Flying domestic from international terminal

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leny

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Dec 31, 2006
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I have only even flown domestic out of a domestic terminal but flying out of an international terminal for my upcoming BNE-SYD-BNE is an option on the BNE-SYD on either Qantas or Jetstar. A couple of questions.. I know that these are flights coming back to Australia from Asia or somewhere and just do a stopover in BNE - so will the entertainment system (screen?) be available on this short trip?
Check in - Can I do OLCI or Kiosk check in? (For Qantas)
Also, does the flight always arrive at the destination at the International terminal if it departed from an international terminal?

Is there anything else I should know about domestic flighs departing from an international terminal..advantages and disadvantages? And in the end - Is it a better option? I've never ever done it so i have no idea.

Thanks
 
Domestic legs of International flights have several differences to normal domestic flights. Some of the differences with "domestic" International flights over pure domestic.

  • Earlier checkin time. You need to be at the airport earlier. Checkin closes at 60 mins before the flight for Qantas (vs 15/30 mins before departure for domestic terminal only depending on whether you are checking bags or not)
  • You are required to carry identification in the form of a passport, (Australian) driver's license or certain other allowed cards.
  • If you have Qantas Club access, the International terminals serve Alcohol all day long vs the domestic bar opening times.
  • You are required to clear Immigration/Customs when leaving and arriving. Your boarding pass will have an Orange "D" sticker on it to indicate that you are a domestic customer, and you can use a special express lane to go through immigration (Normally the same lane as Crew/APEC/Diplomats)
  • Qantas Online Check-in is not yet allowed for "Domestic" International flights. Kiosks are not available either.
  • You will depart and arrive at the International terminal.
  • You could be subject to customs searches upon arrival at your destination.
  • You can be delayed at the other end due to queues going through customs.
  • You aren't allowed to buy duty free or any of the other benefits of International travel allowances.
  • You often get Internationally configured planes such as the 747-400 or Airbus A330. these tend to have more legroom and be more comfortable - but not always (eg Qantas now flies 737's and 767's to quite a few overseas locations, but also sends the same planes on domestic routes between eg SYD/BNE/MEL ).
  • If you get a 747/A330 then you will have seat back screens and better entertainment. However, due to the short legs, the crew may not switch on movies as you won't finish one.

There are other threads here about this topic too. May be worth doing a search.

I've never flown Jetstar internationally, so can't comment on whether it's worth booking a domestic leg of their flights. Note that you may not earn Qantas FF points on the cheapest Jetstar fares - whereas you would with the cheapest Qantas fares.
 
Thanks heaps Mal - sticking to domestic terminals seems like the better option for me - although I might try flying domestic out of international once...just so I know what it's like :D
(I'm not saying that I've never flown from an internatinal terminal - only done that when flying on international flights.. :rolleyes: :D )
 
I used to love the QF MEL-SYD 6:45am i think it was flight because it was always cheaper and easy to get tickets at short notice.
Never really had any hold ups being a D passanger but i guess it can happen, i must have done it 8 or 10 times last year.

But thats all last minute travel if you can plan i guess domestic is better.

E
 
Evan said:
I used to love the QF MEL-SYD 6:45am i think it was flight because it was always cheaper and easy to get tickets at short notice.
Never really had any hold ups being a D passanger but i guess it can happen, i must have done it 8 or 10 times last year.

But thats all last minute travel if you can plan i guess domestic is better.

E

Thanks Evan, I was originally going to do DJ one way and QF the other and wasn't sure what terminal I should depart from on the QF leg. Now I think I'm going to do QF both ways, with one of them beiing an international terminal one :D
 
Evan said:
I used to love the QF MEL-SYD 6:45am i think it was flight because it was always cheaper and easy to get tickets at short notice.
Never really had any hold ups being a D passanger but i guess it can happen, i must have done it 8 or 10 times last year.

But thats all last minute travel if you can plan i guess domestic is better.

E
Yes, that QF10 flight was about the only departure from the International terminal at that time of they day so rarely any delays. The main risk was that the arriving QF10 from SIN may be late and hence your onward ME-SYD is delyed accordingly.

The only other issue was that the International Qantas Club did not open until something like 6am.
 
Ahh, Thanks NM, you just reminded me of the other lurk with flying domestic International flights.

Because the plane is often flying in from a far flung country (Somewhere in Asia normally), there is a possibility that the plane will be quite late.

Normally in this situation though, you'll be shunted back to domestic terminal and accomodated on a regular flight to your domestic destination.
 
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