Key Details 

Date: 8th February 2025

Flight No: QF1453

Route: Sydney to Canberra

Aircraft: DHC Dash 8-400

Cabin: Economy

The Route

AussieJetSetter 100 Point Rating 

55/80 = 68.75/100 final adjusted rating (Food and beverage disqualified due to reasons outside crew control)

5/5 Check in 
5/5 Boarding and Disembarkation
5/5 Baggage Handling 
4/5 Booking Management 
8/10 Lounge
8/10 Crew & In-Flight Service
0/10 Entertainment
5/ 10 Value for Money/ Points 
10/20 Seat and Cabin

Food and Beverage (NA due to severe weather)

Checking In/ Qantas Seamless Transfer in Sydney

Check in for today’s flight actually began the day before anywhere close but to Sydney. As this flight was part of a 3 flight itinerary booked through Qantas as Qantas Classic Flight Reward I was able to supposedly check in 24 hours before through the Qantas App. For Qantas operated flights for its own frequent flyer members seat selection is free on all flights from the moment of booking with sometime more ‘premium’ economy class seats being made available at the check in open time so it pays to check again as qantas will allow you to change to other available seats. For the Dash 8 flights however due to weight and balance considerations Qantas typically only allow you to select a preference of window or aisle and you won’t actually know your seat until check in however. For non Qantas operated flights to check in and or select (often at a charge) a seat you will need to head to that carrier’s website and use the provided booking reference to manage booking.

Despite after doing all this and checking in online I wasn’t able to actually secure any boarding passes in print or electronically until visiting the check in kiosk at Nadi Airport which provided me with my Sydney bound boarding pass. When I mentioned my onward Qantas flights at the manual bag drop counter they were able to print my Fiji Airways branded boarding passes for the two subsequent Qantas flights too. How cool is that!

Once arriving at Sydney there was no need to formally check in in for this flight however as I had checked baggage and was arriving from an international flight Australian Government regulations did however required that I collect my bags and clear immigration and customs with them before I could re check them for the onward domestic connections.

After clearing immigration and customs which took only less than 10 minutes at this very quiet time of day it was a several hundred metre walk from the main arrivals hall to the dedicated Qantas transfer terminal. Here I presented my onward boarding passes and had my bags re-checked in much the same way as a traditional domestic bag drop – the only difference here was that it was all done manually. Afterwards Qantas have their own dedicated security checkpoint which you can clear prior to reaching a waiting area for their own dedicated air aside bus service which will take you over to terminal 3 in a matter of only 5 minutes. How cool and convenient is that!

Sydney Airport Qantas Club

Today I got into the Sydney Qantas Club courtesy of a good friend whom had several expiring Qantas Passes in which he wasn’t able to use in time. Please be sure to check out his Instagram @Funguytravel! It was a very timely day to visit the Sydney Qantas Club due to a rather lengthy 5 hour or so stopover in Sydney as part of a long travel day between Nadi, Fiji and Perth, Western Australia via Sydney and of course Canberra. After having arrived back into Australia on Fiji Airways from Nadi about 12.30pm I was not scheduled to leave Sydney again to about 5.30pm. After going through customs and immigration which was very quick and easy at this time of day, rechecking my bags at the Qantas international to domestic transfer counter, filming some intros and outs for today’s trio of flights and finally heading on the airside bus to terminal 3 I arrived at the Qantas Club just prior to 2pm meaning nearly 4 hours of relaxation in the lounge.

On the the lounge itself the Qantas Club in Sydney is unsurprisingly one of the Flying Kangaroo’s flagship entry level domestic lounges and quite possibly the biggest of them all! Along with Qantas’s other major capital city Qantas Club’s, the Sydney lounge very much sets the benchmark in offering the full range of services, amenities and food and beverage options that a Qantas Club could. The seating area in the lounge is absolutely massive making it feel very roomy on a very quiet Saturday afternoon such as today. A solid range of seating is available suitable for both relaxing, socialising, dining or even getting some business work done. Food and beverage options are certainly on the better side for Qantas Club standards. Expect to find a full self service salad bar with cold meats, salads and other food items. There is also an ‘all day dining’ menu offering several hot food options for those who prefer something more substantial. Onto beverages there are several self service soft drink fountains and tea and coffee machines located in the lounge and a central tendered bar area offering six beers on tap including some craft beers whilst there is also a solid self serve assortment of modestly valued red, white and sparkling wines. Barista made coffee is also made to order from staff at the bar.

