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

[gilby08]

Lol why do you keep avoiding the other questions about the other carrier?

 

[dajop]

I don't understand, with >24 hrs notice you should have been able to change the flight via the call centre - by speaking to the same people that sell you fares - they also change fares. I rang up Jetstar last Thursday and moved a flight without any issues. It was admittedly a Flex Fare, but fare rules on most other fares do allow you to move them - for a hefty fee admittedly. If you were asking them to take compassion and move your flight free of charge - well I am not surprised that you couldn't find anyone to talk to - that is not within the Jetstar business model, nor paradigm.

 

[Eric George]

Lol why do you keep avoiding the other questions about the other carrier?

Sorry Gilby08, I wasn't bothering with them because they are Mongolian Airlines (MIAT) and not worth bothering with. It was a weather delay at Ulaanbataar that precipitated the whole sorry story. MIAT should have contacted Jetstar and warned them at least, and they may have done for all I know. They did say that Jetstar would not change our bookings because they weren't part of some system or other. I doubt if it would have made any difference to Jetstar's Customer Service anyway.

 

[Eric George]

I don't understand, with >24 hrs notice you should have been able to change the flight via the call centre - by speaking to the same people that sell you fares - they also change fares. I rang up Jetstar last Thursday and moved a flight without any issues. It was admittedly a Flex Fare, but fare rules on most other fares do allow you to move them - for a hefty fee admittedly. If you were asking them to take compassion and move your flight free of charge - well I am not surprised that you couldn't find anyone to talk to - that is not within the Jetstar business model, nor paradigm.

At that stage, the number our friend had been given was the one with the recorded message in Japanese. God knows how that worked. And we were not asking for freebies - a penalty would have been fine but, believe me, by the time we got to the call centre number (inside the 24 hr limit) no-one was talking.

 

[yohy?!]

At that stage, the number our friend had been given was the one with the recorded message in Japanese. God knows how that worked. And we were not asking for freebies - a penalty would have been fine but, believe me, by the time we got to the call centre number (inside the 24 hr limit) no-one was talking.

It has multiple language options to cover all the different countries they operate in, there are regular English options even on the Japan number.

 

[Eric George]

It has multiple language options to cover all the different countries they operate in, there are regular English options even on the Japan number.

Ah - the lady must have been saying 'For English, press 1'

 

[gilby08]

It has multiple language options to cover all the different countries they operate in, there are regular English options even on the Japan number.

As a minimum, it will ALWAYS have an English option, no matter what phone number you call..

Otherwise all the other times it will have English, Japanese, Cantonese, Mandarin.
And anyway the Japanese agents all speak perfect english.

 

[gilby08]

Ah - the lady must have been saying 'For English, press 1'

No, it would be said in English obviously, and for the Japanese option it would be spoken in Japanese.

 

[yohy?!]

Ah - the lady must have been saying 'For English, press 1'

If you were anything like this when you tried to call Jetstar to ask for help I'm not surprised you got no- where

 

[mannej]

Like I said, no internet or not, you should have had JQ's number before you left, incase anything did happen. It took me two clicks to find an array of numbers to call for existing bookings.

The other thing is, separate bookings are cheaper for a reason. It may be worth paying that premium so you have a ticket that will protect you incase of missed connections.

I don't feel that your original airline had any obligation to contact JQ, nor would JQ have changed your tickets if the airline had contacted them, again down to privacy.

At the end of the day, the change fee + the difference in the price of your new fare probably means you still would have had to fork out a premium on what you had paid already.

 

[dajop]

The other thing is, separate bookings are cheaper for a reason. It may be worth paying that premium so you have a ticket that will protect you incase of missed connections.

And it may well be the case that despite all this mess, the premium paid for the actual fare for a through fare to Mongolia purchased on the same ticket could be more than having to completely re-purchase the SIN-MEL sector. The most pertinent piece of advice in this is really not to leave home without (a) travel insurance (policy that covers missed connections).

 

[Eric George]

As a minimum, it will ALWAYS have an English option, no matter what phone number you call..

Otherwise all the other times it will have English, Japanese, Cantonese, Mandarin.
And anyway the Japanese agents all speak perfect english.

Well, I don't know. The number 03 9092 6401 as given to my friend - try it if you like. The Japanese (?) message is still there - I don't even know if it is a Jetstar message. Certainly it was no help to me.

 

[yohy?!]

Well, I don't know. The number 03 9092 6401 as given to my friend - try it if you like. The Japanese (?) message is still there - I don't even know if it is a Jetstar message. Certainly it was no help to me.

You're right there, it is all in Japanese - except for the part where the operator answers in English saying 'Welcome to Jetstar, Scott speaking'......

 

[Eric George]

If you were anything like this when you tried to call Jetstar to ask for help I'm not surprised you got no- where

I'm not sure what 'like this' means but don't worry. No one from Jetstar was troubled by me. I actually kept very calm, even when I finally got to speak to a Jetstar staff member in Cairns. Wasn't her fault, after all.

 

[anat0l]

Well, I don't know. The number 03 9092 6401 as given to my friend - try it if you like. The Japanese (?) message is still there - I don't even know if it is a Jetstar message. Certainly it was no help to me.

Just gave the number a go and yes it is the standard messages in Japanese (i.e. "This call may be monitored for training purposes; please wait for the next available operator)...

