Sydney International Airport - Arrivals

We just flew in from Dallas Texas and immigration customs. Very smoothly. Unfortunately American Airlines lost my luggage so now it looks like I will have to go shopping for clothes. Arrivals section is small and not a place to shop. Expecting you to depart and leave. If you want any restaurant jobs, go upstairs to use her to text.

I would agree with the other reviews saying that there is one way, and one way only, to get from off of your international flight and out of the airport. The signage is ok but honestly, we passed the duty free following a sign that said something like "International Passengers" and an arrow and we were wrong. You absolutely do follow the signs for baggage claim. We had to turn back (with a few groups from our plane) because you will have to pass through a duty free shop where there are a few kiosks that scan your passport then give you a ticket to the next blockage. We saw these kiosks when we passed the duty free too, so if you're willing to walk an extra few feet, you can pretty much skip the line at the duty free ones because there was no one at these kiosks.

After getting your picture taken at the place that you turn your ticket over at, you go down to baggage claim and through customs. This is where the actual nightmare starts. The signage here is not clear. They should also do different lines, one for people who have things to declare and one for those who don't. We had to get into a line that literally wrapped around over half of the edge of the area. It moved fairly slowly, especially since people love to pretend they haven't seen a line in their life and squeeze their way in, cutting you and adding to the line. By the time we reached the "missing bag" counter, an officer opened a door and asked if there were people who had nothing to declare. That was us so we were able to skip the last leg of the line. It was probably about a 30-45 min process all together.

Exiting the secured area, the signage is much better. We found the Uber pick up spot very quickly and were out to enjoy the rest of the day in Sydney.

After a fourteen hour flight, the last thing you want is a long immigration and customs line. Fortunately, we faced neither!

As we walked from the gate to arrivals, we noted a large number of kiosks lining the walkway with passengers queued to use them. We were not sure what they were exactly, and there were no ground staff to query. Being adventurous, we decided to try one.

Upon arriving at the kiosk, a scan of the passport and responses to a few questions resulted in the machine printing a small ticket. We were then able to use the express automatic immigration gates. Insert the ticket, smile for a photo, and viola! The gate opens and admits you "down under." The ticket is returned to you for use at customs as well. A great system; I just wish it was better explained!

After claiming our bags we walked easily through the customs area and turned in the ticket and the arrivals declaration form we completed aboard the flight.

Enjoy your time in Australia!

G'day! Welcome to Oz!
This is a pretty huge airport. You come in and are instantly segregated from the rest of the domestic and outbound travelers. I arrived, and went down hallway after hallway, like cattle through the chute, down staircases, escalators, and finally arrived at baggage claim. It took foooooreeevvveerr to get my bag. While waiting, every single passenger had a customs agent come up and ask about their visa and declaration cards. Things went smoothly. Unfortunately, customs doesn't give you a stamp on your passport anymore. They have automated kiosks where you remove your hat, glasses, etc., pose for a picture, get your passport scanned, and finally looked over by an agent, and you're on your way. Easy breezy. Signage was clear and easy. They also have tourist brochures available at no cost along the terminal walls.
There wasn't much shopping in the International Arrivals area. I guess they get you on your way out. The International Arrival area is conveniently located right next to the subway station, so if you need to get to domestic, it's a subway stop away.

One of my favorite airports, but truth be told, we have 2 Priority Club memberships. Even without membership privileges, there is awesome dining and shopping. It's not large so you can get to all of it. Security usually easy though our "quick pass machine" was down and we had paid extra to use the swift lane which was not available. The terminal 1 (International) has many Priority Pass options so I suggest you exercise all your options. We take a Better Burger to go to eat on the plane. $28 credit

By the looks of it Sydney international airport is a huge one even though as I arrived I didn't get a chance to fully explore the airport. The one thing that you notice as you get off the flight is that you don't get segregated from the departing passengers as in the USA and you just walk through the duty free to get to the immigration counters.

I was flying on the Qantas airways Dallas to Sydney flight which was awfully long 17 hours yet I didn't really feel tired. The airport was a bit crowded but Qantas gave us an express pass that helped get through immigration pretty quickly and the bags arrived in short order.

All the international flights arrive in one terminal and as soon as you pass customs you have the rental car companies on the right side. Also remember the driving is opposite to the USA in Australia. You have right handed cars here so if you feel uncomfortable don't drive. Take the train. They have a pretty good system and trains take you to the city plus combined with Uber you can survive without a car.

5 star airport. They could improve the flow of passengers as it feels pretty crowded but as Sydney is the biggest city in Australia that brings all the tourists here.

Sydney's airport curfew means several international arrivals are coming in ALL AT THE SAME TIME. The place is mobbed at 7 am Sydney time.

On the way out / towards baggage (and then customs), there are electronic passport machines: scan your passport to get an e-passport ticket, then stay to right to get thru check-ins. There will be someone repeating these instructions over and over til you get to the Big Room of Lines where all the tired travelers jostle for their turn to escape this purgatory.

If you have an e-passport, the automatic gate check-in takes your ticket like a metro station, then snaps a photo of you to compare to your passport photo. **Be sure to remove glasses or hats and LOOK AT THE CAMERA or you'll fail to be recongized and need to go thru a more traditional check-in line. No matter how you're routed, you move to the next room to wait for your bags anyway, so relax and make friends in bureacratic hell.

The people are nice enough, especially considering they're dealing with hoardes of tired cranky travelers.

After retrieving bags, proceed to customs. This bit itself was fairly painless for us: a nice agent asked us some questions about why we'd marked our cards a certain way, then sent us to the Get Out of Airport Now chute, toward the G'Day! painted along the wall.

With All The International Flights coming in at the same time, expect parking and roads to be crowded, too.

The bureaucracy sucks, but the process was fairly efficient, all things considered, plus YOU'RE IN AUSTRALIA NOW, so there's that.

This week was my second time flying into Sydney from the US.
I definitely agree with Melia R. that the flow of passengers is intense - stepping back to watch for a bit you'll see hundreds of people get off each plane and rush toward border patrol, and then nothing behind the crush.
Both times I've been out of the airport within 10-15 minutes after getting off my plane, which I appreciate.
It appears that the airport is pretty straightforward.
The only thing I have difficulty with is understanding which line(s) I can get in to have my passport checked!
After they check your passport (and presumably visa), you pick up your bag, and then go through one additional line. You may be selected for a bag screening or you may be able to pass straight through.
Once you get through the second line, BAM! sunshine!
Enjoy your trip!