If you have trouble, contact Jetstar... how?

[Eric George]

We recently had a flight delay in Mongolia and tried to contact Jetstar to tell they we would not make our connecting flight - but how? We did not have internet, there was no telephone number on our ticket, and when a friend in Cairns tried Jetstar Australia she got a number in Melbourne that had a recorded message in Japanese. She actually drove to Cairns Airport where the Jetstar local manager and staff refused to talk to her (she was not the passenger...)
We reched Singapore, still no-one to talk to, but eventually over the phone they offered to sell us new tickets at 2.5 times the original price and sort everything out once we reached Australia. Like an idiot I believed them, but when we reached Australia - guess what - no-one would talk to us. All they would do is give us the web address of Customer Service.
I eventually got a letter from their Customer Don't Care Manager saying it was my problem and he hopes things will go more smoothly next time - this after sticking the boot in and making us pay 350% of the original price. He will have a long wait, and I'd suggest you are fully insured before you even think about Jetstar.

 

[Flashback]

We recently had a flight delay in Mongolia and tried to contact Jetstar to tell they we would not make our connecting flight - but how? We did not have internet, there was no telephone number on our ticket, and when a friend in Cairns tried Jetstar Australia she got a number in Melbourne that had a recorded message in Japanese. She actually drove to Cairns Airport where the Jetstar local manager and staff refused to talk to her (she was not the passenger...)
We reched Singapore, still no-one to talk to, but eventually over the phone they offered to sell us new tickets at 2.5 times the original price and sort everything out once we reached Australia. Like an idiot I believed them, but when we reached Australia - guess what - no-one would talk to us. All they would do is give us the web address of Customer Service.
I eventually got a letter from their Customer Don't Care Manager saying it was my problem and he hopes things will go more smoothly next time - this after sticking the boot in and making us pay 350% of the original price. He will have a long wait, and I'd suggest you are fully insured before you even think about Jetstar.

Or if booking flights on multiple carriers and having separate itineraries, building in enough time to allow for any delays that may happen.

 

[Eric George]

In our case, we knew there would be a problem 30 hrs in advance - but if Jetstar does not let you talk to them, what can you do?

 

[anat0l]

I'd suggest you are fully insured before you even think about Jetstar.

I'd say that's an excellent idea.

 

[Flashback]

In our case, we knew there would be a problem 30 hrs in advance - but if Jetstar does not let you talk to them, what can you do?

Unfortunately though the carrier that you were delayed on, has nothing to do with JQ so they're under no liability to 'protect' your onward flight. Such is life when mixing carriers and bookings. I will be doing the same when I fly from London back home for a friend's wedding, but I'm going to put a day's stopover there and back in Singapore to allow for if any flights get delayed.

 

[Flashback]

I'd say that's an excellent idea.

I agree, but the terms for that should be "if travelling overseas" rather than "if travelling Jetstar". I'd never consider going overseas without any form of insurance:!: :shock:

 

[anat0l]

I guess one thing that the OP would've wanted to do is:

• See whatever compassion (or lack thereof) he could get out of JQ
• At the very least, know what his options were for the flight (e.g. what flight to move to and how much it would cost, or easier/cheaper just to cancel/credit then catch another flight)

The simpler thing in this situation would've been after the flight delay exceeded 6 hours (or whatever, but this is a nominal travel insurance threshold for flight delay compensation), call the travel insurance company and get certification of the fact plus required action. Once in SIN, sort out flights there then claim on travel insurance later as per protocol.

How does that sound?

 

[Flashback]

I guess one thing that the OP would've wanted to do is:

• See whatever compassion (or lack thereof) he could get out of JQ
• At the very least, know what his options were for the flight (e.g. what flight to move to and how much it would cost, or easier/cheaper just to cancel/credit then catch another flight)

The simpler thing in this situation would've been after the flight delay exceeded 6 hours (or whatever, but this is a nominal travel insurance threshold for flight delay compensation), call the travel insurance company and get certification of the fact plus required action. Once in SIN, sort out flights there then claim on travel insurance later as per protocol.

How does that sound?

Sounds OK to me!

 

[moa999]

If your friend had gone to the Jetstar website they would have got a wide range of numbers:

Contact centre - Contact us - Jetstar Airways

With respect to the new tickets being 2.5x the old - unfortunately that is the issue with purchasing cheap tickets in advance, if you need to change dates, whether your fault or someone elses, the new tickets will be substantially (often much more than 2.5x) more expensive.

 

[Flashback]

With respect to the new tickets being 2.5x the old - unfortunately that is the issue with purchasing cheap tickets in advance, if you need to change dates, whether your fault or someone elses, the new tickets will be substantially (often much more than 2.5x) more expensive.

