kcupp95

Will still be at the mercy of the terminal transfer.

Take the train not the bus. The bus has to travel on the public access roads and is therefore subject to traffic and delays greatly affecting the travel time.

Even without bags it probably will still take close to 30 minutes to get off your domestic flight and to check in at international.

It took close to an hour for me to do this last time taking the T bus.

Not worth it.

As other posters have said - the Rydges Hotel opposite the international airport is a lovely hotel and well worth the piece of mind.

The Shadow

I seem to have the exact opposite issue... International to Domestic.

Coming into SYD on Etihad First, then connecting immediately to Qantas Business to MEL (the Etihad flight directly to MEL is not available for my dates)... what's the connection like? Do I need to budget lots of time to collect bags, go through customs, find a different terminal, whatever? Or (fingers crossed) can my luggage be checked all the way to MEL, and I go through customs there?

Mwenenzi

No. As SYD is your entry into Australia you will go through customs & immigration and collect your bag. You can check in for a QF domestic flight at the international terminal. Exiting customs & immigration turn right and down the corridors to the QF check in. Then you get on the QF air side transfer bus. The QF domestic check in staff, at the international terminal, seem to offer more flexibility for changes on domestic flights. What time does your flight land? That will determine what time you need. But a business fare should be flexible.

The Shadow

In an ideal world, I would be on the direct flight from Abu Dhabi to MEL, landing at 6:20 PM on a Thursday evening. But since it's not available, I'm scheduled to land in SYD at 6:45 PM, connecting to QF497 at 10:05 PM. This is, of course, extremely undesirable, as it means first arriving in MEL at 11:40 PM - hell of a way to start a trip.

Earlier options for the Qantas flight are QF487 (at 8:00 PM) and QF489 (8:15 PM), which (while obviously not as good as landing directly in MEL) is still better than arriving at almost midnight. So... the shorter I can (realistically) manage to make my connection, the better off I am. Perhaps the ground staff assist with short connections when you are an arriving first-class passenger connecting to domestic business class, by providing an "escort" or something?

Any advice?

kcupp95

Call Qantas and ask?

Alternatively spend the night at the Airport Rydges and fly to Melbourne early in the morning?

Mwenenzi

You may get an express immigration pass from the airline if in first/business. QF will not escort you. You will be just 1 of hundreds of self loading cargo that night. QF will not help a passenger from an oppostion airline. QF489 (8:15 PM) will be tight in my view as separate ticket/airline/alliance. Book the later flight. The QF domestic check in staff, at the international terminal, will move you to an earlier flight if you arrive in time.

JClasstraveller

Absolutely. It's not wise at all.

The Shadow

It's not Qantas I was thinking of, it's Etihad. Other airlines (for example, Lufthansa in NYC) have been known to greet their arriving first class passengers and escort them to the front of the line for immigration and customs, even when they don't have a connecting flight to catch; so I'm wondering if Etihad would do the same for me, as an arriving first class passenger.

Also, it's not a separate ticket - it'll be booked via AA, so both flights will be on one PNR, one ticket number, etc. And either way, I don't think Qantas views Etihad as an "opposition airline" - if anything, they even have codeshare and interline agreements. Does that change your opinion at all?

Mwenenzi

Are these AA award flights?

What passport do you hold? With some passports you can uses smartgate. http://www.customs.gov.au/site/page5555.asp

100% sure QF consider Etihad the opposition. EY own a major share of Virgin Australia. QF compete head to head on Aust to UK route and Australia to EU routes (via Emirates codeshares) with Etihad(EY). Interline agreements are common with many airlines.

The Shadow

Yes.

USA.

Oops... my mistake. As an American, I'm not too familiar with the Australian airline politics, and got my impression from this, which is probably outdated... my bad.

Mwenenzi

With a USA passport you can use smart gate. Is quicker http://www.customs.gov.au/site/page5832.asp

off topic
Yes: outdated. Now its EK http://www.qantas.com.au/travel/airl...irates:lang:en

avneeshj

Hi,

I will be arriving from BKK to SYD on TG 475 landing at 0710 hrs. I am planning to go on to AYQ on VA 1627 departing at 1000 hrs. Is it possible to make this connection or would it be too tight? I would have to clear immigration and customs and recheck for the VA flight. Is VA in a different terminal and is the inter terminal transfer easy enough with checked bags?

Mwenenzi

Is this 1 ticket/PNR or separate tickets/PNRs?
Passport from?
Class of travel on TG475?
06:0-7:00-08:00 is very very busy for international flights landing

"Easy" is never a word associated with SYD domestic/international/domestic terminal transfers. (At MEL it is easy). They are some miles apart. You need to pay for a bus or the infrequent train between the 2. QF have a free air side bus. Unsure about VA.

Look at this thread down the page http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ocean...logistics.html Is domestic to international terminal but the answer is about the same

As SYD is your entry into Australia you have to clear customs, immigration and quarantine Sydney. You can check in for a VA domestic flight in the international terminal. Turn left exiting immigration.

avneeshj

Thanks for the info. I'll go over that thread as well. The above point that you've made seems to be very useful. If we can check in here and have to go between terminals with only our carry ons that would make things simpler I'd imagine.

Mwenenzi

You should confirm that with VA