Sydney Airport TBus terminal transfer service between International (T1) and Domestic terminals (T2) is now FREE (as of about 2 weeks ago). Previously cost $6 each way. Wow freebie by Sydney Airports Corporation, who'd have thought?!
Photo is of the Tbus stop at International (not particularly well sign posted). You'll see the new complimentary sign sits above the now covered up defunct ticket vending machine.
https://www.sydneyairport.com.au/info-sheet/getting-between-…
In the unfortunate cases where I have to transit through Sydney, the 30+ minutes it can take to travel between T2 & T1 is a good reminder of why I'm glad I don't live in Sydney.
They should work out an efficient way to use the train.
VA offer a terminal to terminal bus when transiting, its at the opposite end of the terminal to the bag collection. I think QF offer this too.
The bus still travels on public roads and it regularly takes longer than the drive between Adelaide Airport & CBD in peak hour.
Are you sure? I transited Domestic to International with VA just last week and it didn't take any public roads.
@mathew42:
The QF bus starts from air-side on Domestic to land-side International
Definitely not public roads
Yeah qantas does as well but if you are transiting on different airlines coming from overseas you need to use this bus.Needing to dig out $6 in change is a pain.
Welcome change. Though I don't live in Sydney
@knick007: As long as you’re going TO a qantas flight you can use it. Doesn’t matter if you flew (another airline) or drove.
I’ve used the qantas bus to avoid very heavy traffic at the international terminal. They ask for boarding passes but will let you on if you simply show a booking on your phone
Well, you only considered the international to domestic direction. For the opposite direaction, if you don't have any checked baggage or if they've been tagged for the next flight by QF, then you can use the QF bus coming OFF any QF domestic flight and connecting to any international flight.
You are right, the TBus and Virgin Bus do travel on public road. Not sure if Virgin managed to change their bus route, at least when I was in Sydney, they use the public road.
Well, you only considered the international to domestic direction.
read again. My post was specifically talking about using the bus to get to the international terminal. I drove to the domestic and caught the Qantas bus to the international terminal to avoid very heavy traffic at the international terminal. Yes, the bus departs the domestic terminal behind security, so you need to be conscious of what you're carrying through.
LoL
That's rubbish. It depends on many factors.
Last time I flew to Europe I purposely flew MEL- SYD - LHR simply because the SYD-LHR flight arrives into Heathrow early morning whereas the Melbourne flight arrives late arvo. Gave me an extra recovery day.
Even departing from Sydney to reach most destinations from Australia requires a stop, but I'll leave you to your self centred delusions.
Considering it is Mad March at the moment, Adelaide is pretty lively place.
Every non-Sydney resident loves to hate Sydney. All part of the jealous inferiority complex tall poppy syndrome Aussies have. Thank God I live in Sydney with above-average income, I don’t feel jealous of other places.
Stops required from Syd are limited by technology rather than availability and lack of better options.
Thank God I live in Sydney with above-average income,
And above-above-average housing costs…
;)
Plus, there's amazing public transport right, so even living in Sydney it's super quick and cheap to get to the airport ;)
My income is more than enough to offset the higher cost. I don’t get the same perks working elsewhere. Only poor Sydneysiders really complain about the city. I think tehy should move to Adelaide.
Is there any reason for the poster matthew to be bashful of Sydney? Other than tall poppines of course?
@unloadmymind: At the end of a trip waiting for a bus to arrive and then waiting in traffic to reach the terminal on the other side when other airports have trains that take only a few minutes is annoying. Fortunately there are normally better alternatives.
@mathew42: but that’s not applicable to people who live in Sydney as they don’t require transit. Why would that makeyou hate living in Sydney then? You should thank Sydney income and GST taxpayers for subsidising the underperforming SA economy.
I live in Sydney and have required a transit a couple of times to pick up my car because I left from international and arrived back at domestic via internal connections.
Sydney's got some great things about it but transport is not one of these. Our transport system is a joke generally. Unloadmymind is suffering a psychological fantasy.
You obviously don’t know how to book proper flights. You didn’t connect in Sydney airport, you merely failed to book properly and/or park at the right place. I don’t need to park, the trains works well for me. At least we have airport trains.
And does that parking mistake make you hate living in Sydney so as to bash it?
