RTW TP Run in Jan 2026: Day 20 – Morning at Sydney Airport

By Nige on February 6, 2026 at 12:18 pm
Type: Post
Story: Round the World Tier Point Run in Jan 2026 Category: Travel
Tags: SYD | Sydney

From Gate 35, it was a long walk to transfers and immigration. The signage was excellent and it was easy to find the route to International Transfers — in fact, I appeared to be the only passenger using the facility.

There was a security check, but it was all very straightforward. Once through into the departures area, it took me a little while to get my bearings and work out where the Qantas First Lounge was located.

As it turned out, it was close to Gate 24. The business-class section of the lounge appeared to be closed for refurbishment, with passengers instead being directed to another business lounge nearby.

I received a warm welcome at the top of the escalator and, after walking through the restaurant area, found a quiet section of the lounge with recliners and power sockets. I plugged everything in and immediately had one overriding thought: Starbucks.

I headed back out of the lounge and asked the staff member doing the initial boarding pass checks where I could find one. Disappointingly, he said there wasn’t a Starbucks anywhere in the terminal. What?!

So, it was back into the lounge and time to settle for a latte — which, to be fair, I didn’t ask to be below average, but that’s exactly what it turned out to be.

After catching up on some admin, I went for a walk around the terminal. It’s always useful to understand the layout, and the added bonus is getting a few more steps in.

By the time I returned to the lounge, I was starting to fade a little, which meant one thing: food.

I grabbed a table for lunch and started with the salt and pepper squid — something I’ve enjoyed previously at the Qantas First Lounge in LAX. It didn’t disappoint and was very tasty.

For the main course, I opted for the American cheeseburger by a rather fancy-named chef. The burger had apparently been voted the best burger in Australia. Whether or not that’s true, it was certainly very good.

It was served with chips and a rocket and parmesan salad, which rounded things off nicely.

With lunch done, I decided to head down to the gate about an hour before scheduled departure, just in case there were any document checks or other administrative hurdles to navigate before boarding.

Next up: My flight from Sydney (SYD) to Nadi (NAN) on Day 20 of my Round The World trip of a lifetime.

Round the World Tier Point Run in Jan 2026