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Layover guideSydney · SYD

What to buy in Sydney

Aircrew get half a passenger's duty free concession on general goods, and are excluded from the GST refund scheme outright.

RizaCPH / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
All of Sydney

Sydney Airport publishes the general goods concession as AU$900 worth of goods per adult, and AU$450 per traveller under 18 years and per aircrew member. The crew figure is the trap: it is the same as a child's.

The alcohol concession is up to 2.25 litres of alcoholic beverages per adult, and all alcohol in accompanied baggage counts towards it no matter where it was bought.

Tobacco is one unopened packet of up to 25 cigarettes, or the equivalent 25 grams of tobacco products, plus one open packet.

Exceed a category limit and duty and tax is payable on all items of that type, not only on the items that exceed the limit.

The Tourist Refund Scheme refunds GST on AU$300 including GST or more spent in one store within 60 days of departure, but it is open to everyone except operating air crew. The T1 office is airside after departures screening, to the right of the Heinemann Duty Free entrance near Gate 10. All travellers must arrive there at least 30 minutes before scheduled departure, and at least 90 minutes if the goods are in carry-on. Oversized or restricted goods go to the ABF Client Services Counter landside before check-in, at Level 1 Arrival Hall near the glass elevators.

  1. Sydney Airport: Duty free allowances for arriving passengers · checked 2026-09-03
  2. Sydney Airport: Tourist Refund Scheme · checked 2026-09-03
  3. Destination NSW: Australian customs and quarantine control · checked 2026-09-03

The rest of Sydney

The whole guide
Getting out of the airportTrains run from the arrivals levels of the International and Domestic terminals and reach the city in 13 minutes, but every airport tap adds a station access fee on top of the fare.Ride-hailingUber and other rideshare services operate, and at T1 International UberX runs on a six-digit PIN from a specific rank rather than plate matching.Local laws that catch crew outVaping is policed exactly as smoking is, and undeclared food at the biosecurity line is the thing that ends layovers badly.Staying connectedA prepaid SIM needs your name, date of birth, home address and an ID check before it works, and T1 International has free Wi-Fi.WeatherThe ultraviolet load is the hazard, not the temperature, and it burns through cloud.Eating near the crew hotelsRetail hours are short by Gulf standards, and the card surcharge you have been paying ends on 1 October 2026 for the major networks.TippingYour choice, with no service charge added, though a weekend or public holiday surcharge can be if the menu says so.