The number doesn't appear on Jetstar's contact page (as given in this thread); I could only find the number by Googling out a few pages which talk about air travel in Australia, which have this number given as the Australian 'alternate' (land line) number.

The 13... number for Jetstar Australia works fine and is in English.

 

[medhead]

Jetstar was effectively uncontactable. So our friend went to Cairns Airport where no-one would listen to her. If they wanted to nit-pick over legal issues, they could have given her a contact number we could call, but they would not even talk to her.

May be it was just the days we were having our problems that they did not work... Believe me, we did everything we could to speak to ANY Jetstar employee. This was not just a miss on their part - they were purposefully uncontactable. Why else would they brush off my friend in Cairns with a call centre number, instead of taking detils from her, or giving a number where we could speak to a real person.

Ok I've got this far and I'm just going to jump in without reading further sorry if my points have been already mentioned.

To Eric, first I'm sorry to hear of your difficulties. I do hope you have insurance, it sounds like you might of had it by the conclusion to the OP.
I totally disagree that with your point that no one should book jetstar. There is nothing wrong with booking jetstar without having a connection. I did this from Cairns to Japan - GREAT EXPERIENCE.

I'm also confused by the contradiction that I've bolded above. Did the Cairns airport staff refuse to talk to your friend or did they fob her off with a phone number.

One last question, why didn't your friend ring the phone number, or get on line and pretend to be you and change your flight. Personally, I know it's illegal or whatever, but the simplest solution is to get your friend to act on your behalf using the available means, especially easy on the internet.

Ohh and having rang the number to be greeted by japanese, stay on the line until they got to an operator. but that's been mentioned as has the numerous contact numbers on the website.

 

[Eric George]

Medhed, Our friend is not the sort of person who would sheat like that, and it shouldn't be necessary anyway. When she went to Cairns Airport on the second day of the saga, the staff pointed out a man going up the stairs saying "That's Alan, he's the manager." Alan said he was sorry but he was too busy to talk to her. and she could talk to his staff. All they could do was suggest we call that Melbourne number which turned out to be only a switch-through to the ticketing centre in Malaysia. The reason it cost us so much to call is that we had to wait around 45 minutes listening to the 'Your call is important to us..." messages.

For me the lesson is - Jetstar is in business to make money; unfortunately the need staff and customers to do this, but they can always be selectively deaf if necessary.

Don't touch them, I'd say. Things can always go wrong and if they are too important to talk to their customers, better to take your business elsewhere.

 

[harvyk]

Sorry Gilby08, I wasn't bothering with them because they are Mongolian Airlines (MIAT) and not worth bothering with. It was a weather delay at Ulaanbataar that precipitated the whole sorry story. MIAT should have contacted Jetstar and warned them at least, and they may have done for all I know. They did say that Jetstar would not change our bookings because they weren't part of some system or other. I doubt if it would have made any difference to Jetstar's Customer Service anyway.

Why should MIAT have contacted Jetstar? The had nothing to do with the JQ flights.

All this boils down to one simple fact, you've tried to save a few $$$, and it's bitten you.

If you book things properly, on one ticket (and usually you'll need a travel agent to do it for you) then you are covered, and if something goes wrong, you won't be left in a position where you need to fork out big $$$ so you can get home. It may cost a few extra $$$ at the start, but for the piece of mind, it is always worth it.

Sorry we are all being so blunt, but there is little else to discuss, apart from the JQ employee who said that JQ would sort in out in AU, and even then I have doubts they would say directly "Jetstar Australia will refund your ticket costs", I expect it was more "argue it out with Jetstar Australia as I don't have the authority to change your tickets". No airline is at fault, and had you done the same thing with just about any other airline out there, the result would have most likely been the same.

 

[gilby08]

For me the lesson is - Jetstar is in business to make money; unfortunately the need staff and customers to do this, but they can always be selectively deaf if necessary.

LOL quote of the month i reckon.

 

[medhead]

Medhed, Our friend is not the sort of person who would sheat like that, and it shouldn't be necessary anyway. When she went to Cairns Airport on the second day of the saga, the staff pointed out a man going up the stairs saying "That's Alan, he's the manager." Alan said he was sorry but he was too busy to talk to her. and she could talk to his staff. All they could do was suggest we call that Melbourne number which turned out to be only a switch-through to the ticketing centre in Malaysia. The reason it cost us so much to call is that we had to wait around 45 minutes listening to the 'Your call is important to us..." messages.

For me the lesson is - Jetstar is in business to make money; unfortunately the need staff and customers to do this, but they can always be selectively deaf if necessary.

Don't touch them, I'd say. Things can always go wrong and if they are too important to talk to their customers, better to take your business elsewhere.

Ok for a start it is not "cheating". I am legally empowered to act on behalf of my mother. It is the same principle, maybe without the formalities. The fact is if someone does something for you with your permission then it is all good IMO, especially if it will save you money. Of course, lacking formalities means they need to pretend to be you.

All I can add is that every business is in business to make money. No other airline exists to not make money. Perhaps that is the lesson here, know the rules of the business you deal with and stick with them. It's those rues that tell you when and how they make money. Jump in with your eyes wide open. I did that and I'm now sitting in the lounge in Sydney enjoying free* beers thanks to Jetstar.

However, I do feel for you and that it seems that you didn't understand these factors in advance.

* free if you don't count the $10000 I've spend on airfares this year