80 mins SYD international connection

[M@rcoPolo]

I'm trying to book HNL-SYD-MCY on Qantas using points.

The flight do not appear when searching for HNL-MCY and when using multi-city it doesn't allow it as connection time is only 80mins and the minimum for an international connection is 90 minutes HOWEVER I only have carry-on so it should be doable unless the incoming flying is delayed.

Do you think I have a chance calling? I'm a lowly Red so status won't help

 

[sudoer]

Do you think I have a chance calling?

No chance getting any airline to bend on MCT. If you want to take the risk, book separately and fly without protection from a misconnect.

Personally I think that would be nuts, QF104 has an on-time performance of just 41% with an average 41m delay.

 

[wenglock.mok]

I would say 80 minutes is really pushing it as:

• You will need to do a terminal transfer either via bus or train,
• You will need at least 15 minutes to go from T1 (international) to T3 (Qantas domestic),
• Qantas is not known for its punctuality recently (especially on international flights), and
• Immigration and custom clearance times have a huge variability.

You may just about make it if everything runs on time or early but otherwise, I would say save yourself the stress.

 

[Mwenenzi]

The arrival time of QF104 11:00 18:30 not in the peak T1 time, but many T1 arriving flight 18:00 19:00
SYD T1 arrivals Flight Listing
Guessing you trying to avoid spending the night in Sydney.

Booking separate flights would be high risk with 80 minutes T1 arrival to T3 departure.
Do VA or JQ have a later flights to MCY that would give you more time?

MCY is not far from BNE (54 miles by air - more by road. A map from the Great Circle Mapper
Fly to BNE and drive up the coast?

 

[justinbrett]

I do this trip a lot to the Gold Coast, and I can never get a same day connection so I just fly to BNE and get an uber. Costs me $130 but I’d have to pay about $60 from OOL anyway so not that excessive.

Otherwise if you put SYD-MCY on a separate ticket and be prepared to lose it, if you can cancel before you leave HNL (in the event your flight is significantly delayed) and you can at least make it to the QF domestic transfers desk before the flight closes they should be able to rebook you maybe even to BNE. But again I wouldn’t rely on any of this and be prepared to forfeit the ticket if the gamble doesn’t pay off.

It is usually pretty quick to get off QF104 and I would take the train and not wait for the bus, as at that time of night the buses are infrequent.

 

[M@rcoPolo]

Well, it turns out the folks at the Qantas call centre had no problems ticketing the full itinerary on the same reservation. If the HNL-SYD flight is delayed and I miss the connection, Qantas will reschedule for the next day and travel insurance will cover a night on the town in Sydney.

Thank you for your input, I will let you know how it goes!

 

[justinbrett]

Well, it turns out the folks at the Qantas call centre had no problems ticketing the full itinerary on the same reservation. If the HNL-SYD flight is delayed and I miss the connection, Qantas will reschedule for the next day and travel insurance will cover a night on the town in Sydney.

Thank you for your input, I will let you know how it goes!

Travel Insurance is unlikely to cover you however QF will pay (and that's the reason TI won't cover you).

Don't know how they bypassed MCT - personally I wouldn't relax until I see it ticketed, it may fail at that step. The generic ID MCT at SYD is only 75 minutes but there is a specific rule for QF ID between T1 and T3 which is 90.