JQ sale fares (not)!

[tuapekastar]

Just received an unwanted reminder on how JQ treat 'sale' fares in their faux business class.

Looking at MEL-BKK, found a business sale fare of $549. Great. Of course, I want SCs with that...and discover the bundle costs $450, instead of the ~$200 it costs when the base fare is around the 8 or 9 hundred dollar mark. So effectively, if you want SCs (and there would be little appeal for me to do this without them) or any other bundle benefits then there is effectively no sale. Apparently ever. All I want is the SCs, I'm prepared to risk the inflexibility, and already have lounge access. Oh, and the return was $515 base (sale). Bundle = $600.

I'm struggling a little with the honesty and ethics here. Yes it is offering a 'business sale', but not for anyone who wants a bundle (or in my case, a 'third' of a bundle). The price of the bundle is simply adjusted to reflect 'no sale'. Others will likely disagree, but I think it is a little grubby and certainly hits you between the eyes when you add the bundle and see what it costs.
'

 

[greenfish]

I've been caught by this myself however I don't see it as grubby as we are talking about an LCC. The sale isn't a Business Max sale, just a Business Sale.

My recent trip to DPS I split and bought myself the bundle and let the rest of the family fly with a straight business sale fare. Even with the bundle price, they're still fairly cheap SCs (compared to alternatives on the same route).

 

[eastwest101]

Two good points made in that example - firstly - that JQ still need to 'unbundle' their 'bundles', looking at the actual differences between 'Business' and 'Business Max' you are really getting Free Lounge Access, QFF point and SC earn and that's it.





Secondly - when the price of the bundle no longer reflects the perceived benefit of the contents of the bundle (lounge access, refundability and QFF SC earn) then JQ have really made the decision pretty easy for you. They are effectively saying - you are a loyal QFF customer whom wants to earn SCs - so forget about that cheap fare and pay full price because you won't compare our prices or consider other carriers which may be 1 stop options. I think this is part of the reasoning behind JQ taking up routes previously served by Qantas and/or serving routes without decent competitors.

 

[MarkD]

Agree its pretty poor, however its up to you what you are willing to pay

 

[tuapekastar]

Sure is, and I may well end up paying it. Just such a disappointment to see and click on a fare marked 'sale' only to then see the inflated max bundle price on the next screen effectively negating the 'sale'.

 

[browski]

Why do you want the SCs? Is it just for Gold renewal?
Mayne the he smart play here would be the Royal Brunei one-way J class for $1200 and the return on Jetstar with the bundle. Or just fly Royal Brunei in J return for $1900.
Best beds in the sky.

 

[tuapekastar]

SCs certainly wanted for renewal. I would consider Brunei if they weren't.

 

[Mattg]

Have noticed this too. I find it quite annoying. A while back I was considering a SC run SYD-DPS-SYD in J when they were having an exceptional sale but the business max bundle was around the same price, or maybe even more than the cost of the flight. I didn't end up booking at all.

 

[Pvcmenace]

I also have been frustrated with this and now wait until any sales are over and then book my required 3 max bundle fares for a saving of ~$400.

I've been caught by this myself however I don't see it as grubby as we are talking about an LCC. The sale isn't a Business Max sale, just a Business Sale.

My recent trip to DPS I split and bought myself the bundle and let the rest of the family fly with a straight business sale fare. Even with the bundle price, they're still fairly cheap SCs (compared to alternatives on the same route).

Thanks for that! Never even occurred to me to do that.

 

[Mattg]

I also have been frustrated with this and now wait until any sales are over and then book my required 3 max bundle fares for a saving of ~$400.

I'm not sure exactly what you mean. Are you saying that the business fares with Max bundle become $400 cheaper when the sale ends, or that you buy the sale fares then add the max bundle later?

 

[BillytheFIsh]

Isn't this just because the bundle is actually booking into a different fare bucket, with the cost of the bundle the difference between the sale fare bucket and the bundle fare bucket?

I suppose that doesn't help you, but it kinda makes sense when you think about it that way, because the non-sale bucket isn't on sale, hence the higher bundle cost.

 

[mannej]

Isn't this just because the bundle is actually booking into a different fare bucket, with the cost of the bundle the difference between the sale fare bucket and the bundle fare bucket?

I suppose that doesn't help you, but it kinda makes sense when you think about it that way, because the non-sale bucket isn't on sale, hence the higher bundle cost.

I have read that before, and it does make sense.

I guess this isn't clearly communicated on behalf of JQ though.

 

[BillytheFIsh]

I have read that before, and it does make sense.

I guess this isn't clearly communicated on behalf of JQ though.

No, it's not obvious at all - and I suppose it wouldn't fit in with their drip pricing model to just show the different fares upfront !

 

[docjames]

Can you add the bundle after the booking? ie. call up a week or two later when the sale is over? And then they only add it at the "fare bundle" price.

It may be (given the criticism of the QF IT side of things) that it's unintentional (or intentional) - using random fare codes and bundle prices (i don't know the actual ones):

Standard Bundle fare = Code A + $200.
Sale comes on in fare B.
Bundle fare (coding error or intentional) still calculating as A+$200 (rather than defaulting to B+$200). So spits out what appears to be (say) B+$400.

Code A fares rarely get updated as they are effectively "RRP". Code B only gets loaded / availability when a sale is launched.

If you manually added a bundle a week or two later, would the phone operator want to add $200 or still add the difference between (A-B) + $200? Who knows but would be worth finding out.

 

[medhead]

I've been caught by this myself however I don't see it as grubby as we are talking about an LCC. The sale isn't a Business Max sale, just a Business Sale.

Except there is no such thing as a Business max fare. There is a business fare + a Bundle. Everyone is buying the same business fare (sale or otherwise) and then buying a separate product called a bundle. That is the model that Jetstar have advertised, which is completely independent of any underlying fare class. In fact the underlying fare class is made irrelevant by Jetstar not explicitly stating it upfront before purchasing. I would go so far as to say it is misleading to offer a sale price and then prevent people who buy another product from achieving that sale price

 

[Austman]

Can you add the bundle after the booking?

The answer, from those who have tried, is "No".

You need to pay a change fee and the fare difference.

 

[medhead]

The answer, from those that have tried, is "No".

Which conflicts with the Jetstar website. Perhaps unsurprisingly.

How to add extras

Add bundles and extras when you book OR at: Manage booking

Fare Types | Jetstar

 

[moa999]

Except there is no such thing as a Business max fare. There is a business fare + a Bundle. Everyone is buying the same business fare (sale or otherwise) and then buying a separate product called a bundle. That is the model that Jetstar have advertised, which is completely independent of any underlying fare class. In fact the underlying fare class is made irrelevant by Jetstar not explicitly stating it upfront before purchasing. I would go so far as to say it is misleading to offer a sale price and then prevent people who buy another product from achieving that sale price

Except that Jetstar doesn't individually price the bundle. It is offered at the point of sale and you can accept it or not.
One day it might be $466, the next $200 (this may or may not be related to whether the underlying fare is on sale)

 

[medhead]

Except that Jetstar doesn't individually price the bundle. It is offered at the point of sale and you can accept it or not.
One day it might be $466, the next $200 (this may or may not be related to whether the underlying fare is on sale)

That may be the case. But it is still sold as a separate product with no explicit reference to fare class.

 

[tuapekastar]

Well JQ is forgiven (sort of). Looking a little later in the year there are sale prices around what is stated in the OP but with bundles that are $300 rather than numbers like $450 and $600 - probably qualifies as a sale of sorts.