enquiry about flying MEL-SYD and transferring to International flight

[AIRwin]

The return trip was a whole different matter. Cleared customs really quickly, first into a deserted Dom transfers area and our bags were checked in & bus coupons issued without question or charge.

Did you have to surrender the bus coupons?

 

[totd]

Did you have to surrender the bus coupons?

Yes. We basically walked out the door and the bus driver (and bus) was just there.

But they weren't anything special. They were just little slips of paper. If I was paying a bit more attention I would have taken a pic... Then we could have started printing our own.

 

[eckorock]

Quick Follow-up question;

1. Is there a Virgin Lounge in the international terminal at SYD or are we supposed to use the Air-NZ lounge? If you had a choice at SYD would you go into the Domestic VA lounge or Air-NZ Koru lounge?
2. My partner is flying with me on the same flight but on a different ticket / reservation code (tickets were booked seperately online , about 15 minutes apart) She has no status, will she be able to come into Koru lounge with me?
3. Is the lounge before or after customs?

cheers!

 

[totd]

1. Is there a Virgin Lounge in the international terminal at SYD or are we supposed to use the Air-NZ lounge? If you had a choice at SYD would you go into the Domestic VA lounge or Air-NZ Koru lounge?

At this point, IMHO, no competition. You have a partially complete war-zone or the AirNZ lounge. Koru has recliners (If you get there before the crowds), self-serve bar and (Important for me) genuine gluten-free options. The only advantage the T2 VA lounge has is Barista coffee. It's all automatic machine coffee in Koru SYD.

EDIT: The VA Lounge is in T2 (Domestic). VA have no International lounges and, to the best of my knowledge, have no plans to open any. Their plan seems to be to mooch off SQ & NZ - I guess that's one of the benefits of having those two as shareholders.

2. My partner is flying with me on the same flight but on a different ticket / reservation code (tickets were booked seperately online , about 15 minutes apart) She has no status, will she be able to come into Koru lounge with me?

The door may beep at her, but I don't believe there are any restrictions on who you can guest. It's common for business travellers to have one PNR each, so I doubt the angles would even bat an eyelid at your two separate PNRs. The AirNZ crews seem to be pretty flexible regardless.

3. Is the lounge before or after customs?

After

 

[eckorock]

At this point, IMHO, no competition. You have a partially complete war-zone or the AirNZ lounge. Koru has recliners (If you get there before the crowds), self-serve bar and (Important for me) genuine gluten-free options. The only advantage the T2 VA lounge has is Barista coffee. It's all automatic machine coffee in Koru SYD.

EDIT: The VA Lounge is in T2 (Domestic). VA have no International lounges and, to the best of my knowledge, have no plans to open any. Their plan seems to be to mooch off SQ & NZ - I guess that's one of the benefits of having those two as shareholders.



The door may beep at her, but I don't believe there are any restrictions on who you can guest. It's common for business travellers to have one PNR each, so I doubt the angles would even bat an eyelid at your two separate PNRs. The AirNZ crews seem to be pretty flexible regardless.


After

thanks mate!

 

[Fruitcake]

EDIT: The VA Lounge is in T2 (Domestic). VA have no International lounges and, to the best of my knowledge, have no plans to open any. Their plan seems to be to mooch off SQ & NZ - I guess that's one of the benefits of having those two as shareholders.

Latest dates on the opening of joint VA/EY lounge in SYD is 'before Christmas 2013'. But bear in mind that there were a lot of announcements last year about them opening in early 2013.

A VA/EY lounge is apparently planned for MEL too.

 

[totd]

Awww... Don't say that. I'm kinda fond of the SYD Koru. I'd hate to loose access... unless it's something like an EY F lounge. Personally I'm going to leave the VA Int'l lounge on the "I believe it when I'm standing at the door" list... along with the HBA lounge.

 

[Fifa]

I am currently at PER.
As we are flying on two different PNRs VA would not check the bags through from SYD-PER-DPS.
I contacted them via email a few months ago and also asked at SYD but no luck.
We have approx 5 1/2 hrs between flights & had to collect the bags & store them in a locker so we could use the domestic lounge before we make our way over to the international terminal.
Unbelievable!

On a positive note, our flight to PER was on an A330 which was only a few days old. Fantastic product, service and food in J - could not be faulted.

 

[totd]

Probably a dumb question... Has anyone tried getting flights added an existing booking so that the new flights have the same PNR as the rest of the trip? Is that even possible?

 

[Fifa]

Probably a dumb question... Has anyone tried getting flights added an existing booking so that the new flights have the same PNR as the rest of the trip? Is that even possible?

I asked that question and also if they could link the PNRs but they said 'no'.

 

[serfty]

Was that with SABRE, or the previous Navitaire?

In any case, is better not to ask to "link" the bookings, as bookings cannot be combined with legacy GDS's.

However, you can help them remember their training by requesting that a "passive segment" be inserted into the booking.

 

[EvanC]

Was that with SABRE, or the previous Navitaire?

In any case, is better not to ask to "link" the bookings, as bookings cannot be combined with legacy GDS's.

However, you can help them remember their training by requesting that a "passive segment" be inserted into the booking.

You've piqued my curiosity. What is a passive segment?

 

[serfty]

You've piqued my curiosity. What is a passive segment?

See here for discussion: http://www.australianfrequentflyer....o-qf-questions-re-award-36109.html#post548436

(Although on review it may be that VA don't allow them, but to not would not be to ecompass full SABRE functionality.)

 

[oz_mark]

However, you can help them remember their training by requesting that a "passive segment" be inserted into the booking.

From what I have seen, Sabre aren't too keen on the idea, as they seem to restrict the use of passive segments to where there is a ticketing or invoicing requirement.

 

[smit0847]

It seems the bus transfer service is charged at $15 when connecting from international to domestic:
Domestic and International Flight Connections | Virgin Australia

What a ridiculous waste of money! What is the trip, 5 minutes?

 

[notzac]

Probably a dumb question... Has anyone tried getting flights added an existing booking so that the new flights have the same PNR as the rest of the trip? Is that even possible?

If you book through a (good) TA, they can add multiple e-tickets in to a single PNR.