Husband and I are leaving for Australia tomorrow. I wanted to do a quick check with you all to see if our Sydney transportation plans are good:

August 18-flight from Ayers Rock lands in the domestic terminal of SYD

We plan to purchase train tickets into Sydney-we will try for student discount or group discount (do you have to have 4 people to get discount)-is this the best deal? Does anyone recommend the bus over the train? Our hotel is in the Rocks so Circular Quay is our stop.

We will purchase the Red Travelpass even though we only have 3 full days in Sydney. We do not plan to go as far out as Manly (green pass).

Finally, we will purchase a return trip to the airport on August 22.

***Is there a way to connect between the international and domestic Sydney airport terminals without paying a bus or train fee?***

Thank you very much!

A taxi to the city from either airport will cost approx AUD30. Similar to a bus or train. Train is faster than bus to CQ. We take taxis between airports. To the best of my knowledge there is no free shuttle! There is also a day explorer ticket rail/bus if you don't need a travel pass. You can walk to everything in the city. Have a whale of a time. (Whale in Sydney harbour yesterday!)

Sorry I should have said "similar cost to taking a bus or train", for 4 of you!

Hi, stragic!

Hope this reply isn't too late to be of some help.

Firstly, the domestic and international terminals are in the same area, but far enough apart to make walking impractical. You can go between the two by train (but since the airport stations are privately-owned, you pay a premium for using them), by public bus (the information office tells me that route 400 -- a blue and white government bus -- is the one to use) or by private transport such as private shuttles or a taxi. The bus would be by far the cheapest of these, but it only runs about every twenty minutes, less at "odd" times.

Next, your method of getting around when you arrive. The train would be the fastest way of getting to the Rocks, but the problem with this is that the airport stations attract a massive premium which makes that route an option only for the very rich, or the tourist who thinks that it just has to be that way (I have travelled out to the airport for one reason por another a dozen times in the last six years, and never once have I used the train, nor have I driven there). I rang the information centre and was told that the gate pass -- the charge to just get into the train platform, which is added to the ticket cost -- is $AUD8.80, or (for concessions) $AUD6.50. That's pretty high.

You may well know more about the group discount on public transport than I do -- to be honest, I have never heard of it. Certainly there are student and invalid/age concessions, but if you try to use this make sure you have your concession entitlement with you, and make sure it's valid for use in Sydney. There are LOTS of inspectors patrolling our trains nowadays, and they don't take excuses (I once watched in horror -- ashamed to be a Sydneysider -- as FOUR of these uniformed officers (they look like Hitler's SS men)humiliated, for a full ten minutes, an elderly English north-country couple who had travelled up to the Mountains to see their grandaughter on a Saturday night, and come back Sunday morning on a return ticket, assuming that the rule which allows return on the second day of a weekend applied here (as it presumably does in England); the poor woman was almost in tears as they explained to these people the gravity of their crime. When I objected, all they did was to demand MY ticket, which they proceeded to examine VERY carefully, as if looking for evidence of a forgery!)

Maybe the best answer for you would be to spend $AUD15 each on a Daytripper Pass (concession is half price), and then you wouldn't have to worry about red zones or green zones, and you can travel on any bus, any train, or even any ferry (unless privately-run). You would still have to pay the entry fee to the airport station, but you can get around this by catching that 400 bus in either direction (it goes from Burwood to Bondi Junction). If you catch it towards Burwood, in ten minutes you are at Rockdale Station, where you can alight and catch a fast train to the city. If to Bondi Junction, stay on it all the way (about thirty minutes), as it will deposit you at the subway interchange, from which there are fast (ten minutes)trains to the city (for the Rocks, you would change platforms at Town Hall). There are NO entry fees to any of these stations!

If you do this by buying point-to-point tickets, you would probably pay about $AUD6.50 each, depending on the time of day you were travelling.... but the $15 might actually save you money because you can go on with your sightseeing on the same ticket right up to 4 a.m. the next morning. Buy the ticket either on the bus or at the airport railway station ticket office.

Hope this helps a bit. Have a nice stay in Sydney (great weather this week!)

The red travel pass costs $32.00 but by paying $44.50 it will include return airport access. Ask about it at the ticket window.

Considering that a one way airport train ticket will be about $13 it is good value.

Check with your airline if they provide a free shuttle between domestic and international, they should. If not one way train ticket is about $11.00

There is a bus that goes by route 400. It will get you between terminals for about about $2 and also goes to train line (rockdale station)Catch the train to the city station of Town Hall then change for a Circular Quay connection from the same platform just the other side of it. Cheaper option but a hassle especially with luggage.

Have fun!

I posted before I saw Alan's reply, pretty much same advice.

On another tangent though it annoys me to no end that the airport costs so much. They spent how many million on that white elephant of a station, Wolli Creek and then hardly any stations stop there.

I agree with Alan about the railway police state. Best bet if you have an incorrect ticket is to say "if they had as many people selling tickets as they do checking them perhaps you would have the correct ticket!

I'm having a bad day already! Sorry even for 2 people, the cost is not all that much more than train or bus. The train is good if your arrival coincides with peak hour traffic. i.e. 7-9 am & 4-5 pm. Best of luck!

It's my fault that Lyndie is having such a bad day that she can't keep her mind on the job. She read a post of mine on the Asian forum, and right now she's busy updating her will and checking to see if her travel insurance covers "transportation by lunatics, madmen and other non-Australians"!

Sorry, Lyndie!

thank you all so much for your help! We are off tomorrow for 9 full days in Australia-yay!

This will be too late for the original poster - but there certainly is a FREE shuttle between the International and Domestic Terminals in Sydney - always has been and hopefully always will be!

back from Australia and here's what I found...there was a free shuttle between international and domestic terminals (at least for Qantas travelers). We landed in Sydney and flew to Cairns...glad we didn't purchase train tickets for the short ride.
We did purchase train tickets to/from airport/city.
Our hotel was located in the Rocks district so we didn't need the travelpass. Everywhere was accesible on foot except the zoo. We bought the combination ferry/zoo pass for that. Full trip report later. Thanks!