Here I was running alongside the baggage carousel at Sydney's International Airport looking a little dishevelled, because something was happening that had literally never happened to me before. My luggage was the very first bag to come off the plane. Fresh off a three-hour flight delay, I'd already been impressed by the airport's new and improved passport control.
READ MORE: 'Bit of Hollywood magic': A week of adventure and indulgence in Cortona Tuscany We landed at one of the closest gates to immigration, and now you no longer need to find one of the computer terminals to get your e-ticket. Instead, you continue through to the e-gates, and now complete your passport scan only once, answer the questions and take a photo at a new machine. Then you simply step up to the new e-gates where it confirms your face and you're through to the baggage claim.
All up this took me less than 10 minutes from leaving the aircraft. READ MORE: Why a visit to Australia's Northern Territory is like 'nothing else' So, of course, I believed I had plenty of time before my suitcase would eventually appear and wandered over to the bathrooms before making my way back to the baggage claim belt. I don't think I've ever waited less than 25-30 minutes for a bag.
Especially when landing alongside a host of other large international flights in the early morning. My absolute record was one hour and 45 minutes. This was a flight from Singapore and when new bags stopped arriving on the belt I was certain .