How much to fly to Queenstown on Jetstar?

[AndyGoodyear]

RANT and whinge ahead

Well I feel totally ripped off.

My father is visiting Australia next February and I decided to take him on a trip to NZ. We are flying into Queenstown and as it is only six months away (and there are not huge amounts of flights to Queenstown) I thought I better book the flights sharpish.

I wanted to fly with Qantas because, well - you know. But I ended up booking Jetstar (first mistake) for $330 one way. I was a little peeved at the price as it is only a 3hr 30min flight (Qantas Sydney - Perth is only $229) but I booked it anyway as Virgin were the same price and I thought I would go J* to get the QFF SCs.

Low and behold only one day after booking, Virgin flights go on sale (via Air NZ) for just $210 per pax. Same journey, almost same time - $120 saving per person.

Now there's a kick in the behind. Of course nothing I can do now. I know this is the way it goes sometimes, but what a difference in fare.

And let's be honest, for a $120 saving and the loss of 10SCs, plus the better service on Virgin it would have been better all round to go with Virgin.

/RANT

 

[medhead]

To get status credits on jetstar you had to have paid for a bundle. What does the bundle provide in terms of cancelation benefits?

You don't mention a starting point but I'd guess you'll earn more than 10 SC flying from Oz to queenstown

 

[AndyGoodyear]

To get status credits on jetstar you had to have paid for a bundle. What does the bundle provide in terms of cancelation benefits?

You don't mention a starting point but I'd guess you'll earn more than 10 SC flying from Oz to queenstown

The Starter Plus bundle which earns the status credits allows date changes and name changes - but no route changes or cancellations. You're right about the SC's - it will be 20 SC's from Sydney - Queenstown, plus 1200 base points, plus status bonus (and I may be gold by then). I should probably stop complaining! I just hate wasting money. Typical of my luck though for the Virgin flights to drop 30% the next day!

I just think $330 pp for such a short trip is very expensive for J* Y

 

[power71]

Make sure you ignore the Jetstar website for the next few days then. Sale fares to NZ have been released including SYD-ZQN for $xx_

RANT and whinge ahead

Well I feel totally ripped off.

My father is visiting Australia next February and I decided to take him on a trip to NZ. We are flying into Queenstown and as it is only six months away (and there are not huge amounts of flights to Queenstown) I thought I better book the flights sharpish.

I wanted to fly with Qantas because, well - you know. But I ended up booking Jetstar (first mistake) for $330 one way. I was a little peeved at the price as it is only a 3hr 30min flight (Qantas Sydney - Perth is only $229) but I booked it anyway as Virgin were the same price and I thought I would go J* to get the QFF SCs.

Low and behold only one day after booking, Virgin flights go on sale (via Air NZ) for just $210 per pax. Same journey, almost same time - $120 saving per person.

Now there's a kick in the behind. Of course nothing I can do now. I know this is the way it goes sometimes, but what a difference in fare.

And let's be honest, for a $120 saving and the loss of 10SCs, plus the better service on Virgin it would have been better all round to go with Virgin.

/RANT

 

[AndyGoodyear]

Make sure you ignore the Jetstar website for the next few days then. Sale fares to NZ have been released including SYD-ZQN for $xx_

.

Its ok, I saw that before. The travel dates do not apply to our booking which is Feb 2014. I could have waited close to the time in case sale fares arose, but then you run the risk of fares going up (especially for Feb). Just didnt think it would happen one day later

 

[medhead]

The Starter Plus bundle which earns the status credits allows date changes and name changes - but no route changes or cancellations. You're right about the SC's - it will be 20 SC's from Sydney - Queenstown, plus 1200 base points, plus status bonus (and I may be gold by then). I should probably stop complaining! I just hate wasting money. Typical of my luck though for the Virgin flights to drop 30% the next day!

I just think $330 pp for such a short trip is very expensive for J* Y

Thanks. I wasn't sure but did hope you'd be able to cancel without too much penalty. I don't think you should stop complaining. Sure it's one of those things. but still damn frustrating. totally understand. Shame you can't try a retrospective price beat.....

 

[AndyGoodyear]

Thanks. I wasn't sure but did hope you'd be able to cancel without too much penalty. I don't think you should stop complaining. Sure it's one of those things. but still damn frustrating. totally understand. Shame you can't try a retrospective price beat.....

You can only cancel if you add the $99 (ish) bundle and even then there is a fee.

I wish they could do a retrospective price match but not even worth trying. The last and only other time I flew with them, I forgot to add the $19 plus bundle which earns QFF points. I phoned up immediately after making the booking to add it - but they wanted to charge a $40 change fee online or $70 over the phone, on top of the $19 just to add the ability to earn QFF. They didnt care that it was a genuine mistake or that the flight had only been booked minutes before. It was a 'tough - we have your money' sort of attitude. And that really should have stopped me booking this time - but my damn quest for status got the better of me!

