Sydney Connection Question
 

Thinking of booking a flight on Qantas to OZ and back at Christmas. The return has me flying from MEL through SYD connecting on the DFW departure. Connection time is only about 90 minutes. I've never connected through SYD from a domestic before so wondering if there is a shuttle bus between the terminals and if 90 minutes is even enough time? Would I need to go back through security again through the front of the terminal or is there a bus like they used to have in the old Ansett days that would drop you in the terminal?

Thanks for any replies/ advice!

Cheers,

Ben

From the Qantas website:

Transferring from T2 and T3 (Domestic Airports) to T1 (International Airport)

The Transfer Lounge is located airside (after passing through the security check point), opposite Gate 1 in T3. A shuttle bus service is available to passengers that are travelling or have travelled on a Qantas flight (including codeshare flights^) or oneworld flight. The shuttle buses operate every 10-20 minutes from 6am to 9.00pm AEST. On arrival at T1 proceed up the escalator, through immigration and security to your departure gate. If you do not have a boarding pass for your International flight, proceed to the check-in counters.

So you would still need to go through security. 90 minutes is OK but if your domestic flight is late by even 10 minutes, you might start to stress. I would go for the flight before it just to take that stress away (and give more time to take photos and walk around before the very long flight).

Ben, last time I did the transfer, there was a QF Transfer Desk near Gate 1, where you go down the stairs and take a bus to the International Terminal. You then proceed through normal Immigration and Security at the International Terminal. 90 minutes might get a bit tight if your arrival flight is delayed (depending on the time of day). Just check with QF if you are unsure.

Any tips on the best way to do this transfer if you are not flying QF for both the domestic and int flights? I have friends who are flying in from Tamworth on qantaslink during the day and out to KUL on MH in the evening. Is the airport train the cheapest and most reliable option?

Thanks
James

James, go with the train. I think the transfer between the terminals is now $5. There is also a transfer bus which I think is a fee of $4. I would just go with the train, it seems the easiest.

I love the system at LHR where everything is based on TX - TX transfers, eg. T3 - T5, airside, provided by the airport, or the intra-terminal trains at many US Airports.

In farness Joe, there is a big difference between Sydney and those other airports. Specifically Qantas runs their own domestic terminal, so makes perfect sense for them to run the shuttle to/from their terminal.

T2 however is a slightly different story.

As for coming off a Qantaslink flight into T2 then to T1, would have thought there would be no issue for a passenger to go into T3 and use the free transfer from there. Of course the passenger would have to go through security to get into T3 and then again when they get to T1, but shouldn't be too much of a drama.

I think it would be a wise choice to give yourself more than 90 minutes to connect. Things will get tight if your MEL-SYD is late for whatever reason (including reasons out of the airline's control) e.g. weather. The last thing you would want to worry about is missing your SYD-DFW flight!

I agree that you should aim to give yourself more than a 90 minute connection if you can. I have done that connection on a scheduled 90 minute layover, but my incoming domestic flight was delayed 10-15 minutes, making for a very stressful connection - especially the 'dead time' waiting for the connecting bus in the international transfer waiting lounge. Also, you never know how long the queues at passport control will be once at the international terminal either.

Thanks for all the replies everyone. Good information to keep on file. I ended up sleeping on it and the next morning the Qantas US site had opened 93/94 melb direct for even less than what I was looking at for the DFW flights. I ended up booking that one since it get's us home quicker anyway.

On another note, I can't believe how cheap the Qantas fares are over Christmas. This will be only the second time we've traveled on Qantas, having made the trip on United over 20 times. I'm strictly price driven when buying tickets and United's have been over $3k more for the same dates, and have held that for over a month now! Oh well, no miles, but a better experience I'm sure!

Thanks again!

Ben