Just to note that would be the same regardless of airline when buying inflexible tickets

 

[Eric George]

Moa999, you are a very trusting soul. The contact number from the website is to the call centre in Malaysia - I spent $75 in credit card calls from Singapore Airport before I realised that. The ONLY thing the call centre would do is sell us a new ticket, in this case by misleading us into thinking Jetstar Customer Service would sort things out, charge us a penalty maybe, whatever. If I had not been so gullible, I would have booked any other airline by any other route.

 

[Flashback]

Moa999, you are a very trusting soul. The contact number from the website is to the call centre in Malaysia - I spent $75 in credit card calls from Singapore Airport before I realised that. The ONLY thing the call centre would do is sell us a new ticket, in this case by misleading us into thinking Jetstar Customer Service would sort things out, charge us a penalty maybe, whatever. If I had not been so gullible, I would have booked any other airline by any other route.

Well, you can now put it down to life experience! We learn from our mistakes and experiences..

 

[dajop]

Just to note that would be the same regardless of airline when buying inflexible tickets

And if one is to pursue any sort of alternatives/compensation etc the ones to pursue are not the last carrier, it should be the carrier that was involved in the delay. Of course this usually leads nowhere anyway as they have no obligations for anyone around a separately ticketed connection, but if one was seeking some compassion, this is where one should start. Although I suspect the airline from Mongolia (CA?) would be more difficult to deal with than Jetstar.

 

[gilby08]

Moa999, you are a very trusting soul. The contact number from the website is to the call centre in Malaysia - I spent $75 in credit card calls from Singapore Airport before I realised that. The ONLY thing the call centre would do is sell us a new ticket, in this case by misleading us into thinking Jetstar Customer Service would sort things out, charge us a penalty maybe, whatever. If I had not been so gullible, I would have booked any other airline by any other route.

If you are in Singapore, it has a free number?
Contact centre - Contact us - Jetstar Airways

 

[harvyk]

The guy in the call centre shouldn't have said anything about JQ sorting things out when you where back in AU as there is nothing that JQ needed to do, they are in the right in this instance.

I do think that airlines need to start placing notices about connections and minimum connection times when connecting on two separate tickets on their website, explaining to the traveller that they are not protected if something goes wrong with a previous flight on another ticket, and that they would be liable to purchase additional tickets if they don't make the connection.

I expect however that airlines do actually make a fair amount of money due to people missing connections due to different tickets.

 

[gilby08]

I do think that airlines need to start placing notices about connections and minimum connection times when connecting on two separate tickets on their website, explaining to the traveller that they are not protected if something goes wrong with a previous flight on another ticket, and that they would be liable to purchase additional tickets if they don't make the connection.

Do you really think that would make any difference for the type of travellers that JQ markets towards to?

Unless otherwise advised, the airline does not provide flight connections, baggage transfer or check-in for multiple flights. It is the Passenger's responsibility when making bookings to allow time for Baggage collection and recheck. Please see Flight Connections for more information. Travel insurance is recommended

 

[anat0l]

If you are in Singapore, it has a free number?
Contact centre - Contact us - Jetstar Airways

Toll-free numbers called from a mobile phone may attract charges or may not even be possible. Also, if roaming in a foreign country, it may not be possible to call toll-free numbers in that foreign country from your phone.

Either way, have no idea whether any of this applies to the OP's situation, but $75 is not a trivial charge by any shape or form.

 

[Eric George]

Yes, of course, Jetstar was legally 'in the right' when they screwed us (apart from the misleading bit).
Of course, being uncontactable, refusing to take information from my friend, charging us the full whack when we had done everything we could to mitigate the problem, generally refusing to listen, does not represent not customer-friendly operations. I would characterise it as exploitative. So - Fly Jetstar and be ready to be exploited (or screwed) at every legal opportunity.
By the way, having it done to you legitimately does not make it feel any better, believe me.

 

[gilby08]

Toll-free numbers called from a mobile phone may attract charges or may not even be possible. .

I'm aware of the costs associated with mobile roaming, but i'm also aware of the public phones located in Singapore, and the many internet cafe's, phone books, information centers and helpful people.

As the poster has stated anyway they knew of this but didn't know after the fact, so that's not a JQ (or any airlines issue).

 

[dajop]

Of course, being uncontactable, refusing to take information from my friend, charging us the full whack when we had done everything we could to mitigate the problem, generally refusing to listen, does not represent not customer-friendly operations. I would characterise it as exploitative.

I really don't know how it's being exploitative.

So take this scenario - you purchase $80 tickets to go the the theatre. You have to fly there from interstate. Your flight is delayed due to your aircraft going unserviceable and you will not make the theatre. You call the ticketing agency whilst you are on the ground waiting for your flight, after being on hold for an 30 minutes they tell you that they can sell you a ticket for $150 for tomorrow nights performance, and there will be no refund of the $80 for the performance you will miss tonight. Is that exploitative as well?

The real error on Jetstar's behalf is telling you that it would be sorted out once in Melbourne. Their staff should know better than that.