QF81 SYD-ADL-SIN, Can I access ADL lounge during stopover?

[adelaidefc]

Hi all,

I'm thinking of booking an ASA in J on QF81 later in the year flying from SYD (Int) to Adelaide, an hour or so stopover, then onto Singapore.
A simple question - can I access the Adelaide lounge during the stopover having already gone through immigration etc in Sydney?
An hour sitting around waiting in Adelaide would be far more enjoyable with snacks and a G&T

Thanks very much.

 

[Hvr]

I don't think so. When I flew HKG-ADL-MEL (CX) in J (SG) there were no OneWorld lounges air side at the international terminal.

 

[markis10]

No, the only QP is not over the border so to speak.

 

[adelaidefc]

Wow. Insanely quick replies thanks guys.
Probably not worth it then. I actually want to fly from CBR first, so the additional flying and hanging around in Adelaide would be a bit of a pain.
I think I might end up just saving the points and getting a classic award in premium econ. CBR-SYD-SIN. Unfortunately there's no J left for the dates I'm after.

 

[Aus ATC]

Is there anything to stop you clearing immigration in ADL (re-entering Australia), nipping into the QP for a quick G+T, and then leaving the country again? Other than allowing enough time.

 

[adelaidefc]

Haha yeah I guess not. Though given it's only a 1hr 10min gap you'd probably be reboarding fairly quickly now that I think about it.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Is there anything to stop you clearing immigration in ADL (re-entering Australia), nipping into the QP for a quick G+T, and then leaving the country again? Other than allowing enough time.

It's not something I would try as it's a reasonably short transit time in ADL so given you'd have to 'enter' Australia again & maybe have to explain to customs what the hell you're doing by the time you got to the lounge in would indeed be a very quick G+T as you'd have to leave the lounge to clear outwards customs to make your way back to the boarding gate.

If you did really want to access the lounge why not do 2 separate bookings & travel SYD/ADL with the orange 'D' sticker then obviously travel ADL/SIN internationally.

Will you have checked baggage? If you do at checkin in SYD you'd have to tell them you are connecting on to QF81 ADL/SIN but make sure you have different seat numbers on each sector or when then merge the flights to check the luggage through it will just give you the one boarding pass SYD/SIN.

Good luck explaining it to checkin as they'll probably think you need your head read never mind trying to convince them why you need to have an orange 'D' sticker on your SYD/ADL boarding pass.

Again it's not something I would attempt to do as I think it would create way too many hassles for a G+T you might not even get the time to drink.

 

[Awesom Andy]

Or do SYD-ADL on a normal domestic service, connecting to QF81. However, you'll be departing from SYD dom (and its associated QP), and having a dom J seat instead of the skybed mk1 for the leg.

 

[thewinchester]

Is there anything to stop you clearing immigration in ADL (re-entering Australia), nipping into the QP for a quick G+T, and then leaving the country again? Other than allowing enough time.

Yes, some annoyed Customs agents & their computers of death. Sadly, I have no idea where to find the exact information or procedures which would confirm this absolutely as a problem. Also don't know of anyone who's done this, nor a friendly CBP employee who could point me in the right direction to find the information. Will update if I get some more info.

In summary, such activity would cause a paperwork issue on your departure card - as SYD was your port of departure for border control purposes. Completing arrival procedures in ADL during the layover would flag all sorts of issues there and you'd expect to receive more than a few questions from them.

There's also the issue of your checked luggage aboard the plane, and as you'd left the international airside area this could cause a baggage reconciliation issue which could unnecessary delay the flight (specially if you didn't make it back to board on time).

 

[haggiscat]

Just get lashed on your way down and the interminable hour and a half inside the Adelaide international glasshouse will pass you by at great speed.

 

[adelaidefc]

Hahaha I'm sure I'll live.
I certainly had thought of flying domestic Y direct from CBR to ADL then onwards, but the oddities of the award flight system showed 2xJ available for QF81 from Sydney, but 0 on the ADL-SIN leg of same flight. Very odd.

