SYD minimum connect time

I believe it is about 90 minutes. The best way to find the relevent info is to use Expert Flyer and see what it lists as a valid connection for the itinerary you wish to do

I have noticed it does vary on carriers; I have found that a connection which is invalid to do as MEL-SYD-HNL on QF , is perfectly acceptable if booked on AA

Dave

 

Dave where would you find that on Expert Flyer? I have a premium account and am not sure where it would validate an itinerary?

 

for a MEL-SYD-HNL itinerary, for example, do MEL-HNL with SYD set as the connecting airport. It will retuirn legal connections for MEL-SYD-HNL.

Dave

 

some, but not all, airlines publish MCTs in their timetables (pdfs) - unfortunately QF isnt one of them

 

Ahh - just tried a MEL-SYD-LAX and the minimum time was 80mins.

I just have to wonder why people would seek to minimise the connection time. I normally start with where I need to be and when, what flights get me to that point and work backwards.

 

I try to minimise connection times since they reduce the journey time. If I was taking a flight from MEL-HKG, I would want a flight from SYD-MEL which keeps the time spent connecting to a minimum

Dave

 

Agree. Note that some airlines MCTs are ridiculous in some situations (both too high and too low).

For example AC->NZ connection at LAX has 3 hour MCT despite being in the same terminal and no immigration to clear. That very nearly stuffed up an award earlier this year (until I was able to get availability via SFO instead).

Another example, but too small, LH->LH at FRA used to be 45 minutes no matter where came from and where going to. Some connections involve usual air traffic delays (busy period), bus gate, bus drops off in one part of terminal, 3 lots of security to pass through to get to gate for US or TLV bound flight. It is almost physically impossible to do this under 45 minutes (well under allowing for doors close 10 minutes prior). There are other cases (airport/airline) where MCT is 20 minutes, or even less. There is no allowance for any delays, and in some seasons delays are inevitable due to fog or snow.

 

Thanks for the input guys - always a learning experience for me. Again comes down to lack of complex itineraries historically. Looks like my trip next March is going to be interesting planning I just planned a ridiculous journey on a DONE4 (for experimentation) taht had 40K miles flown :shock: I think that there will be a LOT of fine tuning of that before I get even close to booking.

 

40k flown isnt ridiculous, some I've played with have been over 70k flown (and could have been even longer but for wanting to optimise QF SCs - which means favouring shorter AA 2-class us flights over longer AA 2-class caribbean/central america/mexico/canada flights).