Concern over 1 hour transfer time in Sydney from Domestic to International?

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Travelled to the US last year for business, I had a 2 hour layover but a colleague only had 1 hour. He made the flight to the US and said he didnt feel rushed because he was checked all the way. Only negative for him was no time for the lounge but otherwise QF is pretty good in this space
Thank you, that is good to hear.
 
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The airport can't help until a day or so beforehand.

Call and call again, be pushy, be pushy as hell because they are setting you up for failure.

I guarentee that everyone who says no has never actually done a too tight connection.
As others have said if they send you a "your flight times have changed" even if it's only by a couple of minutes you can basically request what you want.

There is a saying when dealing with QF - HUACA. Hang Up And Call Again.

Most QF phone operators are pretty pathetic, it unfortunately often takes many tries to get one that is actually good and actually gets it.
Thanks Harvyk, I appreciate your advise.
 
Quite a few times I take what connections the Qantas website offers and then call them on the day to give me the connection I want. Once you explain the reasons they never refuse.
Hi johnK, are you suggesting I call them on the morning of departure, which would be before 5.30am?
 
Sydney Airport is truly appalling, if you want to are forced to go there, and transfer from the domestic terminal to the international on the other side of the aerodrome.

The OP could fly from BNE to LAX directly and save several hours, so must have a good reason for going via Sydney, but if you want to go to Santiago you are forced to go via Sydney, and Qantas assures you that it's no trouble at all - but it is, so it's clear that an hour would be difficult. Qantas ground staff act as though time has stood still. Ho hum.

The domestic leg was subject to NSW's daylight saving, and we had 1 hour 20 minutes, and of course the aircraft was half an hour late, so it was panic stations. We made it, just, after worrying all morning and spending a few hundred dollars extra on an airport hotel just so we could make the only QF flight from Sydney to Santiago.

My daughter and her husband weren't so lucky, a week ago; QF BNE-SYD then LATAM SYD-SCL an hour twenty or so later. This time it wasn't the domestic flight running late, it was the Qantas ground staff failing to transfer their luggage from domestic to international. Yes, they got to the international terminal in time only to find that their luggage which had been checked all the way through to Lima wasn't even there.

I only go to Sydney when I am forced to do so, such as to get to South America. Its airport is truly dreadful.
 
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Hi johnK, are you suggesting I call them on the morning of departure, which would be before 5.30am?
My suggestion was more for time of booking. If website only offers short connection then book and call them straight away to change.

Unless they offer to change for you now the best you can hope it to turn up to airport at least 45 minutes before the first flight and hope they'll put you on earlier flight.
 
My suggestion was more for time of booking. If website only offers short connection then book and call them straight away to change.

Unless they offer to change for you now the best you can hope it to turn up to airport at least 45 minutes before the first flight and hope they'll put you on earlier flight.
Yes, that is my option, I will hope that Matt is correct and there may be a change in flights by then but if not I may have to pay the change fee and fly to Syd the night before to be safe.
 
It's certainly possible. I've made it airside at T1 in 25 minutes from arriving at the gate in T3. But i agree that more time is certainly preferable
 
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I've had QF change this for me to give longer 'buffer' times for connections on several occasions. Never been charged a fee for it.

They should not be charging a Platinum flying in Business for the change, which is eminently sensible. 1 hour is the MCT which only works if everything runs to plan. The slightest delay will see you and/or your luggage miss the connecting flight.

I work on a minimum connection time in SYD of 2 hours but generally aim for 3.
 
For information, according to EF, QF507, scheduled to depart BNE at 6.35am and due to arrive SYD at 9.10am, has had an average delay of 20 minutes over the past 2 months. Maybe next year will be better.
 
For information, according to EF, QF507, scheduled to depart BNE at 6.35am and due to arrive SYD at 9.10am, has had an average delay of 20 minutes over the past 2 months. Maybe next year will be better.
Yes, DC3 I also brought that to the attention of the staff via "messenger". It is a business sale fare and to change it before departure attracts a $400 fee per person (there is 2 of us). They are not wavering at this stage. I wonder if the same fee applies if I request a down grade to economy. I can't find that information anywhere.
 
There was plenty of time, remember they will transfer your luggage direct so,so that's some guarantee they won't leave without you.


Not true! I have had 90 minute connections on two occasions. I made the flights OK, but my luggage stayed in Sydney and arrived 24 hours later :(
 
My wife and I had the same, There was plenty of time, remember they will transfer your luggage direct so,so that's some guarantee they won't leave without you.Just get your skates on at Sydney domestic getting to the transfer point, and get to the front explain if you have to. No time for the lounge which is a shame.

That's no guarantee at all. They have no problems leaving luggage behind to go onto other flights (provided the pax has no say in the matter), and likewise they have no problems off-loading bags for no-show pax.

Don't get me wrong, sometimes tight connections just fall into place, for example I did a 35 minute connection at SYD -> DOM to DOM the other night and it all worked out fine, but the risk of me missing that connection was low as I was HLO, and the connecting flight was a SYD-CBR so hardly a risky one.

A DOM to INT however, yes, you may be able to pull off a short connection time, but as has been mentioned, the slightest problem and you have no buffer, and you end up where you don't want to be.

