QF Minimum Connection Time - Is 30 mins enough? xMEL connecting to PER

[Rusty776]

Hi All

I've booked some J reward flights for the family in April. Returning flight is Syd-Mel-Perth. The connection time is 30 minutes (arrive 7.05pm and depart Mel 7.35pm) Is the 30 minutes enough? Never flown these legs before and the connection time seems short.

Thanks

 

[defurax]

Yes, the MCT for QF-QF domestic to domestic connection is 30 min at MEL. If you miss it QF will rebook you on next flight.

 

[kookaburra75]

Yes, the MCT for QF-QF domestic to domestic connection is 30 min at MEL. If you miss it QF will rebook you on next flight.

They will also hold up the connecting flight, as they know you are checked in to be on it. Otherwise they have to unload your luggage etc.

 

[AIRwin]

Otherwise they have to unload your luggage etc.

But the luggage will also be coming from the same inbound flight...

 

[AIRwin]

If you miss it QF will rebook you on next flight.

Next (and last) flight on the same evening is JQ with no J class so it'll be the next morning...

 

[jb747]

They will also hold up the connecting flight, as they know you are checked in to be on it. Otherwise they have to unload your luggage etc.

I wouldn’t count on that.

 

[Rusty776]

Thanks everyone who has shared info. I don't like the sound of JQ no J class or staying overnight. Fingers crossed everything runs close to time.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

No lounge(ing) time, for MEL QFd J lounge anyway.
Much better than the (un)upgraded SYD QFd J lounge.
Bit sad that one trip tho.

 

[RichardMEL]

This should be usually doable. Assuming the MEL-PER flight is an A330 there's a limited set of gates that handle the aircraft, which are at the end of both piers (ie: gates 11/12 and 23/24 iirc) so your longest walk potentially might be from gate 10 to say gate 23 but just as easily your SYD-MEL could arrive just a few gates down from the departure. Either way I reckon the longest walk would be, for most folks, 10 minutes. It is tight, but doable. Of course there's always the chance the inbound for PER could be delayed and it's a non issue.

If it was me though honestly I'd see if space was available on an earlier flight out of SYD just to be sure. You're looking at a peak departure slot out of SYD of 1730 and there can be delays. Now if one is lucky and you get a sweet runway config at SYD you can have a very quick light (last week we were in the air 5min after push back which was very very quick and we arrived in MEL 25min or so ahead of schedule). However all you need is a long taxi and a 10 minute delay in departure and you could be in a bit of trouble. Later in the day any issues that crop up can cause cascading delays (potentially) that can affect ops (weather, etc). I'd be less worried, for example, if it was 7:30am than 7:30pm for that factor.

While QF absolutely SHOULD hold the PER connection since they absolutely know you're on the way, it doesn't always happen. I wouldn't just assume it to be a given, and as noted above connecting checked bags are a separate issue that may or may not get there in time.

In theory you shouldn't need to worry about it. it does meet MCT and MEL T1 domestic is pretty easy to navigate and move around. I guess comes down to the comfort factor of having that time buffer.

I realise you're talking reward seats so this could be tricky trying to get an earlier flight out of SYD with availability but it's worth asking the question imo. Just for peace of mind.

 

[jb747]

While QF absolutely SHOULD hold the PER connection since they absolutely know you're on the way, it doesn't always happen. I wouldn't just assume it to be a given, and as noted above connecting checked bags are a separate issue that may or may not get there in time.

There used to be a rule (of thumb) of one minute per passenger. There was a max of about 10 minutes, but I don't recall for sure. It's also affected by many other factors. Personally, I would never use such a short connection, unless I happened to be actually flying the second aircraft.

 

[ChrisMars]

In case OP can't get an earlier award ticket, something I would consider trying in this situation is to come to SYD airport earlier enough to check-in before the previous SYD-MEL service, and ask if it's possible to get the earlier flight, explaining that the connection is only 30 min at MEL.

I have done that multiple time with a connecting (international) flight, and only one time I had to kindly insist with the agent, who cleared that with a quick phone call to a supervisor (the ticket were not a flex, but I pointed out that this change would only affect the first flight, I won't arrive earlier at destination, and it will give me more time to go through TRS). My conditions were different, so It might not work in OP case. CBR-SYD-LHR, Y sales, solo WP traveller, on quiet Saturdays most of the time.

If it doesn't work, well, at least you have J lounge in Sydney, so the extra wait won't be too bad. Might make sense to check the flight load on expert flyer to see how J looks like, and could help to be prepared to downgrade the least favourite kid to Y on the SYD-MEL if J looks almost full .

 

[Rusty776]

Thanks again everyone for the replies... this is a great forum. I originally selected the flights as it was an A330 all the way through but happy to fly 737 on the Syd-Mel leg to ensure the A330 to Perth (can't see any A330's to Mel earlier in the day) A lot of the reward tickets are no longer available.

