.

AllyB

Excellent - please report back on your findings! The last time I flew out (about 2 weeks ago) the queue was as described above (I'm sure brought on by the fact that although the queue snaked out to the food court area they only had 4 desks working.... ). I would love to find another way through - or have them introduce 'fast track'! Once I was in the queue and the people in front of me were on a flight leaving from the other wing and the Official sent them back airside to get processed in the other wing. So, I would love to know if that is a rule or if you can get through. Thanks.

serfty

There is a walkway at the departures level enabling access between Piers C <-> B. I have had no trouble at all in using this; If queried, show your BP for gate 10 or whatever.

Head through C immigration and X-ray;the walkway is on the left between the Tourist Refund Scheme booth and a Nike [?] shop. It appears as a hallway with a sign for departure gates 8 & 37 or Pier B. Follow this and you will walk between the piers with windows on the right. You will need to turn right at the other end and go past gates 20 & 22. You come out between the pier 'B' duty free Zoo and a beach wear/gear shop. (Actually it's not a bad idea to avoid this zoo anyway).

infoworks

Short answer is yes, just allow 5 minutes for the walk. There is a pretty good chance that if one is busy, so is the other, and C has even less staff than A/B.

Have you noticed that all immigration around the world is like the bank - 20 tellers boxes - 3 tellers! Think about the expectations they create - I have never seen every immigration station manned, so why not just put in less boxes, keep them filled and at least give the impression they care about getting us through!!!

GoldFlyer

Great idea and Max could turn the extra space into more shops with shelves of consumables sticking out for us to snag our bags on. Or perhaps they could put coffee carts and other such there to help us enjoy the wait.

infoworks

I can just see it now...thank you for lining up at immigration for an interminable amount of time, you get an extra stamp (I don't get them anymore-haven't for years) when you spend $100+ on women's lingerie, like the ones we men are modelling!!!

And then, after you pass immigration (or before on the way in) you MUST run the gauntlet of shelves...

BTW I heard that DFS sales have gone down since they ambushed departures and arrivals, people don't "see" or look for the shop so much any more. Not sure of the fact of it, but doesn't sound that surprising.

Now wouldn't that be good, one card to shop, immigrate/emmigrate, implanted chip, big brother...

AllyB

You can escape in departures - there is a staircase just to the right when you come out of security, I think the walls are painted orange, they lead you right up to the Qantas Club mezzanie so you can bypass all of Max's/Macquarie's shopping emporium!

At arrivals, though, has anyone else noticed that if you make a duty free purchase you get shuffled into a separate (and perhaps shorter) immigration queue? I never buy anything there but as I waited 30 mins in the immigration queue 2 weeks ago ( ) I noticed this separate, roped off line. Not sure if my assessment was correct - anyone know if this is the case?

infoworks

I have seen the stairs, never taken them...so thanks for the tip!

I was not aware of separate immigration for duty free purchasers in SYD...immigration in the past has been very resistant to any "special" lanes, even removing the priority ones they set up years ago. But I guess if they can make money out of it - yes immigration like all government "businesses" is trying to be a profit centre -

A little bit OT, but in AKL, that is a good trick...buy inbound duty free (I usually take a bottle in for a fried anyway) and they have their dedicated lanes...who do usually check that you have purchase...and zip past the loooong lines downstairs. The escalator even takes you closer to the way out (great with no checked luggage).

In KUL they also have the "blue lane" for premium passengers through immigration - if only they'd police it properly!

Kiwi Flyer

Thats out of date. Last year the duty free lanes were removed and replaced with additional lanes upstairs for Australia and NZ (there's still lanes downstairs as well). Sometimes quicker going downstairs as everyone goes for the first queue they see (ie upstairs). Also upstairs is not always manned.

serfty

That has now changed; those counters seemed to closed during the first few months of this year and have since reopened for NZ/OZ arriving PAX only; no D/F purchase necessary. Arriving at 1am in May this year I noticed there were more PAX in those queues than the normal ones downstairs.

*Confirming as per Kiwi Flyer's post.

infoworks

Thanks Kiwi...I hadn't realised it's been that long since I was in AKL! The other alternative for me as well is the APEC lane.

Alan in CBR

Here's what happened.

I got off the bus at the international terminal, and looking into the immigration area it looked like it would be a very long wait. This meant there were ideal conditions to test the Pier C trick.

Walked down to Pier C immigration and there was no wait at all. Immigration officer was halfway through processing me when he noticed the flight details. He said, "I think you'll find that your flight leaves from the other pier" and he started to hand my paperwork back to me. Rather than explaining that I was testing the system so that a bunch of frequent flyers could save time, I just said that I was meeting someone in the Singapore lounge. He said, "Oh, OK" and finished processing me.

So it can be done, but it seems they prefer you to use the "right" entry. Don't really see why they care - the airside transfer is quick and easy, and it's not as if you need to pass through extra security or anything that would take up more resources.

Can't be very common though. The women in the Duty Free shop were confused by the Qantas boarding pass, and one asked where QF 11 went.

I would certainly do it again if the Pier B immigration lines were long. Mind you, it was an odd experience being all alone in the middle of a hectic Sydney airport as I walked back along the corridor to Pier B - not another soul in sight.

P.S. Thanks for the op up Qantas. Those Skybeds are great.

kpc

Great news ^ ^ So my theory actually works Will use it more in the future as Pier B is where all the QF flights leave from and seems always to be the busier of the two!!