O62

Hi everyone,

I'm going HKG-BKK-SYD on TG business on an award ticket which lands at 7:05am. I'm looking at booking a revenue flight onward to CNS and would like to make the 940am flight on QF. I've read that that could be somewhat of a risky connection, so I'm looking for some advice on what you experts think:

A) Just book it and hope for speedy customs and/or friendly agents
B) Book the 940a on a flex fare and move if late arrival to the 120p flight (I assume I will likely pay a hefty fair difference penalty by the time I know?)
C) Book the 120p flight outright and lollygag around the airport for a while

Dave Noble

I would be inclined to book the 12:00 flight on a flex ticket and then take advantage of the flexibility to take the earlier flight if there in time

AAExpDFW

I agree. Early morning customs can be extremely busy with inbound flights. In the past my 3-hour connection to the domestic terminal (which is a bus transfer) was pushed to the limit due to slow customs as well as slow baggage.

I don't recall the last time I've made it thru SYD in under 2 hours at that time of morning. Most of the time its customs....but checked bags won't help.

Mwenenzi

Many wide body long haul aircraft arrive into SYD 06:00 - 08:00
http://m.sydneyairport.com.au/flight...ional/arrivals
https://www.sydneyairport.com.au/fli...ascending=true

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ocean...transport.html

LTN Phobia

Another vote for this option. Much more sensible than 0940 and less risk (no risk of a no-show to 0940).

O62

Option D it is! Thanks for the advice guys - sounds spot on. ^ My next question is should I time my rental car reservation for the late flight or early flight? I presume the later flight under the thought that early arrival > late arrival when it comes to car availability.

Dave Noble

I would book based on the earlier flight and if you do not get on the earlier flight you can make a telephone call to the rental location and let it know of your delay

og

When I have rented from main Oz airport locations from Hertz, Avis, Budget and Thrifty, they all have stated that in the case of delays that the rental is held for either the remainder of the day or 24 hrs from the nominated pick up time. I presume the charges (wihen collected) start from the originally nominated time. However, the guys at the regional locations which are not always staffed are far more particular about knowing when you are arriving

ggggrey

Interesting. Every time I've landed at SYD in the morning I'm at my home in less than an hour, meaning I was out in <30 minutes.

But I guess with a connection 'that tight', it's any potential delays I would be worried about.

AustralianPoochie

You could try your luck with the QF free transfer bus, from int to dom at SYD airport.
You can check in for Aust dom flight at the int terminal, and use the transfer bus, if your SYD - CNS flight is with QF.
Not so good if the flight is a JQ one as all JQ flights at SYD dep from T2, not T3.
You don't say who your SYD - CNS flight is with.
If with QF, then if I were in your shoes, I would still go for the 12noon flight, and would use the QF transfer bus, and spend some time in the J/QP if you find someone who has access rights and can guest you in.
SYD T3/T2 is not all that bad.
You could even have some shut eye while sitting down on one of those chairs at the gate!
If its QF926, you can check in online, and either print your BP or have it on your smartphone, and then at the QF free bus, just do bag drop and scan your boarding pass.
When I have used this service, they never ask me which flight I have just come off, always for the next flight.
So, your next flight if its QF926, or QF922 if you dare, you can use the transfer bus.
Great views of the runways and taxiways too, as the bus uses the inner road at SYD airport.

Auscal

Apparently my experiences arriving into Sydney between 6&7am are different to others. I find it rare not being off the plane and outside the terminal in anything more than 45 minutes, often only 30 minutes or so. Admittedly with an Australia e-passport.
But I don understand the OP would want to err on the side of caution rather than risk.

Blackcloud

I agree that my arrivals between 7 to 8 I have always been out the door in 30 minutes.

serfty

I am generally through to the Transfer shed within 10 minutes.

HOWEVER, there has been several times when it has been over an hour and I have been rebooked to a later flight to Melbourne.

For a flight to cairns and inbound on TG I would definitely be risk averse and do as the OP indicated the have done in post 6 .

BD1959

Au contraire, Pooch ....

(My bolding)

Also ... if you *were* early, you could still check-in for the 12noon flight and enjoy brunch at Circular Quay courtesy of the Airport Train ...

Regards,

BD

RealityBites

Security checks on Australia domestic flights have been tightened up this week due to a terrorism scare, and the formal advice is to be at the airport 2 hours before departure.

Its not clear how this might impact transfers from Terminal 1, but I wouldn't be counting on past experiences of straightforward connections.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-3...threat/8758890