Perth Airport
Perth was both my departure and arrival airport. When departing I had to check in at the airport because Virgin Australia doesn't allow online check in for international flights. However, there was a dedicated counter at the domestic terminal for international connections so the wait to check in was short and the check in process was very painless.
Security at the domestic terminals in Perth is very straightforward, and, unlike American airports, you don't need to be flying to go through security, so my family was able to wait with me until boarding when I departed and wait at the gate for me when I returned.
Sydney Airport
I arrived at Sydney airport just after the 6am morning curfew but everything seemed to be running smoothly already. Taking the Virgin Australia free shuttle from the Domestic to International Terminal was very straightforward.
It was not very well signposted that I needed to fill out the green immigration card before I entered the immigration line (I guess people not transferring from a domestic flight would have been given the card when they checked in) but once I got over that hurdle immigration was a smooth process. I was even able to navigate the self-service kiosk despite its requirement to remove my glasses and then look at the (indistinguishable without my glasses) camera.
I was able to claim a tax refund on my Apple Watch once I passed through security. It was very confusing which line was for people who had filled out forms online and which was for people who had filled out physical forms, and there was a bit of a wait, but the actual claiming process was very easy (the actual refund came through about 10 days later).
There weren't a huge number of food and shopping options past security despite the terminal being huge, but was able to grab breakfast from Gloria Jeans and there were bubblers to refill my water bottle (which I had brought empty through security).
LAX
The flight from Sydney to LAX landed at the Tom Bradley International Terminal. The wait for immigration was fairly long and it was a little confusing who was eligible for the automated kiosks. It turned out I was eligible because I had been fingerprinted on my previous trip in 2010. But I still had to talk to a person after going to the kiosk and I'm not convinced that it actually saved me any time. In contrast to immigration, customs at LAX was a breeze.
Tom Bradley International Terminal is very nice and modern looking inside but once you get outside it's just the same as all the other terminals at LAX - dirty, poorly signed, and with people smoking too close to the exits.
My flight from LAX to BOS departed from Terminal 3 which I think is the worst terminal at LAX (Virgin Australia flights used to depart from here until they moved to Tom Bradley). The line for security was long but it probably is at all the terminals. The only real food option in the terminal is Burger King.
On my way back home I had to transfer at LAX from a Delta domestic flight to a Virgin Australia flight. As the plane was landing I realised I hadn't looked up how to do the transfer, but luckily when I got off the plane there was a lady with a Virgin Australia sign giving directions. I had to walk from Terminal 5 to Terminal 6 and then take a bus to Tom Bradley in order to avoid going through security a second time.
I had expected to have some time before my LAX to BNE flight to check out the Tom Bradley terminal, but by that point I was so exhausted that I just found a seat with a powerpoint and relaxed until it was time to board my flight.
Boston Aiport
On arrival, it was easy to collect my bag and get out of the terminal. It wasn't so easy to find my brother who was picking me up, because the signage outside wasn't very obvious. But we figured it out in the end.
Departing from Boston airport was definitely the easiest experience within the US. I don't know whether that's entirely because we were able to use the express security lines or whether the experience would have been that smooth in the regular line.
MCO (Orlando) Airport
Checking in for the return flight was straightforward and I was able to check my bags all the way to Perth (although the check-in agent insisted that I didn't need to pick up my bags until Perth even when I explained that I would need to go through customs in Brisbane). The line for security was very long and took about 45 minutes in total. Unlike other airports I didn't have to take my bag of liquids out of my carry-on bag.
Brisbane Airport
I can't really say much about what this airport is usually like because when I went through all of the border protection workers were on strike. Going through immigration was fine because it is all automated for Australian citizens, but to get through customs took 45 minutes even though I had nothing to declare and all they had to do was collect my card. It was a bit of a nightmare because there wasn't anywhere to queue so the line stretched between the baggage carousels and it was difficult to even get to where the back of the line was.
Apart from the customs issue, everything went smoothly. I was transferring from an international flight to a domestic flight so after going through customs I had to drop my bags off at the transfer desk and then catch a bus to the domestic terminal. Unlike the transfers I did at Sydney and LAX I had to go through security again at the domestic terminal but the wait there was very short. I had less than 2 hours to make the transfer so when the strike was announced I was a little worried but I made it to the gate before boarding started.
LAX
The flight from Sydney to LAX landed at the Tom Bradley International Terminal. The wait for immigration was fairly long and it was a little confusing who was eligible for the automated kiosks. It turned out I was eligible because I had been fingerprinted on my previous trip in 2010. But I still had to talk to a person after going to the kiosk and I'm not convinced that it actually saved me any time. In contrast to immigration, customs at LAX was a breeze.
Tom Bradley International Terminal is very nice and modern looking inside but once you get outside it's just the same as all the other terminals at LAX - dirty, poorly signed, and with people smoking too close to the exits.
My flight from LAX to BOS departed from Terminal 3 which I think is the worst terminal at LAX (Virgin Australia flights used to depart from here until they moved to Tom Bradley). The line for security was long but it probably is at all the terminals. The only real food option in the terminal is Burger King.
On my way back home I had to transfer at LAX from a Delta domestic flight to a Virgin Australia flight. As the plane was landing I realised I hadn't looked up how to do the transfer, but luckily when I got off the plane there was a lady with a Virgin Australia sign giving directions. I had to walk from Terminal 5 to Terminal 6 and then take a bus to Tom Bradley in order to avoid going through security a second time.
I had expected to have some time before my LAX to BNE flight to check out the Tom Bradley terminal, but by that point I was so exhausted that I just found a seat with a powerpoint and relaxed until it was time to board my flight.
Boston Aiport
On arrival, it was easy to collect my bag and get out of the terminal. It wasn't so easy to find my brother who was picking me up, because the signage outside wasn't very obvious. But we figured it out in the end.
Departing from Boston airport was definitely the easiest experience within the US. I don't know whether that's entirely because we were able to use the express security lines or whether the experience would have been that smooth in the regular line.
MCO (Orlando) Airport
Checking in for the return flight was straightforward and I was able to check my bags all the way to Perth (although the check-in agent insisted that I didn't need to pick up my bags until Perth even when I explained that I would need to go through customs in Brisbane). The line for security was very long and took about 45 minutes in total. Unlike other airports I didn't have to take my bag of liquids out of my carry-on bag.
Brisbane Airport
I can't really say much about what this airport is usually like because when I went through all of the border protection workers were on strike. Going through immigration was fine because it is all automated for Australian citizens, but to get through customs took 45 minutes even though I had nothing to declare and all they had to do was collect my card. It was a bit of a nightmare because there wasn't anywhere to queue so the line stretched between the baggage carousels and it was difficult to even get to where the back of the line was.
Apart from the customs issue, everything went smoothly. I was transferring from an international flight to a domestic flight so after going through customs I had to drop my bags off at the transfer desk and then catch a bus to the domestic terminal. Unlike the transfers I did at Sydney and LAX I had to go through security again at the domestic terminal but the wait there was very short. I had less than 2 hours to make the transfer so when the strike was announced I was a little worried but I made it to the gate before boarding started.
No comments:
Post a Comment