Qf syd dom - int 1:05 tfer

[peakhour]

Hi All

I just did the domestic to international transfer in Sydney again last night on my way to Tokyo.

This time I had someone book it for me online and they selected a connection that had only 1:05hrs between flights.

Apparently the other option available was 2:05hrs (what I would have booked). Now my fault I didn't check the details until I was on my way to the airport.

All fine thanks to lovely check in angel who put me on the earlier flight - thanks QF

However she did say that normally with a sale fair that they won't let you change flights like that which got me thinking.

The earlier flight landed 17mins ahead of schedule and transfer took approx 50mins gate to gate. If I took the original flight and the arrived on schedule into SYD, could I have missed the connection?

Maybe QF would hold the plane for me on my $1k fare, maybe they would not.

My question is - Do you think it is fair/reasonable/good customer experience on the general public for QF to sell such a tight connection of 1:05hrs?

I am not asking you all as experts who do it all the time and know what's involved, but pretend that it's your relative who's a rookie on their own.

Thoughts?

 

[cambriamarsh]

I'm surprised QF sold it, was it one PNR? If yes it's their job to fix it, ie get you to your destination not necessarily hold the plane. Dr Google says QF's MCT is 75 mins so might be worth a call. Good luck!

 

[peakhour]

Thanks for the info, yes all one PNR BNE-HND via SYD booked on QF website.

 

[cambriamarsh]

Thanks for the info, yes all one PNR BNE-HND via SYD booked on QF website.

Doesn't that make the international transfer in BNE? The SYD transfer sounds like dom.

 

[greyyy]

Doesn't that make the international transfer in BNE? The SYD transfer sounds like dom.

BNE-SYD, SYD-HND. A bit of back tracking, but only Qantas only flies to HND from Sydney. Unsure why you would do this when BNE flies to NRT directly. I guess a 5am arrival was better than a 7pm arrival?

 

[peakhour]

BNE-SYD, SYD-HND. A bit of back tracking, but only Qantas only flies to HND from Sydney. Unsure why you would do this when BNE flies to NRT directly. I guess a 5am arrival was better than a 7pm arrival?

Yes I had to arrive in Tokyo this morning for a meeting later today and other commitments meant I had to depart after yesterday's 10:55AM direct flight so the connection via Sydney was most practical to meet my schedule. Am taking the direct flight home.

 

[ksthommo]

Had a flight change recently, Connection time from domestic to international at DFW was whittled down to 50 minutes.
Rang Qantas, lady said that 50 minutes was the minimum allowed connection time, wouldn't put me on an earlier domestic flight.
Rang a week later, changed no problems.

 

[Himeno]

Unsure why you would do this when BNE flies to NRT directly. I guess a 5am arrival was better than a 7pm arrival?

Depends where you are going in Tokyo and when you need to be there. If I had the option of flights to NRT or HND, arriving at the same time, I'd take the HND flight if I was heading to the southern parts of Tokyo (eg, Shinagawa around to Shinjuku) and NRT if I was going to the NE (eg, Ueno).

There is no way I'd even attempt a 65 min D-I connection at SYD. Depending on the time of day, and when your domestic flight gets in compared to the shuttle bus, it could take that long just to get to T1, not to mention getting through immigration and Intentional security.

 

[Mattg]

For some reason the minimum connect time in SYD from domestic to international is 60 minutes. I have no idea why it's so short as this would be almost impossible during busy periods.

From international to domestic the min connect time is 75 minutes.

At least it becomes Qantas' responsibility (not yours) to put you on a new flight and provide accommodation etc. if you can't make the connection.

 

[serfty]

60 minutes is ridiculous.

For mine, there is MCT and SCT*.

*SCT : Sensible Connection Time

 

[Happy Trails]

Then there's FLCT.
Do I really need to spell it out?

 

[Flying mermaid]

I generally allow 3 hours for transfers in Sydney - I know that is a bit obsessive, but I hate stress (and of course there is the FL). There have been plenty of times when I have been glad to have the extra time....

 

[peakhour]

Thanks All

So at the least we all agree, publishing a fare with a 65 minute connection is ambitious at best.

As I mentioned, no complaints re the service, I was put onto the earlier connecting flight when I asked.

Which I only knew to do, since I have done BNE-SYD-SOMEWHERE a few, maybe 15 times over the years.

Poor Joe Public, doesn't stand a chance!

