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My dad is flying to Christchurch, New Zealand, for the first time and I booked him tickets with 1 stopover in Sydney. I booked with Qantas and I just realized that his connecting flight in SYD is operated by Emirates (codeshare). He is flying from MNL with Qantas and arrives in SYD at 6:10AM and yhe next flight to CHC is at 7:50AM with Emirates. He only has 1 hour and 40 minuted before his next flight, assuming the flight is on time.

I have never been in SYD myself so I don't know how it works. PS: I won't be applying for a transit visa for him as he won't be leaving the airport and I assume it's not a case of separate tickets but airline codeshare. My questions are:

  1. Will Qantas allow luggage check-in straight to CHC?
  2. If the answer is yes, can he take his boarding pass to CHC at the Transfer Desk to avoid long queues at Emirates check-in counter?
  3. If answer to #1 is NO, obviously he will have to claim baggage to check in with Emirates. How long will it take to go through customs and Immigration? I am worried that 1 hour and 40 minutes won't be enough. Can he skip the queue and ask people to let him pass?
  4. Is there any desk at the Sydney airport I can contact to assist him? I cannot afford the Meet and Greet services offered by some companies at the airport. I am wondering if I can call the Sydney airport concierge to help my dad get to his next flight. I am willing to pay but not as much as the airssist or fasttrack charges.

Thanks.

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    You may want to check whether your father needs a transit visa. A transit visa is required even if he does not leave the airport unless he is a citizen of an eligible country: homeaffairs.gov.au/lega/lega/form/immi-faqs/…
    – molypot
    Jun 12, 2018 at 11:05
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    Is the whole trip booked on a single ticket (single PNR/booking ref, single e-ticket number)? If so, he should be able to check-in for both flights at MNL and the bags will be checked-through to his final destination. He won't go through immigration, won't have to pick up bags or drop them again. He will normally get his boarding pass for the second flight directly in MNL. If the two flights were booked separately, then it's going to be a lot more difficult (though not necessarily impossible).
    – jcaron
    Jun 12, 2018 at 11:40
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    Qantas also offers meet and assist services. You may want to check with them.
    – molypot
    Jun 12, 2018 at 12:31

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Best guess on a available information but it's probably a good idea to verify this with the airline directly

Will Qantas allow luggage check-in straight to CHC?

yes. It's a single ticket and bags will get checked through to CHC

If the answer is yes, can he take his boarding pass to CHC at the Transfer Desk to avoid long queues at Emirates check-in counter?

He should get BOTH boarding passes at the check-in in Manila, there should be no need to check in again in SYD. If, for any reason, that doesn't work, he should get the second boarding pass airside at the Emirates customer service desk or directly at the gate. Do NOT go to the regular check in counter, since you'd be leaving the transit/safe area.

If answer to #1 is NO, obviously he will have to claim baggage to check in with Emirates. How long will it take to go through customs and Immigration? I am worried that 1 hour and 40 minutes won't be enough. Can he skip the queue and ask people to let him pass?

If you need to claim bags, this is probably an impossible connection. But I don't think, this is the case.

Is there any desk at the Sydney airport I can contact to assist him? I cannot afford the Meet and Greet services offered by some companies at the airport. I am wondering if I can call the Sydney airport concierge to help my dad get to his next flight. I am willing to pay but not as much as the airssist or fasttrack charges.

Qantas will offer assistance (likely for a fee).

In general this should work as follows:

  1. Get both boarding passes in MNL
  2. On arrival in SYD just follow the signs for transfer. Do NOT try to pick up bags or go to the baggage claim.
  3. You will have to go through transfer security but NOT through customs or immigration
  4. You wouldn't need a transfer Visa since your connection is less than 8 hours.
  5. Head to the departing gate, which is either printed on the boarding pass or displayed on all the overhead signs in the airport

This is the process if both flights depart/arrive from Terminal 1, which should be the case here. It would be safest to confirm this process with the airline.

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  • Thanks Hilmar for your comments on my questions. It is very helpful and all is now clear to me. Now I can explain it to my dad. Thanks for your help. Qantas customer service is not really knowlegable on this matter.
    – user79058
    Jun 13, 2018 at 4:37

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