Originally Posted by
findark
It's extremely smooth and I've never understood the hysteria about I/D connections at SYD - probably just caused by the "oh no, it's a different airport (basically)". QF and VA (don't know about JQ) have recheck desks as you exit customs landside at SYD international and then they put you on a bus straight to the domestic terminal.
Virgin Australia currently does NOT have a recheck desk or a bus. You have to catch the airport run "T-Bus" between terminals, which involved loading your luggage onto/off the bus yourself at either end. When I was there a few weeks ago it took around 40 minutes from arriving at the T-Bus stop to walking into the domestic terminal. There is also a train between terminals which is generally more convenient than the T-bus, but you have to pay to use it!
Qantas does have something running between terminals, but it's not their normal service but instead a land-side bus that runs every 15 minutes and takes 20 minutes to get between terminals (based on their website).
Jetstar has never had anything between terminals, so you also need to take the T-Bus. In most cases, this includes for domestic->international transfers as they don't check through luggage from domestic to most international flights.
The only good news here is that the T-bus is now free. Until a few years ago there was NO free transport between terminals unless you were eligible to use one of the airline bus transfer services.
Originally Posted by
findark
MCT is 2h00 to VA and 1h30 to QF (from UA) and I would be comfortable with that, doubly so if connecting to SYD-MEL in the morning which is more of a train service in terms of frequency
A few weeks ago it took me just under 2 hours from arrival (on UA) to being landside at the domestic terminal for a VA flight. That includes being at the front of the plane, having SmartGate access (not everyone does at the moment and the immigration line was long), having a priority-tagged bag to collect, and then catching the T-Bus. Without a bag it would have been faster (both on the international end but also in the domestic terminal where it took ~20 mins in line to drop the bag), but if I'd had a 2 hour connection I probably wouldn't have made it.