Air New Zealand versus Jetstar: Head to Head in Aotearoa

How does Jetstar compare to Air New Zealand when flying domestically in New Zealand? Is it worth paying more to fly Air New Zealand? Or should you decide purely on price and schedule?

Come for a trip between Auckland and Wellington to which airline comes out on top in this Air New Zealand vs Jetstar battle.

Routes

Air New Zealand has a far more extensive domestic network than Jetstar. The flag carrier serves 20 domestic destinations while Jetstar serves just five domestically: Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Queenstown and Dunedin.

For this comparison, I flew Jetstar from Auckland to Wellington at 11am on a Tuesday morning. I returned to Auckland around lunch time the following day. Jetstar offers six return flights a day on this busy trunk route. In comparison, Air New Zealand typically has around 15 daily flights.

Booking and Price

Both airlines offer unbundled fare structures. For an equal comparison, and because I was travelling with just hand luggage, I purchased the cheapest fare category and added a few essentials.

On Jetstar I paid NZD54 (~AU$46) plus NZD5.50 for standard seat selection. I added an extra seven kilograms of hand luggage for an additional NZD25 as I knew my soft carry on would likely be above seven kilograms and Jetstar is known for its strict enforcement of carry on rules. The total fare was NZD86 (~AU$74). This fare wasn’t eligible to earn Qantas Points or status credits.

My Wellington to Auckland “Seat” fare cost NZD89 (~AU$76), plus NZD10 for standard seat selection for a total of NZ$99 (~AU$85). I don’t have an Air New Zealand Airpoints/Koru membership but I added my Air Canada Aeroplan number to the booking. Sadly, a follow up missing miles claim was denied for this fare class. I decided to take my chances and didn’t pay for the extra couple kilograms of hand luggage for this flight.

Verdict: Jetstar was $13 cheaper, including the extra $25 I paid for additional hand luggage.

Ground experience

Jetstar, Auckland

I was glad that I wasn’t checking a bag as the Jetstar bag drop counters in Auckland were chaotic.

Security was efficient and I was airside in about 5 minutes. My flight departed from the downstairs departure area. It’s just a very sterile – and crowded – waiting pen. There’s no retail or any other services in this area.

Boarding was called a full 50 minutes before departure. There wasn’t anyone weighing carry on at the gate, so on this occasion I needn’t have paid for the additional weight.

The staff members scanning boarding passes did so without any real welcomes or greetings. But at least the process was quick and they were enforcing boarding by the rows they’d called. It was then a short walk in the rain to the front stairs of the waiting A320.

Air New Zealand, Wellington

Security at Wellington Airport is done at the top of two separate jet concourses. This means the central, open part of the  terminal is effectively landside. I found a quiet seat by the big windows with a great view and grabbed some takeaway sushi for lunch. I then cleared the Air New Zealand security checkpoint and waited 10 minutes before boarding was called on time.

Priority boarding reminded me a lot of how Qantas used to do it. (Poorly!)

While two lanes were marked – one priority and one general – after only about a minute of priority boarding, general boarding was called and the priority lane immediately filled up. So anyone who stayed up in the lounge until closer to boarding time would have had to join the back of a long line. There was also no apparent enforcement of row numbers as they were called. Like on Jetstar, gate staff were perfunctory.

This flight was 100% full and we got underway on time.

Verdict: Tie. Both airlines offered basic efficiency on the ground. Jetstar lost points for what looked like an unwieldy bag drop process and Air New Zealand went down a couple of pegs for poorly executed priority boarding.

In flight service

Jetstar

The team leader in the cabin was friendly upon boarding and cheerful as she gave her PA announcements. The other crew members were considerably younger. They all went about their duties with a slightly rushed demeanour, typical of Jetstar.

The cabin was clean and well kept. The slimline seats don’t offer much in the way of comfort or support. Their slim design does however provide ample legroom for short flights.

Once airborne the Jetstar buy on board service began. Crew were diligent in identifying passengers entitled to food and beverage service included as part of a bundle or international connecting codeshare. While I didn’t have a voucher on this particular light, I’ve previously had to prompt the crew around 50% of the time that I have had in-flight vouchers in Australia. So kudos to this crew.

Jetstar offers the same menu in Australia and New Zealand and interestingly the prices are the same amount in both currencies – so in real terms our Kiwi cousins get to snack for less than Australian Jetstar passengers. I didn’t feel the need to buy any refreshments on board.

Inflight entertainment streaming was available on this flight. I didn’t access the system on this short sector, but according to the Jetstar website an “All Access” pass costs AUD8.99 and there’s a slightly cheaper kids option for AUD6.99. These might be handy for longer flights. All in all this flight highlighted many of the things that Jetstar does well.

Air New Zealand

Cabin greetings and announcements were on par with Jetstar. The better padding on the seats and overall condition and ambiance of the cabin were a slight step up, at least aesthetically.

Once we were airborne crew came down the aisle offering tea, coffee or water and a choice of a cookie, a small packet of crisps or a small chocolate bar. The offering is admittedly tokenistic but appreciated. With a short flight and full all-Economy Class cabin, the service was efficient by necessity but still came with a smile. It felt very similar to Virgin Australia in many respects.

Those flying on an A320-operated domestic flights with a scheduled flight time of over 61 minutes, departing between 16:30 and 19:05 (excluding public holidays) receive Air New Zealand’s “Koru Hour” service. This includes beer, wine, soft drinks and a cheese and crackers. To be honest, the tight criteria for eligible flights for Koru Hour feels a little bit parsimonious, but it is a point of difference between the two airlines.

A copy of Air New Zealand’s Kia Ora magazine was the only inflight entertainment offered on this flight. There’s no in-seat monitors or streaming on domestic A320s. At the time of travel, domestic inflight Wi-Fi was still in trial stage onboard just two aircraft in the fleet.

Verdict: A tie. There’s not enough to set Air New Zealand’s in-flight product or service apart from Jetstar. Even if I bought a snack on board Jetstar, I’d be saving money compared to Air New Zealand.

The bottom line

Jetstar and Air New Zealand both delivered safe and punctual flights for my short round trip between Auckland and Wellington. Both offered affordable base fares and both had similar unbundled upsells for things like checked luggage, seat selection and in Jetstar’s case, wifi and entertainment. I’d say I had higher expectations boarding my Air New Zealand flight, and commensurately lower expectations for Jetstar. The reality was that they both met somewhere in the middle.

If I was a frequent flyer in New Zealand I would gravitate towards Air New Zealand for the more extensive network as well as its frequent flyer program, lounge access and so on.

But as a leisure flyer visiting New Zealand, I’d book future domestic flights based on price and schedule. Based on this Air New Zealand vs Jetstar match up, there’s not enough to set one airline above the other.