MEL to LHR on BA in May

[cgichard]

Please forgive these queries from an infrequent flyer.

Because of the re-orientation of Qantas, I've had to change my original booking (pre-ticket issue, fortunately). Although I have KrisFlyer membership and would normally choose SQ for both outward and return flights, I need to connect with a BA group flight out of T5 with check-in at 6.15am so decided to go outward on BA to get there early enough and avoid having to change terminals at Heathrow. (Return will be on an SQ award flight.)

Now I'm offered a choice between a 7hr wait in Singapore or travelling via Sydney with a shorter overall journey time. My preference is the latter. But how long do I need to allow for bus transit between the Domestic and International terminals in Sydney? Can I check in my baggage at MEL through to LHR and be sure it will make the connection? And my travel agent says I can't select a seat at time of booking but have to do so online 24 hours before travel, and I can't even express a preference for a window seat. Is this correct? I haven't travelled with BA since they stopped flying out of MEL, so I have no status whatsoever.

 

[JohnPhelan]

Yes, you can check your luggage in with QF in MEL, and they will tag it through to LHR or your final destination (if its outside of the UK). They will also give you the BA boarding passes. Go to the serviced QF check-in desks at Tullamarine, as they'll need to sight your passport.

I always work on a minimum connection time (domestic to international) in SYD of two hours, though it can be done in less (I think the minimum that the airport allows is one hour). I like to have a bit of a buffer though. In general, I aim for about three hours, to be sure. You will connect via the QF bus which departs from the international transfer area opposite gate 1 in the QF domestic terminal. The bus goes about every 10 to 20 minutes, depending on time of day, and it takes about 10 minutes to drive around the perimeter of the airport. Great views of aircraft, close-up.

I take it you don't have status with QF? If you did have it at Gold or above, then you would have free seat selection on BA. If you don't have status, then you can allocate seats on BA from the time of booking, but there is a charge for this (about $60 per sector, from memory). I am very surprised your travel agent doesn't know/didn't tell you about this.

 

[cgichard]

Thanks, John, that's very helpful. No, no status with QF. I'll check back with my agent about seat allocation: she's always trying to save me money, but for long-haul flights at my age I'm prepared to pay extra for a preferred seat. At this point, I think I have only a reservation, not a firm booking. There's some anxiety about possible further schedule changes between now and May,

My onward trip is to Athens on BA but with a group, and travelling on my UK rather than my Australian passport for ease of entry with the rest of the group. But that's on a group ticket and in a slightly different name, so I thought it might be best to retrieve my luggage and recheck it at T5.

Meanwhile, having read a little about queues and transit delays at Sydney Airport, even though you tell me I can book my luggage right through, I've started to wonder whether a 7 hr delay at Singapore might not be preferable. I was thinking I could book a room for 6 hours in the Transit Hotel, which I have done previously for 8 hours to give an overnight break before a longer onward flight from Heathrow.

 

[cgichard]

Giving this further thought:
I've found I can get an SQ award flight MEL-SIN with timing very similar to the Qantas flight, leaving just 20minutes later and so reducing the wait by only 20 mins and covering the cost of that leg of the journey. BUT I do need to travel SIN-LHR on BA so as to arrive early enough and into T5 for my group flight onward. So how do I buy a ticket for SIN-LHR on BA from Australia. My travel agent says it can't be done. Is that true? Could I book it & pay for it online myself?