Hmmm annoying, thanks for the info though. They sent the updated ticket with new times but didn't 'reissue' the ticket as the date is still the same as when originally purchased.
Wondering whether I open the can of worms which means going up the night before (with 2 kids in tow).
Does anyone know if check in is an issue if under MCT even though a 'valid' ticket?
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If you do not make that first flight from HBA -> SYD, that flight to JNB will be cancelled, as a no show.
If you had done a separate booking, earlier on, unlinked PNR, then its ok.
But with a linked PNR, you cant miss any begining sectors, it all has to follow the linkage, sad to say.
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You will need to be at HBA airport very early, to do bag drop, and show passport to be swiped into their keyboard, so you do not need to do this at T1 in SYD.
At T1, as the D -> I bus drops you off, you just go through to outgoing int sec screening, and smartgate outgoing passport via the staffed gate.
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If for some reason your HBA -> SYD flight is cancelled, by QF, then its up to them to deal with it.
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Best not to leap frog it, ie, make your "own way up" to SYD, and not follow the line of the booking.