I'm sure Qf would put you onto the next day's flight not a problem.

Unless you really needed to connect like I did last night, next day was no good to me.

Happy to hear any official or unofficial feedback.

Cheers
Peakhour

 

[La Mouette]

So at the least we all agree, publishing a fare with a 65 minute connection is ambitious at best.

I booked three SYD-MEL-LHR flights online during the DSC offer in March. For every single one of them, 65 minutes was offered as the default connection time in Melbourne. I managed to change two of them online to 95 minutes, the only other option offered, despite there being a SYD-MEL flight every 15-30 min at that time of day.

For the third flight, 95 minutes was significantly more expensive It seems daft to me that Qantas would charge more to increase its risk of you not making the connection!

I'm a P1, so they should answer the phone straight away when I ring and likely won't charge me anything to change the flight. But you do ask yourself why do they put themselves in this position?

[Writing this, LM remembers that the 65 minute connection is actually her next flight and she should ring Qantas ASAP ...]

 

[esseeeayeenn]

I booked three SYD-MEL-LHR flights online during the DSC offer in March. For every single one of them, 65 minutes was offered as the default connection time in Melbourne. I managed to change two of them online to 95 minutes, the only other option offered, despite there being a SYD-MEL flight every 15-30 min at that time of day.

For the third flight, 95 minutes was significantly more expensive  It seems daft to me that Qantas would charge more to increase its risk of you not making the connection!

I'm a P1, so they should answer the phone straight away when I ring and likely won't charge me anything to change the flight. But you do ask yourself why do they put themselves in this position?

[Writing this, LM remembers that the 65 minute connection is actually her next flight and she should ring Qantas ASAP ...]

MEL is the only Australian airport* where I would attempt a DOM-INT transfer in 65 mins but why miss out on the F lounge?

*Except ADL but let's keep this serious.

 

[JohnK]

So at the least we all agree, publishing a fare with a 65 minute connection is ambitious at best.

That is ridiculous. If flight is a very possible 15 minutes late there is every chance you may miss the flight. Yes I know QF will look after you but that does not make up missing connecting flights, prepaid accommodation etc.

Personally I try to avoid anything less than 2 hours and if the QF website is offering short connections I book them and call Qantas to change them after booking. I have seen many times where QF only offers the 7:00am BNE-SYD flight during daylight saving to connect to SYD-HKG/BKK that departs around 10:30am. There are at least 3 earlier that are not offered.

 

[La Mouette]

On my last trip (95 min connection), my SYD-MEL flight left at 19.45 and arrived early, but at one of the furthest gates in T1 - 9 or 10. There was no queue at security or the passport machines, but the walk to T2, etc. was a good 15-20 min. Then you have to walk to the F lounge, which is next to the gate, say another 10 min. I remember I arrived at the F lounge at 21.45, ate in 15 min, had a 20 min spa treatment, got dressed, and then boarded (lucky last, they had to track me down).

So even in MEL, 65 min would mean arriving just in time to board, assuming on time arrival, no queues, no explosive tests, everything going 100% to plan. If you had a heavy bag or young kids, I don't see how you could make it. Forget SYD with the bus. I had MEL-SYD-WLG once on one of these silly MCTs. They had to hold the plane for me, and I made it, but my luggage didn't.

Personally, I think the MCT should be set to longer than the recommended check in time, so more than 90 min for international.

And the booking engine should check if you have F lounge access and add at least another 30 min accordingly ... one can always hope

 

[serfty]

...

And the booking engine should check if you have F lounge access and add at least another 30 min accordingly ... one can always hope

Just 30 minutes?!

Let's get real here and make it 90 ... that way there's some chance of meeting Happy Trail's FLCT.

 

[Falcs]

For the third flight, 95 minutes was significantly more expensive  It seems daft to me that Qantas would charge more to increase its risk of you not making the connection!

Not so much a matter of "charging more for a greater risk of misconnecting", just so happens to be what fare codes are still available for the respective connecting flight. Small variances in time for domestic sectors can have big differences in prices depending on loads etc.

 

[JohnK]

Zuji is offering a 1h 5m connection from BNE to SYD and QF23 to BKK in November. That is on the mobile website. On the desktop there are longer options.

That is a ridiculous connection to offer even if it meets minimum connection. Even if everything goes smoothly you would need to head straight to boarding. The slightest delay and there's every chance you'll miss the connection.

Who books these connections? Those that don't know any better?