Part of the reason why so many people fall into trouble when travelling these days is that they fail to account for the "it's hit the fan" moments. It's the sort of things that TA's used to make sure you had extra time for, and online booking engines don't because they are all trying to advertise the shortest times between A and B. Yes when everything runs smoothly it's great watching everything run like clockwork, but if even the slightest hiccup happens, that's it...

Personally I won't do less than 2 hours transit in SYD for DOM to INT, and I prefer 3 hours, especially when travelling to the US, as all it takes is to be extra SSSSpecial, or have the Trump questions go for a little longer than expected and that time can go very quickly. I (like others here) have also done the night before at a SYD airport hotel. Besides, especially with FLounge, you don't want to be missing out on that part of the trip :)
 
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Not true! I have had 90 minute connections on two occasions. I made the flights OK, but my luggage stayed in Sydney and arrived 24 hours later :(
... They have no problems leaving luggage behind to go onto other flights (provided the pax has no say in the matter) … I (like others here) have also done the night before at a SYD airport hotel ...

Yes, the happy experiences where some have made it (with luggage) on tight connections does not always eventuate. Some passengers, and/or luggage, get left behind at times. Tight connections where every minute counts are usually quite stressful. OK if you are after an adrenaline rush, but not for everyone. :)

Going the day before, and overnighting at SYD when there's an international connection at stake, is a great way to do it.
 
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Personally I'd rather spend a few extra hours in the lounge, relaxed, with plenty of time for all the procedures. I'd prefer to be 3 hours early than 10 minutes late. Of course it's sod's law that when you have that time cushion you seem to breeze through immigration etc. If you are tight, you get every slowcoach in the world at every point. We almost missed a flight from LHR - had to sprint down the terminal, of course QF is almost the last gate. Took us about an hour and a couple of drinks for the resting heart rate to get back to normal. So I always allow heaps of time
 
Sydney Airport is truly appalling, if you want to are forced to go there, and transfer from the domestic terminal to the international on the other side of the aerodrome.

The OP could fly from BNE to LAX directly and save several hours, so must have a good reason for going via Sydney, but if you want to go to Santiago you are forced to go via Sydney, and Qantas assures you that it's no trouble at all - but it is, so it's clear that an hour would be difficult. Qantas ground staff act as though time has stood still. Ho hum.

The domestic leg was subject to NSW's daylight saving, and we had 1 hour 20 minutes, and of course the aircraft was half an hour late, so it was panic stations. We made it, just, after worrying all morning and spending a few hundred dollars extra on an airport hotel just so we could make the only QF flight from Sydney to Santiago.

My daughter and her husband weren't so lucky, a week ago; QF BNE-SYD then LATAM SYD-SCL an hour twenty or so later. This time it wasn't the domestic flight running late, it was the Qantas ground staff failing to transfer their luggage from domestic to international. Yes, they got to the international terminal in time only to find that their luggage which had been checked all the way through to Lima wasn't even there.

I only go to Sydney when I am forced to do so, such as to get to South America. Its airport is truly dreadful.
yes it does seem to MCT is only 1 hour at SYD dom to int which is crazy. The quickest way BNE/SYD/LAX is 16:15, whereas BNE/LAX is 12:40, that's over 3.5 hours longer with the MCT, but if it were me, I'd add 90 minutes to that, making it 5 hours longer !!!!

Also got a last min ff seat BNE/SYD/NZ a few years ago, but could only get JQ/JQ & had to collect bags at SYD, pay for train to INT & then check in again. Don't think I'll ever do that again.
 
I've done that transfer from DOM to INT 3 times in the last 5 weeks. All QF DOM to QF INT flights.
First time was pure luck, last on the bus, first off straight in to empty gates for immigration then in to a short line at security.
Timed it as I wanted to know how much time I did or didn't have in future given the loss of the express lines, 32mins from gate 10 aerobridge off the DOM from Melbourne to the entry to the First lounge in INT.

Two following trips had tight connections and I ended up running to gate as boarding had started.
First of these two I was able to get on a domestic flight 15mins earlier than the one I had booked, the other was at its scheduled time and just super tight, both of those were 1hr between DOM gate and the boarding gate.
Second I was able to go through immigration at a desk after they saw myself and another guy on the same flight running from the stairs you go up from the bus drop off point towards immigration and said to head down toward where crew are processed, they processed us but the security guy was having none of it and made us line up at the end with everyone else.
Showed boarding pass to prove time etc and as normal with the terrible staff at Sydney airport they didn't care in the slightest.
If we didn't get that 20+ min boost from not having to line up we'd have missed flights.
I am hoping the express lines return and its not space sold off to another company who will sell the express service to the highest bidders (customers) however being Sydney airport, any chance they get to screw people for more money they will do it.
 
I've done that transfer from DOM to INT 3 times in the last 5 weeks. All QF DOM to QF INT flights ...


… Two following trips had tight connections and I ended up running to gate as boarding had started ,,,
How unfortunate having to rush like that in order to connect and no way of calling into the FL whether you wanted to or not on those 2 trips.

And welcome to AFF.
 
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Good to know, I didn't get back until that week and haven't been back out since via Sydney.
At the FL they weren't sure if it was returning when I was having a chat with them in August.
Couple weeks until next flight but glad its returned!
 
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