But that’s not applicable to people who live in Sydney as they don’t require thattransit. Why would that make you hate living in Sydney then? You should thank Sydney income and GST taxpayers for subsidising the underperforming SA economy.
Maybe if we could keep our own mowy instead of paying for the underperformance of other cities, we could have better infrastructure. Unfortunately we have to pay for your schools and hospitals.
Don’t hate the city that feeds you. Maybe you should tell your premier to stop receiving GST allocations from us and and maybe tell him to not accept federal funding because most taxes are paid by the city you hate
This attitude Sydney residents have is the reason I left it 10 years ago and will never return to call it my home. Looks like nothing has changed
@ejayt:
The attitude of non-Sydney residents towards Sydney is the reason why I am proud of defending Sydney’s performance.
Maybe you should tell your premier to stop asking money from Sydney taxpayers to maintain your standards of living in that underperforming city of yours.
I’m happy to contribute to the Australian economy while the lazy whingers are asking for our money.
Sadly some jealous people of other cities need to bash Sydney at every opportunity, without taking stock of their own cities’ underperformance.
And those who leave Sydney are those who can’t afford it because they were poor/underperforming residents themselves.
@unloadmymind: I agree the people who dislike Sydney are ones who can’t afford to live in nice areas close to the cbd. If I had to live out west I would hate Sydney as well. I’ve never met a wealthy person who disliked living in Sydney.
@Your Friend: I'm quite happy for those who constantly complain about how they don't like Sydney or how unaffordable it is to simply move interstate to somewhere less interesting & cheap. We need to keep like -minded Sydney people who can afford the lifestyle & appreciate the infrastructure we have. If I can afford to live in Sydney on half the pay I am currently earning I don't know what kind of lifestyle you lot are living if you can afford to live in Sydney!!! Maybe you need to re-asses your life choices & determine what you actually need, rather than what you cant have
About bloody time, these bastards have been ripping us off for years!!!
should have always been free.
most airports around the world are one building not 2.
most airports around the world are one building not 2.
Brisbane airport is about to add another domestic terminal so one international and two domestic terminals. A nice ten minute walk between them in cool Brisbane climate, no doubt it will be uncovered.
Why walk, when you can get a free bus transfer?
https://bne.com.au/passenger/to-and-from/terminal-transfers
Why walk, when you can get a free bus transfer?
There is no mention of bus transfers between the two domestic terminals when the new one is built. Only walking or taxi.
The real issue is why wasn't the train integrated into the terminals?
@Maverick-au:
There won't be an additional terminal, rather a new runway, an extension of the International terminal and the redevelopment of the existing Domestic terminal. The AirTrain has a stop at both the current (and future redeveloped) Domestic terminal and the International terminal. AirTrain is privately owned, and currently it is only free for Virgin Australia connecting passengers, and is $5 for everyone else. Bus transfer is free.
There isn't an issue.
There won't be an additional terminal, rather a new runway, an extension of the International terminal and the redevelopment of the existing Domestic terminal
They are building a new domestic terminal that is at least 500m away from the current one on the other side of the multistorey parking. This will be seperated by multiple roads.
What do you think this is? Look at the plans, the terminal is on the other side.
https://amp.smh.com.au/business/companies/brisbane-airport-t…
The AirTrain has a stop at both the current (and future redeveloped) Domestic terminal and the International terminal.
The airtrain stops hundreds of metres away and there is no cover from the elements. Other countries have their trains integrated into the terminals.
It will be even further away from the new terminal.
AirTrain is privately owned, and currently it is only free for Virgin Australia connecting passengers, and is $5 for everyone else. Bus transfer is free.
That's part of the issue, the airport and train line should be owned by the government. Neither of the organisations give a damn about providing a service and only want to extort as much money as possible.
Nothing at the airports is clearly marked or signed, there are fees for everything like the ridiculous fees for taxis and finding your way between the terminals is not that easy of you're not familiar with the airport.
There isn't an issue.
If you can't see if you've never traveled to the airport.
Source? I can't find anything on a new domestic terminal
Source? I can't find anything on a new domestic terminal
I guess your Google is broken.
https://amp.smh.com.au/business/companies/brisbane-airport-t…
I thought you might be referring to that, but got confused by the fact your post was suggesting an entirely new terminal was being built
I thought you might be referring to that, but got confused by the fact your post was suggesting an entirely new terminal was being built
It is an entirely new terminal, there will be two domestic terminals 500m apart and the separate international terminal for a total of three terminals all with poor linkage. Utterly absurd that we have three separate terminals and the huge mess of roads and parking structures all over the place.
