Sydney Qantas domestic transfer desk stuff up

[NM]

If the Q is so long to catch the transfer bus between the international and domestic terminals, catching the train for $5 seems a quick, easy solution (I think you could easily manage with 1 large suitcase and a cabin bag)...I know it's $5 vs free but if it is the difference between missing and catching a connecting flight....:idea:
Terminal Transfers :: AirportLink

Note the question was about making the Sydney Domestic to International transfer. I have never seen a queue for the transfer in that direction. The queuing is generally in the other direction as people need to deposit their checked bags at the domestic transfer counters and adjust flights that may have been missed due to late international arrivals etc.

Outbound processing at SYD is generally no problem for long queues.

So is choosing to use the BNE-SYD-SFO-BOS option, he won't need to carry any bags on the train from SYD Domestic to SYD International since they will have been checked through to BOS (for collection at SFO for customs processing) at BNE and he does not see the checked bags at SYD.

 

[kpc]

Note the question was about making the Sydney Domestic to International transfer. I have never seen a queue for the transfer in that direction. The queuing is generally in the other direction as people need to deposit their checked bags at the domestic transfer counters and adjust flights that may have been missed due to late international arrivals etc.

I was actually referring to the delays regarding int ---> domestic transfers at Syd as opposed to directly referring to MEH's situation above. It appears that if you were going from int---->domestic, you would already have checked your bags in at the international terminal for your domesticc flight, so you you shouldn't really need to carry your suitcases on the train. I have never transitted through Syd (and never will!) but catching the train from the int to domestic terminal would seemimgly solve all the wait issues mentioned in the first few posts of this thread!:mrgreen:

 

[serfty]

Note the question was about making the Sydney Domestic to International transfer. I have never seen a queue for the transfer in that direction. The queuing is generally in the other direction as people need to deposit their checked bags at the domestic transfer counters and adjust flights that may have been missed due to late international arrivals etc. ...

This can happen; I have seen it so crowded in the domestic -> international waiting room in SYD that the escalator's emergency stop button had to be used as it was continuously dumping PAX at the the bottom with nowhere to go. :shock:

Admittedly, this sort of event be rare.

 

[NM]

This can happen; I have seen it so crowded in the domestic -> international waiting room in SYD that the escalator's emergency stop button had to be used as it was continuously dumping PAX at the the bottom with nowhere to go. :shock:

Admittedly, this sort of event be rare.

And did they have to wait for multiple bus cycles to get all the passengers through? I have never seen more than one b*s load of people waiting to transfer at a time.

 

[NM]

It appears that if you were going from int---->domestic, you would already have checked your bags in at the international terminal for your domesticc flight, so you you shouldn't really need to carry your suitcases on the train.

The delay is not generally at the b*s transfer, but in queuing for the domestic bag-drop/check-in desks at the international terminal. Once the bags are dropped, the queue for the b*s is rarely more than can fit onto the next b*s.

I have never transitted through Syd (and never will!) but catching the train from the int to domestic terminal would seemimgly solve all the wait issues mentioned in the first few posts of this thread!:mrgreen:

The train is only going to be faster if you don't use the domestic check-in facility at the international terminal and lug your bags on the train and check them in at the domestic terminal, which assumes the check-in queues at the domestic terminal are shorter.

but none of this is relevant to MEH as he is transferring the other direction.

I have used the train to transfer when I was not entitled to use the bus (arrived QF domestic and meeting a colleague arriving at Int terminal) and it is convenient. But I would only consider it as an alternative to the Qantas b*s if the delay at the international terminal domestic check-in looked like being in excess of 30 mins.

 

[serfty]

And did they have to wait for multiple bus cycles to get all the passengers through? I have never seen more than one b*s load of people waiting to transfer at a time.

Yep, It was around 9am - we came down and could not get to the lounge with queues along the passage. They put on additional buses, but it still took 30 minutes for us to actually get on one (That with going and standing by the Bus exit door as soon as we could get into the waiting area proper).

 

[kpc]

The train is only going to be faster if you don't use the domestic check-in facility at the international terminal and lug your bags on the train and check them in at the domestic terminal, which assumes the check-in queues at the domestic terminal are shorter.

Fair enough...but you can always go to the front of the domestic Qs if your flight is impending, and if you have any OW status, you can usually check in at the premium desks, or use bag drop off if you already have your BP

but none of this is relevant to MEH as he is transferring the other direction.

...but as previously stated, I was not anwering his Q but the few posts at the start of this thread stating that it was taking 1-1.5 hours to transfer at peak periods from Syd int ---->domestic, and people were missing / nearly missing their connecting domestic flights.

But I would only consider it as an alternative to the Qantas b*s if the delay at the international terminal domestic check-in looked like being in excess of 30 mins

And that's the point I'm trying to make!!...in partic. reference for these individuals:

After waiting for what seemed like hours, an official came running down the line saying there was a wait of at least 1 1/2 hours,

I have a feeling this might not be an isolated occurrence...

I've had the same thing a few times arriving back from LHR/SIN - whilst the customs & immigration hall is fairly empty, walking out to the domestic transfer desk results in a queue back past the groundside shops and signs advising of a 90+ minute wait.

I experienced exactly the same situation when arriving from Bangkok on Tue 21st April so it's certainly not an isolated occurrence.
People were missing connections left right and centre.

With a 2:30 connection time, I was able to make my connection to ADL with just enough time to pick up the mandatory box of KK doughnuts at T3

So, even with express cards, no customs/quarantine x-ray and a "premium" queuing it still took nearly 1½ hours.

