Omba

A quick question, arriving on BA15 at SYD at around 06.50.....what would be a reasonable time to book a connection to MEL on QF? I see that recently the worst case delay on arrival is around an hour, what is the average immigration and transfer time like?

Many thanks

pennineuk

mjuler

My experience is now a few years old, but we were flying QF to QF, arriving in from Hong Kong and then also connecting on to MEL. The HKG flight was due in a similar sort of time, just before 7am local and it must of taken us at least an hour to clear immigration, potentially the number of non-English speaking passengers on the flight slowed things down as I recall we seemed to spend a lot less time at the booth than many other people (we were right at the back of the QF 747, in the economy pairs, so last off). It was then a case of taking luggage to the domestic re-check (same building as international arrivals) and bus over to the domestic terminal.

I know we were re-booked onto the next flight, potentially the one after. If the flight times are the same as today, we were probably booked on the 9am SYD to MEL, but ended up on the 10am. Since one booking we were protected.

wb1969

Give yourself a minimum of 2 hours. Whilst the e-gates are quick, it can take some time to get through the luggage screening. Also, factor in delays to your inbound flight.

pythonisman

Worth noting the terminals aren't connected - you have to catch the "T-Bus" to connect between them. The terminals aren't *far* away, but you depending on day of arrival that part of Sydney can be quite congested. They're "regular" (as opposed to timetabled) and the trip time should only be about 15 minutes, but I'd allow 30 for that at least to be stress free.

Agree with wb1969 that 2hrs is a reasonable minimum connect time. The flights to MEL are very frequent in the morning so you should be able to adjust your buffer to your liking, and the QF domestic J lounge isn't bad if you do end up with a half hour to kill.

Globaliser

Not if your onward flight is on QF.

Exit from customs, turn right, walk all the way to the far end of the terminal and follow the signs for the QF transfer facility. Drop your bags, collect onward boarding pass if necessary, clear security, board airside transfer bus, which deposits you into the airside departures area of T3.

My record is coming off a QF flight from NZ: from arrival (parking at the gate) to entering T3 was about 25 minutes, including collecting and dropping a checked bag and having a BP printed because the onward domestic flight was on a separate booking. But this is exceptional; from BA15 I think I would be leaving three hours between flights.

pythonisman

Good to know that QF do that in SYD, maybe I've got my wires crossed with Brisvegas!

Apologies OP for the misinfo.

LTN Phobia

Separate tickets or single ticket?

Single ticket: I'd take just under 2 hours if in CW or above. Maybe add another 15 min if in WT+ or WT (takes longer to get off the aircraft).
Separate ticket: 3 hours unless on a flexible ticket.

My last arrival off BA15 at SYD and then transferring to the domestic terminal took around 75 minutes from aircraft door open to arriving at the domestic terminal. Most of this time was taken up by the slow checked baggage (often a major component in this process off BA15). The customs and quarantine queue wasn't too bad.

If you book a red e-deal or other non-flex ticket, note that change on the day may not be permitted at all and you might need to buy a new ticket. Check the fare conditions before booking.

Flex and Business should give you more flexibility, in many cases free of change fees (and obviously, in the case of full fare, you won't have any fare difference either). These are my choice when arriving on BA15 and then catching a QF domestic flight on a separate ticket.

Note that on separate tickets, they are unlikely to accept your bags until 5 hours before the flight, so don't leave yourself a huge gap, thinking you can just drop the bags off and wait in the lounge. (No such issue with a single ticket, usually... But we're talking about QF SYD, it can be a moving target!)

jerub

Based on personal experience here: if you're on the same booking, then I recommend you get the absolute tightest connection you can, and depend on Qantas to rebook you if your inbound flight is late.

Qantas run so many flights between Brisbane Sydney and Melbourne, they will just rebook you on the next one.

​​​​​By booking as tight a connection as possible you minimise the time you spend in Sydney airport and if BA15 is late: you can approach the connections desk (prior to security for the transfer to domestic) and they will rebook you and give you your new boarding passes.

Omba

Mwenenzi

At ~07:00 SYD international is extremely busy with many wide body long haul aircraft arriving.
UK or other passport that is eligible for smartgate?
Checked baggage?
Tolerance for risk?
As above 3hrs would be safe on separate tickets. 2hrs far less safe.
SYD-MEL has a wheels up/down flying time of about 60~70 minutes.

• Airport info SYDNEY (SYD) - amenities, transfers, transport Click to open the wiki
  
• Airport info MELBOURNE (MEL) - amenities, transfers, transport Click to open the wiki
  
• Smartgate at Australia & NZ immigration Click to open the wiki

konagirl2

Immigration can be pretty quick through the egates, presuming you can use them. It's luggage that can take a while. If you are not aiming to take anything declarable in, customs in my experience is generally 5 minute queue to hand in your customs declaration. Then 5 minute walk to domestic connection ("seamless transfer") desks where you need to get to at least 45 minutes before your flight. I have seen a 5-15 minute queue for check in quite often there (then quick security and bus straight to domestic gates). The benefit of a true connection is you can use bag drop rather than check in. I am risk averse and wouldn't want to pay a walk up fare unless you really must get to MEL as soon as possible. I would book 3 hours and enjoy a shower and coffee in the domestic lounge. With 2 hours and luggage you would be unlikely to have time for a shower and no leeway for delays to the incoming flight. Note you can't book 2 flights on the same day with QF to hedge your bets, they'll cancel them.

dsf

This thread is making me feel confident I did the right thing for my own upcoming DOH-SYD-OOL transit (on separate tickets). I land at 0640 and opted for the 1115, rather than the 0945. The earlier one would likely have been safe but I didn't feel like taking a chance. I despise the early morning rush hour at SYD and have avoided it for the last 4 years!

LTN Phobia

Later one but less than 5 hours in that case, since you will lose the ticket if you don't get to the flight, assuming you have bags.

Without bags, I'd choose 2.5 hours or 8+ hours (the latter is for going into town and back).

The domestic business lounge isn't too bad (expect it to be very noisy though, with flights being announced* and very noisy mobile phone talkers and even worse, very noisy walker-talkers).

*I can't believe they still do that, it's a real nuisance and drive me crazy but your tolerance may be much better

BrianDromey