Now it's all about making money where ever they can. Why on earth do they need a taxi controller to tell you to stand in a numbered box which just creates confusion when no other airports do it this way? But it helps justify the over $3 charge to get a taxi on top of all the other charges you paid to land.
Both the article you linked and the BNE website refer to it as an extension to the domestic terminal rather than a whole new one. I get what you mean, but it's due to eventually be connected to the main domestic building by a walkway.
Both the article you linked and the BNE website refer to it as an extension to the domestic terminal rather than a whole new one. I get what you mean, but it's due to eventually be connected to the main domestic building by a walkway.
The building is on the other side of the undercover car park and is separated by a busy road. No doubt the BAC are putting a spin on it so people don't complain about it being a totally separate building with no transport in between like a travelator or a looped transit system. Last plan that I saw had this covered walkway as a partially covered sidewalk with a busy road to cross.
Does it have it's own security check/entry?
It will have to. I can't imagine anyone would be happy to park next to the new terminal, walk 500m, go through check-in and security and walk another 500m in some secure walkway back to the new terminal.
Having said all that maybe they are going to screw all the airport users.
no if you research you can see it is 300m and passengers will be transported by bus. If it takes you 10 minutes to walk 300 m then you are morbidly obese or incapacitated.
no if you research you can see it is 300m and passengers will be transported by bus. If it takes you 10 minutes to walk 300 m then you are morbidly obese or incapacitated.
There is no talk of a bus. The walking route is over 500m with crossings across busy roads and moving luggage. So yes ten minutes is realistic.
The average walking speed is 5 kilometers per hour which is 12 minutes per kilometer or 6 minutes for 500m. Factor in luggage, crossings etc and taking ten minutes for 500m is a realistic time.
@Maverick-au: please read this article https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/brisbane-airport-t… note 300m and note covered walkway.
please read this article https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/brisbane-airport-t… note 300m and note covered walkway.
I posted that link, where are the magical buses you claimed would run?
Just because something is 300m from one part of a building doesn't mean that the path you take is the same distance. What about the distance traveled inside the terminals or does this not matter?
They're also enormous!
I wish these one building airports had better transport. Especially in the US.
yeah but you don't need to get out of the airport and onto a bus.
most have travelators to move around on.
FAir enough.
Kingsford Smith in Sydney is run privately and only care about ripping off travellers
@smuggler: You would think management would want to make traveling between terminals as quick as possible … you cannot spend money at the shops & eateries while on the bus.
Buses are unpredictable.. so people naturally put more buffer into transit times in case things go pear-shaped. Effectively you have more people sitting around at terminals.
If they put in a Skytrain, people would book tighter transit times.
@Thrawn: Surely most people aren't going to be booking their own connections - they will just take whatever is offered when they type in XXX-SYD-XXX?
This is the problem, The government should never privatise industries that are vital and core to the country. Like Public transport, or airports or for that matter energy… as well as other things over the decades the goverment has sold off..
I agree it should always have been free.
but your statement that most airports are one building, not 2 clearly shows you haven't travelled much…have you been to any major airport recently? they're all multiple buildings…the difference is that they're much easier to transfer from terminal to terminal (building to building).
Most other airports you don’t need to leave the airport to get a domestic connection
LOL
you really think that "most other airports you don't need to leave the airport to get a domestic connection?!!!". You shouldn't be so hasty in displaying your ignorance…
Most major international airports require you to change terminal buildings to get a domestic connection. And a lot of those require you to actually "leave the airport to get a domestic connection". Have you tried LHR? JFK? LAX? ORD? ATL? Some of them have convenient ways of transferring between terminals like JFK and the Airtrain, but pretty much every major airport requires you to leave the building/airport to transfer to domestic. The only major airport I can think of that doesn't require this is FRA, but the sprawling mess/maze that is FRA is another nightmare in itself…you can walk for 15mins not realising you've been going the wrong way…
Then, there are those airports (usually in Asia) where international flights are serviced mainly by one airport, and domestic flights another airport which is at least 40-50 mins away. NRT/HND or ICN/GMP ring a bell?
All this to say, don't make grossly generalised statements which bear no correlation to the truth of the matter.