Faced with missing my connecting domestic flight because of long delays at the international terminal domestic check-in, or catching the train for $5 to get from the int to domestic terminal, even with luggage in tow, this is the option I would be choosing and recommending!:idea:

 

[colinw]

We are flying to Brisbane via Sydney next week. We are flying LHR->SYD->Brisbane

We have a two hour gap between the Sydney arrival and the departure of the Brisbane flight. A couple of questions. We are due to arrive at about 8:00pm on a Friday evening. Will a gap of 2 hours be enough for the transfer. Will out bags be checked all the way through to Brisbane or will we have to pick them up at Sydney and take them through customs. I am presuming we will be going through customs at Sydney before flying to Brisbane.
Thanks in advance

Correction:

It is about 7:00pm that we arrive at Sydney

 

[Zulaiha]

I only can tell you what I've been through, flew in from Jakarta to Adelaide via Sydney on the 21st of July.

Not quite 2 hrs but almost 2 hrs connection.

I did not make it, the bag did not come out over an hour after the plane landed. They said something wrong with the belt? Not sure what was that.

Q for almost an hour at before passing the custom, and another hour before served at the tranfer desk.

needless to say, I missed my connection flight.

 

[colinw]

I only can tell you what I've been through, flew in from Jakarta to Adelaide via Sydney on the 21st of July.

Not quite 2 hrs but almost 2 hrs connection.

I did not make it, the bag did not come out over an hour after the plane landed. They said something wrong with the belt? Not sure what was that.

Q for almost an hour at before passing the custom, and another hour before served at the tranfer desk.

needless to say, I missed my connection flight.

What time of the day was that arrival?

 

[Zulaiha]

Oh sorry, been meaning to add, I arrived first thing in the morning around 6 am.

PSS:
I don't know if there is any connection with the fact that Jakarta just been bombed, that was why some extra security was added from plane landed from Jakarta? Because seems like I had to go through too many security checks even after landing?

 

[colinw]

Oh sorry, been meaning to add, I arrived first thing in the morning around 6 am.

PSS:
I don't know if there is any connection with the fact that Jakarta just been bombed, that was why some extra security was added from plane landed from Jakarta? Because seems like I had to go through too many security checks even after landing?

Thanks for that info. I am a bit worried but I am hoping at 7:00pm that the flight will be on time and that everything works OK.

 

[serfty]

6am-10am SYD T1 arrivals is a zoo!

7pm should be a lot quieter and 2 hours should be JUST enough.

If you are on the one booking you should be protected.

What carrier(s) are you fling with?

 

[colinw]

6am-10am SYD T1 arrivals is a zoo!

7pm should be a lot quieter and 2 hours should be JUST enough.

If you are on the one booking you should be protected.

What carrier(s) are you fling with?

It's a Qantas international and Qantas domestic flight. All on the one ticket. I presume I will have to collect my bags at Sydney and check them in again.

 

[notzac]

It's a Qantas international and Qantas domestic flight. All on the one ticket. I presume I will have to collect my bags at Sydney and check them in again.

You presume correctly. I wouldn't worry about it too much, as serfty mentioned you're arriving at a relatively quiet time for SYD International, and even if you were to miss your connection you'll most likely just get placed on the next available flight.

 

[colinw]

You presume correctly. I wouldn't worry about it too much, as serfty mentioned you're arriving at a relatively quiet time for SYD International, and even if you were to miss your connection you'll most likely just get placed on the next available flight.

Thanks. The only problem with missing the flight is that there is only one jetstar flight after that one and that leaves 25 minutes later. The next flights would be early next morning and we are actually flying to Vanuatu with Virgin from Brisbane that morning. I just pray it all goes OK and we get a night in Brisbane before our flight to Vanuatu.

 

[Flashback]

Yeh, the first thing that sprung to mind for me was that there may not be too many flights after your scheduled SYD-BNE service, and you may need to overnight (at QF's expense, I would imagine).

 

[colinw]

Yeh, the first thing that sprung to mind for me was that there may not be too many flights after your scheduled SYD-BNE service, and you may need to overnight (at QF's expense, I would imagine).

That would be OK if we had to overnight at QF's expense! I am hoping the flights are on time and that I am just worrying about it to much.

 

[Quark999]

Hi,

I guess this is just the right place to ask this - I've recently made two bookings, one with Jetstar for JQ204 from AKL to SYD (arriving at 17:15), and one with Qantas for QF552 from SYD to BNE (departing at 20:05).

I have only now realized that if I had somehow been able to do this in one booking, I would have been able to check my baggage through from Auckland. I gave Qantas a ring, and they said they couldn't combine those bookings (it was a long shot anyway, but if anyone knows a way of doing this, please let me know).

Anyway, I am now wondering whether I should just "immigrate" entirely and then transfer using the train and check in domestically again, or whether I'm better off using this mysterious transfer desk. Can I potentially already pick up my Qantas boarding pass in Auckland? Or if not, can I pick it up at that transfer desk? Or do I already need to have it when I get to that?

It sounds like the transfer desk is after baggage claim and immigration/customs?

Many thanks for clarification! I've only been to Sydney once, so I don't *quite* know where everything is at the airport...

 

[Lucky_man]

Quark999

You have to immigrate completely to get to either the transfer desks or the train. And the transfer desk is where you will drop your luggage off and get your onward boarding pass. Getting the boarding pass in advnace wont help much any way as you still need to drop the luggage.

With the transfer desk - if it gets tight on time - let a Qantas person know and you are likely to get fastracked. Understand though that their idea of what is tight and your idea of what is tight may be different. They often call out flights "All those on QF.... please come to this desk/front of line".

If you take the train you are not in their sight to be fastracked until you are at the other terminal.

If your flight arrives on time it should be more than comfortable connection time. But that is a substantial if.