Interlining Virgin Australia to United
 

Flying Cairns - SYD - LAX. First leg in Virgin Australia coach, short lay over in Sydney, and on to LAX in global first. The VA website indicates I can interline my bags (which means I'll have a chance at making the connection). Can anyone confirm? Has anyone actually done this?

I've done it CBR->SYD->SFO and had no problems at all.

Thanks!

You will have to take a shuttle from the Domestic to the International terminal in SYD. Virgin has a free one, which you should be eligible for since you're connecting from them.
They'll let you out in front of the Virgin check-in desk, which is pretty much on the other end of the terminal from United. That may give you problems if your connection is really tight.

Same ticket, or different ticket.

Technically they will only interline if both flights are on the same ticket. It's possible a friendly agent will do it if it's on different tickets, but I wouldn't bet on it - I've certainly had then say no to it...

Forgot to mention - everything was on the same ticket in my case.

Crap. Definitely different tickets. So, who should I call, Virgin or United?

You booked a short connection at SYD on two different tickets? With the latter part in international F and on a flight that only goes once a day? If I were you I'd be calling VA and getting my CNS-SYD portion changed to an earlier flight.

Also check this thread: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/virgi...ia-united.html -- if you're on separate tickets then I don't think VA will interline for you, which makes the point about the transfer bus moot. You'll need to pick up your bag land-side, pay $5.50 for a train ticket from the domestic to international terminal (yeah I know, it's a gyp, I apologise on behalf of my country), and then check in for your UA flight. If I were you I'd want at least three hours for this process.

Thanks. It's an incredibly tight travel schedule. I had 3.5 hours until United changed the schedule on me and now I have 2 hr 15m. The problem is that I'm already on the first flight out of Cairns, so I can't get any earlier without leaving the day before, which will infuriate my wife.

Is this simply too short to be possible? And is there any way to throw money at the problem (which is far better than taking a day out of my wife's vacation)? I'll check the thread you posted.

The SFO flight leaves later than the LAX flight - UA should be able to change you on to that.

If you're actually headed to LAX that might not be ideal, but if you're connecting then it's probably a good option.

2 hours 15 is tight, but it's enough if nothing goes wrong. In SYD you'll get priority checkin/immigration/security so you'll get through the entire process fairly quickly. The biggest issue is going to be the 60 minute baggage cut-off, but realistically if you're in F and a little late they should still make it work - and the check-in desks will still be open as they stay open for the SFO flight.

I would suggest flying into SYD the night before and not changing the TPAC portion of your trip. Long and exhausting. Last thing you want to do is arrive at SFO clear Customs and then schlep to a domestic flight.

Have another look at the Virgin timetable, there's usually a 6am flight

No, I don't think it's too short to be possible. Provided that your incoming flight is on time then 2:15 should be sufficient, so it's just a matter of taking the risk that your first flight might be late. Under ideal circumstances you might be able to do it in an hour. Since you're flying F, everything after you arrive at the international terminal will be pretty easy.

I'm not sure what the quickest way from terminal to terminal is. Usually it'd be a taxi, but since you're arriving around 9am the taxi queue and the traffic might make it easier to just hop on the train.

In the "throwing money at it" category you might want to think about having your bags shipped separately from yourselves. If you don't have luggage I think you can pay $15 to use Virgin's air-side shuttle.

Finally, it's always worth asking nicely at CNS whether the kind Virgin checkin desk girl might be willing to interline your bags all the way to LAX.

Virgin doesn't have an air-side shuttle, they have a land-side bus that goes on exactly the same roads as a taxi would - and then dumps you at the opposite end of the airport to where the UA check-in desk is.

Qantas has an air-side bus, but even that drops you land-side at International - and you can only use if it you're flying QF (either arriving or departing)

Right you are, I got confused.