Sydney Airport

Lelanded! I was pretty excited to see what Australia had to offer.

AMBIANCE:
Welcome to Down Under! It was a nice welcoming. I remember seeing many stores from food, souvenirs, technology, and cosmetics. It was relatively clean and had a good flow.

PARKING:
Structured parking. It felt pretty accessible as once I got picked up, we walked to the parking structure.

CUSTOMER SERVICE:
Great! Helpful people. I was looking for places such as the exit and such and they responded with a positive attitude.

TL;DR OVERALL:
4 Stars. Great! Airports are all about first impressions and this left a great one! I have a lot of admiration for this country and look forward to visiting soon.

Tips:
* They don't mark your passport with an Australia stamp (sadness)

A decent 3.5 stars. As far as international airports, Sydney's airport is on the small side, lacks many of the amenities you may expect, and while properly labeled, things may be oddly located (like having to go out of the airport with all your luggage and walk over, cross streets, etc. to get to the taxi and Uber pickup locations.

The ambience and decor of the airport is... ok. If this is your entry point to the country, you won't come out overly impressed. It's not bad and the place is mostly clean and everything. It's just relatively small as far as international airports go and there isn't much that sets it apart.

The staff is thankfully very kind and helpful. Though you'll notice most places are closed outside of the narrow business hours which again, very odd for an international airport.

Lastly, having to exit the airport and walk over a not insignificant distance just to get to the designated taxi, Uber, and general pickup locations is terrible planning.

They make it as painless as humanly possible to get through on the domestic side. Their workers are friendly and professional. They put the customers at ease. Very helpful and efficient.

I connected once through this airport. My main recollection was it was a clean and airy airport and it's positioned with an awesome and handsome view of downtown Sydney. As you might expect, Qantas rules big time here. I watched long haul carriers land incessantly in front of a skyline view on a sunny day and it quickly passed the time away. My time here was relatively short but quite memorable.

We left Miami on 11/15 & arrived in Sydney on 11/17. Long,crowded, noisy flight business class would be $20,000 RT from lax.

The airport was clean, felt new, I'd bring refurbished & everything was well marked. We followed the lines from the plane, through a huge duty free shop, to scan our passport, get out luggage & get in a taxi. There were no waits, it was easy.

My experience is only for the international terminal. There are plenty of signage to get you where you need to go. There were plenty of food options before and after going through security screening. The duty-free shops were well organized and the selection was good. Getting through passport check with the Australian Border Force was pretty easy especially if you have an ePassport where you can use one of the SmartGates. It was super easy to take the train into the Central Business District area via the T8 train line as there's a train station connected to the terminal.

This airport is very tourist friendly. Follow the signs and you will be on your way.

Staff is delightful and are all willing to help you if you get confused on where to go, especially if you have a connecting flight.

Lots of shops and places to grab some grub.

You can also get to the trains directly from the airport which is very convenient. I suggest taking a train to your closest destination as it will be a lot cheaper than an Uber!

Compared to other major airports in Australia, Sydney Airport is more disappointing with appearance and staff compared to their counterparts. I have always had issues with luggage arrivals, the check-in process, and transferring from one terminal to another. The stores within the terminals, along with available eateries, are not convenient for the average traveler. I hope new changes are in the works to correct these deficiencies in the nesr future.

This is a huge and modern airport. I felt like I was in a high end shopping mall when I was there. It gave me a very similar feeling of the airport in Paris. The only thing I did not like about it was that I had to go through security for transit once I got off an international fight. I had 6 hours of layover, and I had enough time to go through security as well as walking around all the shops. When I get to the gate, the staff is friendly, and able to print out a new boarding pass for me. I enjoyed my time here.

Large, modern and well maintained, the Sydney airport offers first tier, designer shopping and modern amenities.