LHR - Sydney. How does the journey work

Hi

I will be flying from London to Sydney with Virgin in October. My first time to Australia so very excited about the trip.

I was just wondering how the journey works. I understand that the flight goes via Hong Kong but how long does it stop there? Do I have to just get off and back on again? I am not doing a stop-over in either direction.

Any advice from people that have done this journey before much appreciated.


George

[honey lamb]

When you get to Hong Kong you will have leave the aircraft. There will be staff to direct you. Those going on to SYD go in one direction and those staying in Hong Kong go in another. You will be given a "Catch me if you can" sticker The stopover lasts about 90 minutes

[Nottingham Nick]

Wow, whilst I am really looking forward to another chance to go 'down under', I must confess I don't envy you that journey, without a stopover - whichever class you are travelling in.

Make the most of the layover. If you have Clubhouse access, try and get a shower and a freshen up.

All the best for your trip.

Nick

I did it in Premium Economy a few years ago and (from memory) basically you disembark, go upstairs, go through security (water bottle confiscated...), and then find your way back to the gate. There are staff to help and, as honey lamb says, you get a sticker put on you -- on the way back it was a London bus! There is not much spare time.

I didn't stop over on my journey, although outbound I did take VS238 (those were the days) which gave me a few hours to recover in HKG airport before connecting to the VS200. It was fine -- I was told to get out into the sun on arrival, and so I did, and it worked. On the way back I did the whole journey in one go. The actual flying was fine -- the jet-lag was pretty bad.

One of the big issues for me was the early morning arrival into Sydney. If you are staying at a hotel, ask about the possibility of early check in. After such a long flight, you will want a shower and some refreshment.

Have a good trip!

Great info, thinking of doing a trip to HKG/SYD next year, how long would you recommend in HKG as a stopover? I was thinking 2 days either side to allow some sightseeing.

(Sorry to hijack the thread!!)

IMHO the journey (even in UC) is a killer if you don't break it up. Last time we flew direct both ways and I can honestly say that I didn't want to re- board after each HKG CH visit. Breaking up the journey makes it more bearable and for me a couple of days is enough . HKG has changed hugely over the years (and not I think for the better ).
If you're not travelling in UC there is a paid shower facility in the terminal.
The new airport is pretty slick but not half as much fun as flying in to the old Kai Tak airport which was a bit hairaising :0 !
DL

The times I have travelled to SYD my plan was to get blottoed all the way there and back. Worked a treat, arrive in SYD and go to bed, wake up and the world is fine!

Helps to be in UC of course.

Having done the trip often on as many airlines I wouldn't break the journey. It is just a matter of being in the right state of mind - in my opinion. I can think of nothing worse than having to collect and re-check in twice and hang round airports un-necessarily (irrelevant of the class of travel).

Australia is fantastic (no bias here) - hopefully you will enjoy your trip - be warned - just take out an additional mortgage before you arrive, due to the exchange rate it is expensive here.

[mitchja]

The other issue is that you arrive in SYD ~06:00 in the morning so you might have to wait to check-in to your hotel room.

I was lucky last week as the hotel did have a room ready as soon as I arrived so even after a J flight from HKG having had 2 nights there, I still crashed out for a couple of hours but forced myself to get up after about 3hrs sleep so I wasn't awake all night.

I'd recommend at least 2 nights in HKG as the VS200 arrives around 17:15 so just booking 1 night in a hotel could be a bit of a waste.

I can highly recommend the Marriott Sky line hotel which offers free transfers to/from the terminal and offers great views of the airfield You can then just jump on the airport express train if you want to go into Kowloon or Hong Kong island. The other airport hotel at HKG (Regal?) is not a patch on the Marriott as I've also stayed there.

The 'getting to' SYD is the worse of the 2 journeys with it been 2 x over-night flights. At least coming back you get an afternoon/evening flight and then an over-night flight.

Also agree with how expensive Australia now is. Even with having all my trips booked/paid for I've not spent as much 'spending' money for a 11 night holiday in a long time

I love this route and whilst Jetlag is an unfortunate consequence, the actual journey always seems to go remarkably quickly. As others have said the stopover time is approx 90 minutes. If you have CH access I find a shower and light meal in HKG sets me up for the next leg (which is overnight) and I then sleep through to Sydney. I think it has been mentioned before but they do take all water/drink bottles off you when you re-board so only buy what you can drink on site.

Once in Sydney I try to stay awake all day, not easy but it really does help. You will have an amazing time, it's a very special country.

The new airport is pretty slick but not half as much fun as flying in to the old Kai Tak airport which was a bit hairaising :0 !
DL

Oh God yes I remember those days, when you could see the washing on the lines as you flew in and children would wave at you (I always waved back - wonder if they ever saw me). The female customs officers used to be hell in those days too. Didn't like the day we flew in and saw that plane half in half out of the water at the end of the runway tho !
Got to say I enjoyed not doing the stopover there or back the last time to Oz - first time doing it in UC after having done the trip so many times in either PE or cattle! Haven't been in HK since we were there for the hand over, would love to see how its changed now.
Would suggest a stopover in HK if you have never been there and as another post says, try to stay awake for the rest of the day - take a wander down to the Quay and go and book yourself a bridge climb for while your there (the nighttime one is pretty spectacular). You will love the place y)

Thanks everyone for the replies. Really helpful.

I will be in UC (renewing gold for another year in the process) so will take advantage of the lounge in HK. I will also get some friends to meet me at the other end and keep me awake all day

Looking forward to it even more now.


George