NoTiersForMe

I am in the highly unusual position of having an immediate onward connection from a BA flight instead of leaving an airport at the end of my BA flight. In this case LHR-SYD-CHC. Two separate tickets, the later on QF. I have read here on other threads it is not BA’s policy to interline bags through to final destination [CHC]. So…

1. At SYD when I collect bags do I also need to clear immigration or is there a QF check service airside. Amazingly this info not on Qantas or Sydney airport sites. Which leads me to assume I need to clear immigration.

2. We are UK and Irish citizens who will have an E-visa to enter NZ but I am assuming I am going to need some sort of Australia visa to placate BA at LHR? I do learn from Australia immigration sites that if you need clear immigration because of a claiming a checked bag then transit visa needed. Otherwise, based on citizenship above, no Australian visa would be needed. My question here is what makes BA at LHR happy? Does an onward ticket with an NZ E-visa do the job?

I’m sure a lot of you have done onward SYD to NZ travel from BA15 and so I ask these questions here. Many thanks.

NTFM

FlightDetective

Since BA will not check you through, you will need to clear Australian immigration and customs at SYD and enter the country to collect your bags. The baggage claim area is after Passport control and before customs. Once through, you will need to go to international check-in and back through Passport control and security screening.

As I have an Australian and an Irish Passport, I don't need to worry about getting Australia's Electronic Travel Authorisation. However, since you are entering the country, you are going to either have to get a transit version of this or just apply for the full one, as you'll be entering Australia. Though that is a pure guess as I've never researched it and didn't know a transit version existed, or if there are rules there, but I do believe you will need one.

ceej123

As far as I know:

1) Yes you will need to clear immigration at SYD and then re check your bags in upstairs.

2) You will need an Aus e visa as well as the NZ one otherwise BA likely won’t let you board at LHR. It doesn’t take long or cost anything and I believe they have a transit option as well.

CHCflyer

The Australian E-visa is relatively painless to apply for as a UK passport holder though, and can be approved within hours (as is my case on a regular basis). Mine lasts two years and will cover you for the return, as you will have to do the reverse if flying back on the same itinerary if NZ do not through-check the bags. Their app (worth downloading - Australian ETA) provides all of the details of your visa. Please be aware there are loads of scam websites offering visa services - only use the official site will show the status of your visa and you can flash this at staff at check-in.
You will be landing during the peak of arrivals into SYD and the queues especially through customs can be daunting but they do seem to move things quite quickly. You can use the e-gates for passport arrivals processing which is pretty painless - make sure you have the car park-like ticket from the machines placed ahead of the e-gates before you approach the e-gates. You will need to go upstairs for check in where Air NZ have a fixed area for check in because of the number of flights they operate. Departing may present queues for you too as those inbound flights will be filling the terminal with departing passengers. The express path should be printed on your NZ boarding pass to permit a faster track departure.
And welcome to my home airport!

DXB2745

I applied for the Australian visitor visa in November and it was approved within three minutes. It really is effortless to apply for and obtain online and free of charge also.

Mwenenzi

OP is flying QF SYD CHC.
At times is confusion between NZ the airline and NZ the country,

As NoTiersForMe is on separate tickets all the risk is NoTiersForMe. AU immigration-customs-biosecurity at that time can be quick or slow. BA15 is one of the first arrivals after the night curfew.

AU arriving process is

• immigration - self service kiosk for many passport holders.
• collect bags
• customs & biosecuity (can be slow)
• enter Australia

Both AU & NZ are very hard on food and plant material. If in doubt declare. If caught with undeclared food - plant material can be a fine,

OP has not stated how many hours between flights. At that time in the morning 3:00hs often mentioned as minimum. Leaving AU for NZ the OP will need to check-in/doc check/bag drop with QF, AU emigration controls (kiosk) and security.

