Adam1

Hi all,
I am planning a mileage run, BNE-SYD-CBR and same day return.

I'm a little concerned whether or not I am leaving myself enough turn around time between flights and as such, will look to purchase a 'flexi saver' fare instead of a 'red-e deal' ticket.

My flights at this stage look to be:
dep BNE 6:30
arr SYD 8:10

dep SYD 9:40
arr CBR 10:30

dep CBR 11:20
arr SYD ......

dep SYD.....
arr BNE.....


So that is:
QF8 - arriving sydney at 8:10, with the connecting flight to Canberra departing at 9:40.
I won't have any luggage with me for these flights, so I think ~1 hour is sufficient time to transfer between termainals at SYD (both flights on the same ticket).

I arrive in Canberra at 10:30 and then my next flight is at 11:20.


However what happens if the initial flight into SYD is delayed and I miss the connecting flight to CBR?

The next flight to CBR will arrive at Canberra at 11:30, too late for my connecting 11:20 flight.

After the 11:20, the next flight departs Canberra at 13:10.
That 13:10 flight would of course be the safe option, however if my initial 2 flights are ontime, then 10:30-13:10 is a little long to be wating around Canberra airport.


What is your advice?
Should I book the 'safe option' later flight ex Canberra, or should I risk the tight-ish turn around flight?

How does the 'flexi saver' fare conditions look after me in this scenario?
Should I book BNE-SYD-CBR-CBR-SYD-BNE on a single ticket or BNE-SYD-CBR as separate tickets?

Cheers

Blackadder1402

Definitely book it all as one, that way you are given protection if things go pear shaped.
You should have no issues with a delay into Sydney, and at worst the flexi should enable you to be rebooked onto another service.

Adam1

Thanks very much for the reply. Its gives me some more confidence.

When booking these 4 flights on one ticket (as return flight BNE-CBR) and checking in at the airport at the start of the day; will I receive the boarding passes for all 4 flights at once, or I will I only receive the boarding pass for the first leg Brisbane to Canberra?

Cheers

number_6

There is no benefit from booking flexi vs red e-deal if all flights are on a single ticket and with legal connections (as they would be if ticket is issued by QF). You are protected identically on the cheapest fare for irrops causing a missed connection. The flexi is if you were to leave the airport for lunch at CBR or SYD, for example, and then return to resume your trip using a later flight ... quite different from a mileage run. Save your money and book the cheapest fare, that is what MR means after all

og

except that if the OP is going for SCs as well as miles, then the flexi gives better SC return.

Adam1

Ah interesting, thanks for that info - learn something new everyday.
I thought the red-e fare left you 'high and dry', if you missed connecting flights due to not leaving enough time between both sectors.

I thought that in my case, a red-e fare would protect me if the BNE-SYD flight was delayed and resulted in me missing the connecting SYD-CBR flight; however that would inturn result in me missing the return CBR-SYD flight which, (so I thought) is technically on a different sector given that flight is on the 'return' half of my ticket.

In other words, I thought that despite being all on the one ticket, the two sectors BNE-CBR and CBR-BNE were treated as separate when it comes to delayed flights throwing out my schedule.


In that case then a red-e fare would be the way to go (which is good to remember for next time), however on this occasion yes, my milage run is for Status Credits so a flexi saver fare of $600 for 80 SCs is pretty good going I think.
(My theory is 10 SCs per ~$100 spent for domestic flights)



Thanks again.
Cheers

DH188

I'd recommend against starting the trip on QF8.
It's prone to delays and you'll lose probably half an hour minimum on the terminal transfer at SYD.
QF503 from the domestic terminal would be a safer option.

Adam1

Thanks DH188.
This had played on my mind a little and I did put some consideration into skipping QF8. I have used this flight 3 times in the past and have been lucky that those flights have all been close to ontime.
Even if QF8 is ontime, I agree, I have left it a little tight between connecting flights.

However I have factored in a 30min late arrival into Sydney (~8:45am),
then 20 mins to get from the arrival gate to the terminal transfer bus (9:05am), no luggage to collect which will speed things up,
then another 20 mins for the transfer between terminals.
Arrive at the gate for the next flight at 9:25/9:30am, for a 9:40am departure.

I certainly wouldn't expect them to hold the connecting flight for me after 9:30am if I am delayed. Again this is almost a 'worst case' scenario providing the arrival of QF8 into Sydney is held up.


I am a fan of the 747, so it was hard to chose against QF8 albeit a bit risky .


Cheers

Adam1

All,
For what it is worth, I completed this mileage run the other week and are happy to report there were no issues at all.
All 4 flights ran to time and as a result I was able to keep to my schedule.

My thanks to Qantas for their service.