2-hour connection in Sydney from United international flight to Virgin Australia domestic flight

Upvote:3

I've flown that leg quite a few times and I wouldn't attempt a 2h transfer in a pink fit. You basically have a 1% chance of making your connection. You haven't mentioned when you're landing but if it's when the curfew is lifted at 6am you'll basically be joining a couple of thousand people trying to get through baggage, immigration, and customs. Ditto for other busy periods, and it can be much worse if there are any bottlenecks. Most people has their bags x-rayed or searched at customs.

You're also assuming there will be no delays on your SFO flight. Unfavorable winds can easily add an hour or two to a 16 hour flight. SFO can be congested. Those old 747s tend to break down.

6 hours actually seems like a reasonably comfortable connection. Time will fly by.

Upvote:5

I wouldn't book this, doubly so if you have checked luggage, and doubly so again with a small child.

You'll need to go through immigration and customs/quarantine, collecting any checked luggage, change terminals (which requires a stop at a ticket machine or local currency), check in any checked luggage before the deadline, go through airport security, and get to your gate before boarding closes 10 minutes before departure, all with an 11-month old in tow. It might be possible, but even a brief flight delay or a moderate wait at any of these steps could be enough to cause a problem.

And since you've arranged your own connection on separate tickets, Virgin Australia won't be responsible in any way if you miss the flight. Last-minute tickets for the next flight are likely to be expensive, if space is available. I would allow more time.

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