International arrival in SYD and domestic departure to Melbourne?
 

I'm hoping someone can help me with this. My son will be arriving in Sydney from the USA and needs to buy a separate ticket from Sydney to Melbourne for travel on the same day. He didn't know before he bought the ticket that he needed to be in Melbourne that day and it will be cheaper to buy a separate ticket rather than change his original ticket.

He needs to buy his ticket soon, but we don't know how much time to allow between his arrival in Sydney, getting luggage, going through customs, then going to domestic terminal to check in for his separate ticket domestic flight--getting boarding pass, going through security, etc. etc.

Any insights? This will be on December 24, if that has any bearing on anything.

Christmas Eve will very likely be a zoo at both airports.

Your son's arrival time & domestic carrier will be factors; hopefully he will arrive early in the morning.

Qantas' domestic chaos might be slightly less than Virgin or Jetstar, and is in a separate terminal (3), whereas the other two are in the same terminal (2) These Terminals are located 15+ minutes from the International Terminal.

Airport Transfer bus or train may be quicker than a Taxi if there are long queues on the taxi rank.

I usually advise allowing about 2 1/2 - 3 hours, but I think I'd add an extra hour at least at Christmas.

Domestic check-in is 45 minutes before flight - and that's after he gets to the head of the queue. Note: Jetstar gives NO leeway on check-in; late check-in (irrespective of time spent in their queue) results in denial of carriage and forfeit of ticket cost.

I agree Bokhara - at least 3 hours but I'm inclined to go for 4 at that time of year.

Sounds a lot, but there are lots of opportunities for delays in a Christmas Eve inbound + domestic outbound.

Stormbird, did you get the photos I sent you?

Agree about allowing at least 4 hours. Sydney airport seems to be becoming more and more inefficient due to poor layout/more travellers. In spite of some new signage it can be difficult to navigate when it's really crowded.

Personally I'm a worry wart and I'd even allow more time to reduce the chance of missing the connection. He could always just have a cup of coffee if there's time to wait.

Also agree that 4 hours is probably about right for that date, both airports will be very crowded. The shuttle transport bus is the best and cheapest method to transfer from one terminal to the other. It can also be crowded, but departures are frequent and make sure you have a ticket prior to climbing aboard.
http://www.sydneyairport.com.au/SACL...-Transfer.html

I your son is arriving with Qantas they have their own shuttle over to the domestic airport and everything is done smoothly. If he is arriving with American I think their passengers can also use the Qantas shuttle and check in will be smooth.

Thanks everyone.

Does anyone have any advice about which airline (Qantas or one of the discount airlines) to fly Sydney to Melbourne? We're headed to the GOR so the Avalon Airport would be most convenient, I'm guessing. But that limits us to a specific airline.

With the proviso that Jetstar is strict about their check-in deadline, it really doesn't matter whether you fly Qantas, Jetstar (Qantas' budget subsidiary) or Virgin Blue - all are good airlines. Tiger Airlines, which I think is the carrier that uses Avalon, is cheap but not great at schedule-keeping because they have so few aircraft.

Granted Avalon would give you a head start for the GOR, but not all that much in the scheme of things, I would think - less than 1 hr certainly.

Tiger and Jetstar also use Melbouren airport so check where whatever you are searching for is departing from. I thought jetstar only used Avalon for international.
I always prefer to use the related airline