Staff were adequately present within the lounge from check in at reception which was handled smoothly through to the bar staff whom delivered drink service very quickly and housekeeping that kept the lounge neat and tidy at all times.

Aside from that the lounge also has the full range of Qantas Club business amenities and is self contained with its own bathroom and even shower facilities. I also managed to connect to the Qantas Lounge wifi which was reasonably speedy allowing me to download at ease a handful of documentaries to my own MacBook to potentially watch on the longer flight back to Perth later that night.

Overall it was a very pleasant afternoon spent at the Qantas Club which I dare say may not be quite as relaxing during peak times. The lounge provided a good 3.5 hours of solid relaxing respite during the middle of a 16 hour journey between Fiji and Perth

QantasLink Q400 Seating

QantasLink operates 3 types of Dash 8 aircraft in its fleet of which the Dash 8-400 variant that we are flying today is its largest. All three variants offer an economy only configuration of which the aircraft taking us to Canberra has a total of 74 seats in a 2-2 configuration. As one might expect for a regional turboprop aircraft legroom isn’t exactly spacious at around 31in seat pitch and 17in width but for short flights it should be fine for most people.

The seats themselves come in a fairly well worn leather material and despite showing there age are overall quite comfortable. Expect a fairly stock standard but more than functional fold back tray table as well.

Inflight Service and Food and Beverage

Despite the very short duration of the very quick flight down the to nation’s capital where the plane is barely cruising for less than 20 minutes, impressively QantasLink do still offer an onboard food and beverage service (weather permitting as I would quickly find out). Certainly don’t expect a hot meal but think snack foods such as cheese and crackers with tea, coffee, soft drinks or even a beer or wine after 12 noon.

Today’s flight however was an exception. With a very obvious threat of significant storm action en route on today’s flight and a fair degree of turbulence on board the pilot made the wise decision which is totally understandable for the safety of all passengers and crew to deploy the seat belt sign for the entire duration of the flight. Well done to the Qantas crew however who were proactive in warning passengers about this likely scenario upon boarding, offering out bottled water prior to departure and inviting anyone who might need to use the facility to do so prior to departure as the chance to use them on this 40 minute flight today seemed very unlikely.

In Flight Entertainment

QantasLink Dash 8 aircraft do not have any in-flight seat back entertainment nor Qantas’s inflight streaming service or complimentary Wi-Fi. You’ll have to wait until next time you are flying on an international Qantas service or on a Boeing or Airbus aircraft domestically. To my surprise there didn’t even appear to be a copy of the Qantas Inflight Magazine at my seat which I can confirm is still disbitruted based on other recent flights with the flying Kangaroo.Not sure if this was intentional or simply a prior passenger had taken off with it without it being replenished! The best entertainment on this flight however is always going to be the views of the Southern Highlands below or in my case today the stormy clouds outside!

Arriving into Canberra

Despite an initial 15 minute delay which turned out to be 35 minutes leaving Sydney and an extra 5-10 minutes being added to the journey time with a detour out over the Blue Mountains to avoid the worst of there storm activity I am pleased to say I arrived at the gate only about 20 minutes behind schedule at 6.50pm which was a pretty good result in the end considering severe weather very much threatened a miss connecting flight in Canberra to Sydney!

Upon arriving into Canberra Airport it was an easy 1 minute walk via stairs off the plane into the terminal building. There was no need to pick up my luggage as it was checked through to my final destination of Perth on the once daily QF 867 service from the nation’s capital to West Coast Capital. With a complimentary Qantas Club Invitation In hand already pre linked to this flight the good news is I was still able to check out the lounge albeit only for a brief 20 minutes which turned out to be the Business Lounge due to the Qantas Club being closed at this time of day In any case should your journey finish in Canberra from past experience it is only a 10 minute drive or 20 minute bus ride to the centre of the city otherwise known locally as ‘Civic’

Summing Up

Overall a more than acceptable flight on QantasLink today that got me from A to B between Sydney and Australia’s capital city of Canberra. Due to the severe weather conditions enroute I was faced with slight delays and no on board food and bevergidge service for safety reasons. Whilst I wouldn’t usually see the economic or time viability in flying point to point between Sydney and Canberra I do see the merit of the route as an inbound feeder for international arrivals such as on today’s flight.