 

[serfty]

Hahaha I'm sure I'll live.
I certainly had thought of flying domestic Y direct from CBR to ADL then onwards, but the oddities of the award flight system showed 2xJ available for QF81 from Sydney, but 0 on the ADL-SIN leg of same flight. Very odd.

Not really odd, quite normal with GDS's.

Qantas see a different market in SYD-SIN than ADL-SIN and I guess the ADL-SINs "seats" had been bought up.

 

[Fantic125]

The ADL QF lounge, although nice because it's quite large and well maintained, is not one I would make a special effort to visit particularly if I had to stuff around going in and out of immigration & customs.

Not worth it IMHO.

 

[medhead]

Or do SYD-ADL on a normal domestic service, connecting to QF81. However, you'll be departing from SYD dom (and its associated QP), and having a dom J seat instead of the skybed mk1 for the leg.

Not to mention forgoing SYD T1 lounges. Personally, I'd take a proper international lounge over the ADL QP any day and twice on Sunday.


Sent from the Throne (80% chance) using Aust Freq Fly app

 

[docjames]

Can you stay on the a/c?

 

[harvyk]

If you did really want to access the lounge why not do 2 separate bookings & travel SYD/ADL with the orange 'D' sticker then obviously travel ADL/SIN internationally.

<snip>

Good luck explaining it to checkin as they'll probably think you need your head read never mind trying to convince them why you need to have an orange 'D' sticker on your SYD/ADL boarding pass.

Again it's not something I would attempt to do as I think it would create way too many hassles for a G+T you might not even get the time to drink.

Would they even be allowed to hand over an orange D sticker for someone who is flying an international flight with a domestic leg and actually planning on leaving the country? I would imagine that would cause all sorts of issues if nothing else it means that the person would be required to "re-enter" Australia in ADL, and cause all sorts of issues for both customs and the airline, esp if schedules started getting a bit tight.

 

[tuapekastar]

Would they even be allowed to hand over an orange D sticker for someone who is flying an international flight with a domestic leg and actually planning on leaving the country? I would imagine that would cause all sorts of issues if nothing else it means that the person would be required to "re-enter" Australia in ADL, and cause all sorts of issues for both customs and the airline, esp if schedules started getting a bit tight.

If I understand what is being said, then I did this in January without problems, hand luggage only (had I had checked luggage, I guess I would just have collected from the carousel). Checked into JQi MEL-SYD with D sticker, went through the 'D' part of immigration at both MEL and SYD, wandered around/up to checkin at SYD and checked in at QF for SYD-SIN. No problems (except I had to line up with other people at MEL JQ checkin :shock:). Two separate bookings, which presumably did not know about each other.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Would they even be allowed to hand over an orange D sticker for someone who is flying an international flight with a domestic leg and actually planning on leaving the country?

I would imagine that would cause all sorts of issues if nothing else it means that the person would be required to "re-enter" Australia in ADL, and cause all sorts of issues for both customs and the airline, esp if schedules started getting a bit tight.

If the person planned to travel as a domestic pax SYD/ADL on the international flight QF81 ie not clear outwards customs until ADL, then the airline would be obliged to provide them with a 'D' sticker for the first boarding pass. I still think they would question why on earth anyone in their right mind would entertain thoughts of doing that.

 

[elbarto]

Interestingly, I noticed signs pointing to lounges in the section of terminal that gets closed off for international floghts. I followed them and they seemed to lead nowhere.

 

[adelaidefc]

Quick update - found a couple of ASA from CBR-SIN and ADL-SIN via MEL on QF9 in J flying the day before for the same points as a classic award. Was very pleased because those flights weren't available when I'd looked previously, and although I've flown QF J a few times, my scheduling keeps putting me on aging 747's and I've always missed out on the A380. FYI it was for the Singapore GP later this year, so I thought didn't have much hope getting the flights I was after.