Tommo243

Okay so I'm not an experienced flyer so when I made my booking I thought 1 hour was fine. Apparently I was completely off and I've got next to no chance of making it at 9 am on a Monday morning.

Basically this is my flight
Melb > Syd
7:45 > 9:10am
Syd > Osaka
10:15am > 7:10pm

So... bags checked through and I can use the Qantas bus. Any chance of making it?

I can upgrade my Sydney flight to Business for 10k points to get me to the front of the plane worth it?

Otherwise I'm just gonna blow all my points i got from my credit card to re-book the whole thing.

Last time I book with a travel agent and not from the website and definitely the last time I book without researching.

Cheers.

Dave Noble

It is a valid connection - it doesn't have huge amounts of buffer, but no reason to assume that you will misconnect

The website would have offered the same option

With it being an international connection , you may find that, if you are at MEL earlier, that it will allow you to take an earlier flight ( if space ) when you check in

I wouldn't worry and wouldn't spend 10,000 points for business class just to be near the front of the aeroplane

Tommo243

Alright cheers, guess I'll just try my luck.

og

I probably would try the domestic upgrade - it's worth about 10 minutes saved if you are stuck at the very back of the plane. But, as said above, telling the staff at MEL about your short connex may get you on an earlier flight. Note that its the airport staff to talk to, not the call centre people.

number_6

90% of the time you would make that legal connection easily .. just no lounge time. QF do hold international departures for up to an hour for connecting pax, though it is not an official policy. It is only difficult on separate tickets. worst case QF will reroute you to another flight to Japan, you are 99.9% sure to make same-day arrival unless you happen to be booking some peak travel day (like Australian Open, I've been caught by that with all flights SYD-MEL full). I wouldn't worry about it, your booking is a legal connection and the airline expects it to work just fine most of the tme, for single tickets. All the fuss on FT is when people have separate tickets in order to save money, which the airlines try to discourage,

AustralianPoochie

I have used the QF transfer bus from SYDdom to SYDint many times.
Yes, it might be a valid connection, and you might even have a QF BP from MEL all the way, the thing is this, your plane from MEL might land on time, and you rush to SYDdom gate 15, but the bus does not have a schedule. Edit: they might have a ""schedule"" but they don't follow it to letter of the clock dial. Filling up that bus is more important.
The thing is they might wait for the bus to fill up.
Try to get to MEL airport prior to 6am, and try to get the earliest flight at all possible, plea with the check in staff.
Hopefully its a linked PNR or that your flight to Japan is with QF or JL.
All the best of luck.
My shortest was 1.45, leaving ADL at about 13.50, get to SYD about 16.10 I think, and the flight to NZ left at 17.45 or so, the bus sat at gate 15, not really full, so they waited, and I was timing it.
16.30 the bus moved, so I got to int at about 16.50 or so, even though the bus uses the inside road by the QF freight terminal, its still quite slow.
Ran up the escalators, ran through the terminal to express path, ran to gate, 17.25 at gate to WLG.
I won't be doing it again.
Granted you are not going to the US, but still, your timings is very very very tight, even within MCT.

LHR/MEL/Europe FF

It may be a legal connection, but the amount of stress these short connections give many passengers doesn't seem worth it This issue comes up frequently and if you are concerned about the tight connection, head out to the airport early on the day of departure. QF will often roll you forward onto an earlier flight if there is room. Call centre is of little use - the airport on the day of departure has much more flexibility.

Lucky_man

I have made connections through Sydney many times and also seen many posts on it here and other forums.

I have realized that whether this is a tight connection depends very much on the person. And I am not talking about the speed they walk, their ability to push through crowds or worm their way to the front of the bus queue but rather the persons disposition to the connection time.

I don't cross glass floored bridges - not because they are unsafe but because they scare me s...less. Same applies here and the 'do' or 'not do' comes down to disposition of the individual traveler rather than detailed timing.

serfty

I agree, @Tommo243 , get to MEL as early as possible and when you get to check in at the "Domestic Connections to International", ask for an earlier flight as you are really concerned about the short connection time etc.

FWIW, 65 minutes does not meet my "Minimum Sensible Time" standard - I would avoid booking such.