I think the best option is to arrive at Syd early as Chris Mars suggested and see if we can depart a little earlier to increase Mel CT , if not looks like I'm rolling the dice. If Mrs R has to stay overnight or fly Y with JQ this could be the last flight I book!!

Cheers

 

[RichardMEL]

well if it is A330 SYD-MEL-PER is is likely same plane (chance it is not, but seems likely it would be) so all of those concerns go out the window. My only thing against it being the same plane is a 30 minute turnaround for a widebody seems... optimistic

I would be more comfortable in this scenario tbh.

 

[jb747]

well if it is A330 SYD-MEL-PER is is likely same plane (chance it is not, but seems likely it would be) so all of those concerns go out the window. My only thing against it being the same plane is a 30 minute turnaround for a widebody seems... optimistic

The scheduling people periodically had fits of timing wide bodies that closely....and then wondered what was wrong with the crews that they couldn't do it. No matter how often they were told, it would hang around like a bad smell. I guess it made their CPI (or whatever) look good, whilst simultaneously destroying any chance of the schedule actually working.

 

[Rusty776]

Thanks Richard.. just looked at Google flights for the day and there appears to only be 1 A330 flight Syd-Mel. Things can obviously change, but it does look like the same plane being used all the way through to Perth. Looks like I'm risking it.

 

[wannabeinvestmentbanker]

I would change purely from the perspective that who would want to start a holiday with stress around flight timings when SYD-MEL offers so many flight time options.

As a regular on that route ATC delays into MEL are pretty common and delays on the 330 are even more common at that time of day once they've compounded from earlier.

 

[RichardMEL]

Thanks Richard.. just looked at Google flights for the day and there appears to only be 1 A330 flight Syd-Mel. Things can obviously change, but it does look like the same plane being used all the way through to Perth. Looks like I'm risking it.

It's more about where the A330 for MEL-PER is sourced from.

For example it could be incoming from PER, an international sector or yes even the flight from SYD or even out of an A check or ferried from somewhere else, etc You just can't assume one funds the other.

Additionally the SYD-MEL A330 if it does not go to PER could then go onto an international sector or some other service.

And again the reason I suggest it may be funded from somewhere else is that 30 minute turnaround. As jb says it has been known to be scheduled, but usually in my experience the 330's have been scheduled longer stays which, to me anyway, implies it may not be same plane.

Either way though if it' not the same plane, an incoming A330 (which could get downguaged of course) would dock at one of those widebody capable gates ieL 11/12/23/24, and a connection to another A330 may even be just walking across to the opposite gate.

 

[BD1959]

The scheduling people periodically had fits of timing wide bodies that closely....and then wondered what was wrong with the crews that they couldn't do it. No matter how often they were told, it would hang around like a bad smell. I guess it made their CPI (or whatever) look good, whilst simultaneously destroying any chance of the schedule actually working.

For a while I preferred to take A330s down from SYD to MEL but soon got fed up with the fact that the (usually) scheduled A330 xx:00 late afternoon/eveing service would depart later than the B737 xx:15 service and so switched booking the B737s - which not only seemed to be able to maintain an allocated turnaround better, there was less chance of having to offload (down to simple numbers of passengers). They also tended to price Y slightly cheaper .. if one of the services was cancelled it tended to be the xx:15 and the WP line would invariably offer me the xx:00 as an option anyway!

Regards,

BD

 

[astrosly]

Thanks Richard.. just looked at Google flights for the day and there appears to only be 1 A330 flight Syd-Mel. Things can obviously change, but it does look like the same plane being used all the way through to Perth. Looks like I'm risking it.

Which day in April? ITA Matrix is showing most days that month with 4x flights.



The 10pm isn't scheduled on Fridays and only the 7am is on Saturdays. No A330s on Sundays. Interested in spending some time in Melbourne?

Of course there is no guarantee that this schedule will stick come April. I've had many J reward tickets booked on A330 over the last 3 months which kept getting swapped to B737. Luckily I could find in most cases another A330 service that was suitable and with a reward seat; it was easier to find one on the A330 as it has 28 business class seats vs 12 on the B737 which may be why you might find it difficult to get the number of rewards seats available on an alternative B737 from SYD for your whole family (how many seats?) before and especially on the day. If you are keen to move to an earlier flight you may need to consider splitting up the family over two flights SYD-MEL that afternoon.

 

[Rusty776]

13th and 3 passengers. When I booked the reward seats the only flights with J on A330 was Syd -Mel-Per. Looking at the schedule above the first two are probably too early and the 10pm won't arrive in time for the connection. I'll keep an eye out for any changes. I'm thinking it's going to be a nervous wait leaving Sydney... hopefully on time!!