MEL-LAX - experiences connecting through BNE

[theevilmuppet]

Hi all,

I've finally found a use for some of my Velocity points and am flying to LAX next April in J (upgraded from Flexi). Beyond hoping that I'll be enjoying the newly upgraded Business Class seats, I was hoping some fellow members would be willing to share their experiences flying this route via BNE.

My Melbourne departure has a boarding time of 0700 - as offensive a time as this is to be getting on a plane for a holiday, I'm more concerned about the checkin process. I'm assuming the following (please correct any of the following assumptions with extreme prejudice):

• Online checkin is not an option
• The bag drop counter is not an option and I'll need to check in and have my bags checked by staff
• I'll need to be at the airport at ~0500
• I'll not be going through Customs in Melbourne
• I'll probably end up regretting not spending the extra and flying NZ via Auckland as to avoid getting up so early

Once I'm in Brisbane, there's 1 hour 40 minute wait between scheduled landing of the MEL-BNE leg and departure of the BNE-LAX leg. With that in mind (again, please set any of my silliness straight):

• Has anyone had any experience with flight delays on the domestic connection? If the scheduled departure from MEL just doesn't happen for some reason, will I find myself arguing with VA whilst wasting my leave or will the BNE-LAX leg be delayed?
• Is there any reason to rush or be concerned given the connection time?
• Will Customs forms be given out upon reaching BNE or prior?
• Will I regret deciding to fly VA when arriving at LAX at 0655, effectively wasting most of a day to recover from jetlag?

Thanks to all who reply.

 

[Mumfreqflyer]

I found no jet lag last year when we did per - hkg - lax in J.

Slept quite a lot including miss1 and miss 2.5.

Landed around 7am and straight out to Disneyland for the day.

 

[HeavyElectricity]

You can fill out your customs departure card using the BNE mobile app. There is a machine in the corner where people fill out their cards which you can use to scan your phone and it will print out the completed card. This saved me a bit of time when i used it back in June, although my flights weren't connecting so I'm not sure if you'd go through customs a different way?

 

[theevilmuppet]

I found no jet lag last year when we did per - hkg - lax in J.

What sort of wake up time, take off time and total travel time did you experience? How about lay over in HKG?

The experience from MEL is likely to be very different given the more direct and shorter path I would suggest.

 

[Wezza]

I did TSV-BNE-SIN-AUH-DME last Boxing Day, departure time out of TSV was 0600. (Very offensive) No issues connecting onto EY in BNE. Given my connection time was about 3 hours, but I was there in plenty of time even with the terminal packed with holiday travelers.

 

[scwappy]

I would only turn up an hour before, two hours is not required.

 

[mmikeemike]

I would only turn up an hour before, two hours is not required.

Agree with scwappy. Your first leg is a domestic so you only need an hour.

They should check you and your luggage through and when you get to BNE you get the T-Bus between terminals.

1:40 might be a tight connection, so don't muck around.

 

[mooingchicken]

There is also the train, which can be quicker than the bus if you have the right timing (train is only every 30mins) and I *think* if u are connecting in J then they give u a free pass on it, but I have never done it so not sure on that one

 

[aaronm]

I did the same MEL-BNE-LAX on my last trip. Transfer time between BNE domestic and international was not an issue, though we were directed to the Airtrain and not the bus. From memory we took an earlier flight out of MEL, departing at 0600 rather than 0700. Arrived at MEL 90 minutes before flight but 60 would have been plenty. Customs forms will be given out at BNE, although as others have noted you can pre-fill via the BNE app.

Have never had any issue with jetlag going from Australia to US west coast, arriving at 7am is great as you can enjoy the whole day, head to bed about 9pm and basically be adjusted to the new timezone by the following day.

 

[grubbidok]

There is also the train, which can be quicker than the bus if you have the right timing (train is only every 30mins) and I *think* if u are connecting in J then they give u a free pass on it, but I have never done it so not sure on that one

Everyone transferring on VA *definitely* gets a free inter-terminal pass on Airtrain irrespective of flight class. It's only QF that make you catch the bus (with VA you can catch the bus too, if you prefer or if it is more convenient).

RE: 0655 landing in LAX. I quite like this time as I think it gives you an *extra* day, and do it about 4-5x/yr. It's relatively easy to get the sleep you need on the plane in the ~13hr stretch - even easier if you're still tired from an early morning start (in fact, I find transferring this pain to before the flight reduces the pain after the flight). VA thankfully are one of the few airlines to still offer eye covers and ear plugs in *all* classes. In J it will be even easier.

The real thing you need to concern yourself with is getting out the door of the plane as quick as you can at LAX. There are a couple of flights arriving from China at the same time. Even though you can use the ESTA machines now, it still creates havoc at customs if you don't beat them.

 

[Denali]

You mentioned April, is that around school holiday time?

I ask because In April we flew Syd>Bne>LAX and the Brisbane Domestic terminal, Airtrain and International security and immigration took an hour and we then had to make our way to the gate - it was a mad house and it was school holidays. The express passes didn't mean a thing as it was mayhem.

I would be trying to get an earlier domestic flight if I was you.

 

[notzac]

Online checkin is not an option

Nope.