General information, but check the govt web sites

• NZeTA required from 1 October 2019 to visit or transit New Zealand
• Australia immigration (incl ETA visa) & customs
• Airport info SYDNEY (SYD) - amenities, transfers, transport

On the return (if OP is doing that) QF will *not* interline on separate itineraries, unless

• QF to QF
• QF to EK
• 1 itinerary is an award (QF web site does not state if QF or other airline award, so some doubt)

andrewesque

A serious question: is there any airport in the world where checked baggage can be physically claimed by an arriving international passenger without going through entry passport control?

Logically I would think it would be very impractical, as you would need to have two baggage claims -- one for passengers terminating at the airport who clear passport control, one for passengers who are not clearing passport control but still need their bags -- and it would seem difficult to implement a baggage delivery system that could reliably separate bags coming off planes. In many airports it seems it's already enough of a struggle to deliver all the bags to a single baggage claim at a time!

I can't think of any airport where this is possible, but would be very curious if anyone knows of an exception. The only thing that comes to mind is the somewhat edge case of passengers arriving in the US from a preclearance airport -- but even in that case those passengers have after all cleared US entry passport control, albeit at their point of departure.

(To be clear, this is a separate question from whether the airport design / national rules requires all arriving passengers to go to the baggage claim in the first place).

:D!

Why? The baggage reclaim area would only need to be located before immigration, as well as containing bag drop facilities for people on separate tickets. I can understand that airports don't see a need to cater for people on separate tickets, but I don't think it's logistically impractical.

What I don't understand is why domestic baggage comes out landside in many countries, including Australia, NZ and (in certain cases) the UK.

Dave Noble

Where else would it need to come out? At Heathrow, for example, the only thing after baggage collection is Customs. If it is a domestic arrival, there is no Customs requirement, so there wouldn't be one

Mwenenzi

But this case in international checked baggage. As above for AU & NZ bag pickup is after immigration and before customs~biosecurity.

Bag pickup before immigration would be a massive risk with international transiting pax. Pax swapping bags-items.

dblumenhoff

Because it's not subject to the same screening requirements as pax and carry-on. If it came out airside, someone could take a large container of liquid (gasp!) and get on a flight with it.

CHCflyer

I recall in the 1980's (and perhaps later) LHR T1 domestic bags came out on two carousels (perhaps one for BA and one for BMA and others, like Brymon) landside and in the public area. Local thieves used to hang around and lift a tasty-looking back one they were sure the owner was unlikely to appear. As it was relatively close to the international arrivals doors, it wasn't that suspicious to see many people hanging around. That T1 terminal had a small and busy landside footprint.
But I diverge.

NoTiersForMe

Thanks all, particularly for those thorough SYD arrival sequences. We have about four hours between flights which *should* be enough time. We’ll be early off BA15 as in Club, one hopes, if that makes any difference. I appreciate QF2 can be arriving around the same time amongst others.

As like many here I am interested in how [BA, other aviation] systems work. I guess even though Australia allows certain nationalities to transit without a visa through their coincidentally named TWOV program, had we only carry on bags and not need to clear immigration, it seems BA would still need to see a visa linked to our passports to allow us on the flight. Yes, aware of relatively easy e-visa options which we’ll get on with regardless of checking or carry on.

Mwenenzi

With 4:00hrs you have a margin. Should be able to spend time in QF lounge. [as OWS]
For SYD T1 arrivals look here (06:00 12:00). A lot of wide body aircraft and 100s-1000's of people. Most not AU citizens - residents. Say 20 minutes late can mean a lot in terms of immigration and more importantly customs ~ quarantine.
--> https://www.sydney-airport.net/syd-arrivals-terminal-1

Need to be careful with airside and landside transit. Landside is really a formal entry. AU govt will not let anyone in without a visa who state "flying on to New Zealand". Asylum seekers from certain countries are a know risk, even on transits.

Enjoy your time in NZ.

FlightDetective

They through check on other airline awards. I booked SYD-AKL on a QF flight using Avios, with a separate connecting cash ticket AKL-DOH-ARN in J on QR. The agent initially said they don't through check, but when I said "you do when there's an award flight involved" the agent checked some things and I was through checked with no issues whatsoever.

I think it's an excellent rule they have there.