MCFC Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 Hi folks, having a mini panic here... is 2 hours enough time to transfer off an inbound international flight arriving at Melbourne T2, collect out checked bags, navigate Melbourne customs, transfer to Melbourne T1 (domestic terminal), check in and re-check bags and then get to the gate for our domestic flight to Brisbane? Our flight is scheduled to land at Melbourne at 5.45 and our flight to Brisbane departs at 8.05. please someone tell me im worrying for no reason. The pessimist in me says the inbound flight will be delayed for some reason, we will get held up collecting bags, customs will want to go through every bag (not that we will be giving them any reason to do so) ... and thus miss our connecting flight ....i think i have been watching too much "nothing to declare" on TV :wacko: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nikci Posted May 19, 2012 Share Posted May 19, 2012 Hi There.... Should be fine with 2 hours between flights.... All the best Nikci Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petals Posted May 19, 2012 Share Posted May 19, 2012 We have been in this position, arrived in Sydney and had to catch an internal flight to Melbourne, was a made rush, not as much time as you have but they kept the plane for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCFC Posted May 19, 2012 Author Share Posted May 19, 2012 Great, thanks pommettes! I feel a lot better now. I was also planning to tell the folks at London Heathrow check in to put priority labels on all the luggage so in theory it comes out first at Melbourne airport baggage reclaim. I have visions of us being delayed and then sprinting to the gate, just making it in the plane to be greeted by angry faces as we have delayed their departure lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val Tibenham Posted May 19, 2012 Share Posted May 19, 2012 Hi folks,...i think i have been watching too much "nothing to declare" on TV :wacko: We spend lots of time watching that and as a result have already worked out how we are going to pack our bags, what is going in each bag, making a list of what is in each bag, ticking absolutely every box on the customs declaration box etc :laugh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quinkla Posted May 19, 2012 Share Posted May 19, 2012 If your flights are on the same ticket or with the same airline, you will be looked after if you miss your connection. Otherwise, I would say it is uncomfortably tight. Priority labels for luggage go to people in business or first class or frequent fliers. They don't often make luggage arrive earlier but do mean that if the plane is overloaded, the priority cases will not be offloaded. I have only had luggage go astray three times - all three when they had priority tags. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoandJon Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 A friend (who used to work for Customs) told me that the arriving passenger card questions are arranged in order, the first few questions are customs specific (money, weapons etc) and the remaining 7 million are quarantine. He suggested that if you tick yes to one of the customs questions you'll be 'inspected' by customs who can call over quarantine if needs be. He said this is often quicker than waiting in line for quarantine inspection. BUT - I've flown in to Melbourne quite a bit and can't remember seeing any different areas so he might be giving outdated information It might help you to save time getting through the checks - and also, if the queue is huge, ask one of the staff members in the arrivals hall for advice (be polite and don't demand anything, just say you need a bit of advice because you're scheduled to catch a plane at 'blahblahblah' do they think you'll make it through. They'll do their best to help you if they can Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quinkla Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 BUT - I've flown in to Melbourne quite a bit and can't remember seeing any different areas so he might be giving outdated information There is a separate customs area - it is to the left of the regular area. You get directed to a different queue and it leads through closed doors to the separate area - they only let you through the doors if you have been selected for the special treatment. It is categorically not quicker than the regular channel as you have to wait for the customs officer who has been appropriately briefed on the reason for your selection. My most recent visit to the special area was as a consequence of a questionable route we had taken on our itinerary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 Great, thanks pommettes! I feel a lot better now. I was also planning to tell the folks at London Heathrow check in to put priority labels on all the luggage so in theory it comes out first at Melbourne airport baggage reclaim. I have visions of us being delayed and then sprinting to the gate, just making it in the plane to be greeted by angry faces as we have delayed their departure lol Why don't you give yourself more time if you are worried? I flew back from NZ once via Melbourne and had to collect luggage and go to bag drop and it was a flipping nightmare, I remember feeling very hot too. This was with Virgin, I would worry less with Qantas as I find them more efficient. What time are you landing, in the morning especially there can be queues to clear immigration? Well there is in Sydney, maye Melbourne is not as bad. You might not get priority tags just because you ask for them, also they don't always make much difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCFC Posted May 20, 2012 Author Share Posted May 20, 2012 Alas, when I booked the tickets I had assumed the bags get routed to Brisbane automatically from Melbourne and we then do the whole customs dance in Brisbane (so i thought the 2 hours would be more than enough time at Melbourne to simply get to the other gate) Oh well I hope this info helps anyone else. I'll just keep my fingers and toes crossed for the 22 hour journey Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quinkla Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 So long as your flights are through ticketed (i.e. same airline or on the same ticket) then it doesn't matter at all if you miss the flight - you will just get put on the next one. There are heaps of flights between Melbourne and Brisbane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nikci Posted May 25, 2012 Share Posted May 25, 2012 Hi there.. Just thought I would let you know ... I work in travel and have checked for you with Melbourne and have been advised that the minimum connection time is 1 hour.... hope that goes some way of putting your mind at ease. Happy flying.. All the best Nikci Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCFC Posted May 25, 2012 Author Share Posted May 25, 2012 Hi there.. Just thought I would let you know ... I work in travel and have checked for you with Melbourne and have been advised that the minimum connection time is 1 hour.... hope that goes some way of putting your mind at ease. Happy flying.. All the best Nikci we are just about to leave Singapore for the second leg of thwe flight to Melbourne thanks for the message and for taking the time to do some checking with Melbourne Nikci.... fingers crossed it all works out on that end... else I am sure we will just get stuck on the next Qantas flight to Brisbane which is an hour later. Good news is that we had a lovely Qantas check in attendant at Heathrow who was lenient with the baggage allowances (even though i prepaid excess baggage for 3 extra bags, we were still a little over the limit!) see y'all down under Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCFC Posted May 27, 2012 Author Share Posted May 27, 2012 glad to say we made it onto our flight! This was even though the flight landed on time but was held at the gate for 15 minutes as there was a sick child on board so the men in white suits had to board and give everything the green light before passengers could dissembark! Felt sorry for the poor kid though, cant have been nice being sick on that journey. In addition to this, our bags (all 150kg of them!) took about 20 minutes to reach the baggage reclaim. We also had to go to the special channel for AQIS customs as we declared food and some wooden items. This took about an additional 5 minutes and the customs person was lovely and took one look at what we were declaring and allowed us through. So we then had to recheck bags in the domestic terminal which was only a 5 minute walk. This took about 10 minutes as the "auto" baggage drop machines where having hissy fits. I approached another Qantas attendant and politly asked if she could assist. She got me to another attendant actually on the check in desks and again they were brilliant and really helpful. Security check was about another 10 minutes ... and that was that - we got to our gate with 40 minutes to spare. thanks and i hope this helps other people thinking about trying to make the same flight combo QF010 and QF608. P.s our total journey was 30 hours door to door and we were cream crackered when we finally got to our hotel in Brisbane. We had a quick bite to eat and then we forced ourselves to stay up as late as possible resisting the temptation to go to sleep. We went for a nice long walk and then eventually hit the sack at 8pm. This has proved to be so useful as now (two days in) I think with another day I will have adjusted alomost entirley to the Aussie times! I even stayed up till midnight yesterday to watch the Grand Prix (still woke up at 4am though!)...but as i said i think a few more days and i'll have it cracked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nikci Posted May 27, 2012 Share Posted May 27, 2012 Glad it went well and Welcome to Australia!! All the best Nikci Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoandJon Posted May 28, 2012 Share Posted May 28, 2012 Welcome home Glad you made it in one piece and survived the journey (and connections) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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