Fee will be built into the airport taxes probably.
Maybe, but now you can smash through those layover hours by riding the free bus around and around.
Take that, airport fees!
Can't believe they charged for this. Sydney Airport are such greedy bastards
Sydney Airportare such greedy bastards
Macquarie Bank, the majority owner of Sydney Airport from 2002 to 2013. Since 2014 Sydney Airport is a publicly-listed company on the ASX, so you should blame your superannuation fund now.
Used this on Wednesday.
I've never before moved between international and domestic in Sydney, but it worked OK. Pity the train can't be used for free instead.
About time!!
wow did not realise this, they must have been sick of dealing with all the complaints.
So it looks like you don't require a boarding pass to travel between the terminals. Potentially good for airport employees.
That is correct. Anyone can use the service. You don't need to be a traveller.
Correct. Just did it.
I wouldn't be surprised if they raised parking fees to make up the lost profits.
SAC way ahead of you there. New pick up parking fees introduced from 6 March.
TLDR: they moved the free "express" pick up zone further out to make way for new "priority" pick up which is chargeable.
https://www.sydneyairport.com.au/info-sheet/dropping-off-and…
At domestic the express free pickup zone now is so far it's ridiculous
SAC marketing department sells it as we're trying to help Australia combat it's obesity problem by encouraging more walking lol
I bet you there's a 'DTC' (domestic transfer fee) fee on every airline ticket now and they'll probably start overcrowding the bus and reducing the frequency, so people are pushed towards the train/taxi. The increased parking fees are just a bonus, because they collect that from people not even flying.
They recently raised parking fees at P7. A 1 hour parking is 15$ now.
Melb airport is almost the same… check-in aisle are to blame, not enough counters and queues for miles, nice way to make money on nothing
Is this just for people on unlinked LCC itineraries? The airside Qantas bus has always been free and I would assume/hope Virgin is the same.
Yes. If you have Qantas or Virgin connection use that. For everyone one else, TBus.
Only available for domestic to international transfers but not the other way around.
I've used it for International to Domestic before, has it changed in the last 2 years?
Qantas international to domestic bus transfer is still in operation. You just clear immigration and head to Qantas bus transfer which is in the office near the coach stands/opposite Rydges hotel. They rescan your carryon and then you get onto their bus which is airside.
Till this date, I still dont agree with the Sydney airport access train ticket price of $14.30. It is such a rip off.
The Airport line is private unfortunately.
*85% of the fee goes to government.
It is privately owned.
Unfortunately that is the only reliable way to get into the airport on time.
It's always free at Brisbane Airport.
Never thought I would read the words “Sydney airport” and “free” together in one sentence ever !!!!!!!!
They are really Sydney’s Uncle Scrooge’s
They'll find a way to recoup them $6's, don't you worry ;)
Like charge $10 of using a luggage trolley :)
If anyone wants to use train for transfers between International and domestic, DO NOT use your opal card. If you use Opal, the system will charge you the rail fare component (few dollars) + the station access fee ($14.30).
What you do is go to counter and ask for terminal transfer one way ticket, which costs $6.20 inclusive of the station access fee.
http://www.airportlink.com.au/trip-information/terminal-tran…
I did a transfer from the domestic to the international terminal a few weeks back and it only cost me $5 and something cents using my Opal card when I tapped off.
The dumb thing is that if your Opal balance is less than the station access fee then the gate won't let you through even if you're only going one stop to the domestic. Being from Canberra there's not much point in me maintaining a $15+ balance because I rarely use NSW public transport and I tend to avoid Sydney whenever possible.
I always used to use the train rather than the bus because it was cheaper and quicker, but now the TBus is free I'll use that instead. Thanks for the heads up OP.
@Nomadesque is correct above. It appears the station access fee does not apply for travel between International and Domestic, regardless of payment by opal or cash fare. Actually opal fare is slightly cheaper, thanks!
The Opal fare calculator shows the peak fare for travel is $5.46 between international and domestic inclusive of station fee http://www.sydneytrains.info/tickets/fare_calculator.htm
Don't really understand why people keep saying "glad they don't live in Sydney" because of this transit thing.
If you live in Sydney - why would you use the transit?! No matter which terminal you land, you just go straight home!!
Granted, should've been free so it's a welcomed change for NON sydney residents…
i was about to say the same thing… haha
Train should follow.
Shocking