Hello all,
I am going to Australia for work this September, and I am very excited! Since this American never even thought she'd make it down under, I'm taking advantage of this by staying in Australia for an additional 2 weeks after we finish work. I am looking at flights to go from Cairns to Melbourne, and one of them has a 7.5 hour layover in Brisbane. I am trying to decide if it's worth it to spend an additional amount of money (for the plane ticket + transit to/from the CBD from the airport), and I have never left an airport during a layover before. As you can imagine, I'm a bit nervous about doing it, even though it seems like 7.5 hours is ample time to pull it off without missing my onward flight to Melbourne. Before I purchase this ticket, I have a few questions about doing this:
- I have no idea how security screenings work in Oz when traveling domestically. In case it makes a difference, I'll be traveling on an American passport with an Australian work visa that's valid for multiple entries until March 2020. In the US, I do have Global Entry (and TSA Precheck which comes with it), not sure if that's helpful in this scenario or not. How much time should I allow to board my flight onward to Melbourne? What time do I need to be back at the airport by (flight to MEL leaves at 8:10PM)?
- I am assuming that my checked luggage will be checked through to my final destination (the whole flight is on one ticket, obviously), but I will have a carry on. Everything I have read online says that they have lockers where I can store my carry on bag - is this still accurate? Also are these lockers manned?
- Regarding transport to the CBD - is the Airtrain my best option? It seems to be the best "bang for my buck", but want to make sure. I did see something about a "courtesy shuttle", but that does not seem to exist anymore - can anyone confirm this? The website I saw this on is quite a few years old!
- What can I realistically see during this layover? I want to make sure it's worth my while to do this before committing (i.e. buying my ticket) to it. I'm open to any suggestions... saw something about "Brisbane Greeters", does anyone know anything about this or done this experience before?
Thank you in advance to anyone who is able to help with these questions!