The bag drop counter is not an option and I'll need to check in and have my bags checked by staff

Gut Feel is that this is also a nope - you need check in staff that are trained for International flights, and bag drop staff may not be.

I'll need to be at the airport at ~0500

I'd personally arrive at 6 - gives you time for brekkie in the lounge, which is likely better than what you'll get in the plane.

I'll not be going through Customs in Melbourne

As mentioned by others.. domestic up to BNE, transfer to International terminal and then proceed through outbound immigration there.

I'll probably end up regretting not spending the extra and flying NZ via Auckland as to avoid getting up so early

Especially given you'll be flying in the new J product BNELAX .. I don't think you'll regret it, no.

Has anyone had any experience with flight delays on the domestic connection? If the scheduled departure from MEL just doesn't happen for some reason, will I find myself arguing with VA whilst wasting my leave or will the BNE-LAX leg be delayed?

If fog / something else is holding up departures out of MEL, you could potentially miss your connection .. assuming you have everything on one ticket, I don't think it's worth worrying about. VA would look after you in case of a misconnect.

Is there any reason to rush or be concerned given the connection time?

You'll want to transfer from domestic to international in BNE sharpish, yes. Shouldn't need to run though

Will Customs forms be given out upon reaching BNE or prior?

Use the app to pre-fill the form, as has already been mentioned.

Will I regret deciding to fly VA when arriving at LAX at 0655, effectively wasting most of a day to recover from jetlag?

I agree with others - assuming you manage to get some decent sleep on the flight - I find the arrival time works well to get a full day of stuff done.

 

[theevilmuppet]

You mentioned April, is that around school holiday time?

I ask because In April we flew Syd>Bne>LAX and the Brisbane Domestic terminal, Airtrain and International security and immigration took an hour and we then had to make our way to the gate - it was a mad house and it was school holidays. The express passes didn't mean a thing as it was mayhem.

I would be trying to get an earlier domestic flight if I was you.

Thanks for the advice. Thankfully I'm leaving MEL in the last few days of April, so I will only be overlapping with the last day or so of the school holidays and even then only for some states (none of which are Queensland, New South Wales or Victoria).

 

[marcoakis]

Hi theevilmuppet

Did you upgrade the MEL-BNE leg to business as well? I'm flying to LAX in the same route but no availability has been available to upgrade the outbound domestic leg, even though I've been looking every week for 9 months or so.

 

[theevilmuppet]

Hi theevilmuppet

Did you upgrade the MEL-BNE leg to business as well? I'm flying to LAX in the same route but no availability has been available to upgrade the outbound domestic leg, even though I've been looking every week for 9 months or so.

Hi there Marcoakis,

Yes, I did. Admittedly I did book the whole thing via the MCC as I wanted to avoid the race hazard that could result in not getting an upgrade for the BNE-LAX leg (availability looks a bit terrible these days).

 

[Cryptarcadian]

Given your first leg is domestic, domestic check-in cut-offs apply, right? All they need to do is tag your bags to your final destination.

When it's not a busy time, domestic to international at BNE is very easy. But be aware of the frequent ATC delays arriving into BNE. We had non-connecting VA and HA tickets (i.e. had to collect and re-check luggage), so allowed ourselves almost 2.5 hours to connect, but you can do it in much less when it's all going smoothly.

The bus is free for everybody and the journey time is similar to the train, but leaves kerbside rather than up a long ramp. So if you walk out of the terminal and see a bus pull up, jump on the bus even if you're holding a train pass!

 

[pythonisman]

Concur with others that an hour before your MEL-BNE flight is ample. Head straight to priority boarding and they'll sort you out- I've done this many times from Sydney and always aim for 60 minutes.
It takes maybe an extra 5 minutes to check you in as the domestic counter puts your details into the system VA use to notify the US government of your arrival (or so I was told last time, when the system was breaking a bit and it took maybe 10 minutes and a supervisor override).

And yes, you get a sticker which can be used to redeem a pass on the train, or just get on the free T bus. The last few times I've done this I've used the bus, as it runs every 10 minutes and leaves/arrives a couple of hundred metres closer to the terminal than the train.

Flying in J I've not had issues with the arrivals hall at LAX after VA7, it's always pretty deserted - LAX has really become way less painful than it used to be, which I'm very happy about!

I take a prophylactic sleep aid when I want to sleep on the transpacs that leave at ~10am, even if I've had an early morning I still can't sleep. Usually about 4-5hrs in (~2 movies + meal + reading over a drink in the bar) and it helps me get a pretty solid ~7 hrs shuteye on the plane, usually. I can't wait for them to refresh the interiors of the 777!!

 

[serfty]

I did this earlier this year and agree with much of the previous comment.

Just to add - at MEL check-in they generally have special international connections counters to the far SW corner of the check-in area.

You will be given a Boarding pass folder, on it is a tear-off tab - this is your train ticket - you will need to surrender it when you arrive at the BNE domestic train station.

Also, I arrived at two hours before my MEL-BNE flight and was able to use flyahead from the lounge (they would not do it at check-in - YMMV) for the leg to BNE. This took much of the worry out of the BNE transfer.