 

[AndyGoodyear]

Thanks. I wasn't sure but did hope you'd be able to cancel without too much penalty. I don't think you should stop complaining. Sure it's one of those things. but still damn frustrating. totally understand. Shame you can't try a retrospective price beat.....

In reality I wasnt really ripped off. They quoted a price and I paid it, so more fool me.

 

[samh004]

In reality I wasnt really ripped off. They quoted a price and I paid it, so more fool me.

Exactly. If you book in the future, never look at what the price for your airline or competitors does after that. It never ends well

ZQN will be really nice in February, as they settle down after summer.

 

[AndyGoodyear]

Exactly. If you book in the future, never look at what the price for your airline or competitors does after that. It never ends well

ZQN will be really nice in February, as they settle down after summer.

Great - I haven't been to NZ before even though I've lived in Oz for 7 years so it will be new for both my dad and I

 

[Deleted member]

To get status credits on jetstar you had to have paid for a bundle. What does the bundle provide in terms of cancelation benefits?

You don't mention a starting point but I'd guess you'll earn more than 10 SC flying from Oz to queenstown

Watch this space. Mrs GPH paid for the Bundle in Y and death star managed to deny her SC's and points.
Now the fun begins.

 

[CaviAck]

Great - I haven't been to NZ before even though I've lived in Oz for 7 years so it will be new for both my dad and I

I've lived in Aus for almost 20 years, still haven't gone to NZ xD

 

[ALH]

Queenstown is great. Make sure you go to Fergburger. It's worth the wait. Don't be frightened of the line up. Just have a beer or two.

Jetstar are trying to squirm their way out of the SC and Points I earned last week, by stating my QFF number wasn't on the bookings. It was added when I booked on-line and then confirmed at the counter in AKL And ZQN. I have phoned, chatted on-line, lodged an on-line complaint and posted on their Facebook Page. They admit my flights were eligible for the points and SC's but as their system didn't record my QFF number, it's my loss. This is not the first time I've had to fight them. I'm so close to P1, so worth the fight.

To be honest, I didn't mind the Jetstar experience. No delays, good flight, friendly cabin crew, bags off first. What I didn't like was being subjected to the Great Unwashed, yapping on their mobile phones while the plane was being refuelled, talking at full volume through all the safety demo's, and banging around on the back of the seats for the whole flight. This is definitely my last ever Y experience

 

[Skyring]

Great - I haven't been to NZ before even though I've lived in Oz for 7 years so it will be new for both my dad and I

Out of all the places in the world I've been, Queenstown is at the top of my list for spectacular beauty. I'll be there in October - one of the last web-JASAs - but even then I'm flying Jetstar down from Auckland, with a grumpy sleep-deprived hungover mate. Qantas doesn't do the Friday flight direct that I wanted.

New Zealand is paradise. Simple as that.

 

[Deleted member]

Great - I haven't been to NZ before even though I've lived in Oz for 7 years so it will be new for both my dad and I

Mrs GPH and I are looking at being there first week in march

 

[Mwenenzi]

...I wish they could do a retrospective price match but not even worth trying...

If the price had gone up would you have phoned QF/JQ and asked them to price match (charge more) ? As freq flyer's we all know prices go up & down

 

[AndyGoodyear]

If the price had gone up would you have phoned QF/JQ and asked them to price match (charge more) ? As freq flyer's we all know prices go up & down

Of course not - hence my comment. It was a response to someone else mentioning retrospective price matching. Was just venting my frustration

 

[AndyGoodyear]

Queenstown is great. Make sure you go to Fergburger. It's worth the wait. Don't be frightened of the line up. Just have a beer or two.

Jetstar are trying to squirm their way out of the SC and Points I earned last week, by stating my QFF number wasn't on the bookings. It was added when I booked on-line and then confirmed at the counter in AKL And ZQN. I have phoned, chatted on-line, lodged an on-line complaint and posted on their Facebook Page. They admit my flights were eligible for the points and SC's but as their system didn't record my QFF number, it's my loss. This is not the first time I've had to fight them. I'm so close to P1, so worth the fight.

To be honest, I didn't mind the Jetstar experience. No delays, good flight, friendly cabin crew, bags off first. What I didn't like was being subjected to the Great Unwashed, yapping on their mobile phones while the plane was being refuelled, talking at full volume through all the safety demo's, and banging around on the back of the seats for the whole flight. This is definitely my last ever Y experience

Careful with the great unwashed comments! I fly Y more times than I would like and behaviour has nothing to do with which class you are flying in - and I'm sure I wash pretty often! More about the individual I think....

I will look that place up you mentioned. We are going to spend four days I think in Queenstown before spending 2-3 days driving up the west and across to CHC. Then bound for the north island

 

[AndyGoodyear]

Watch this space. Mrs GPH paid for the Bundle in Y and death star managed to deny her SC's and points.
Now the fun begins.

Not good. I hope you get a resolution.

 

[ALH]

Careful with the great unwashed comments! I fly Y more times than I would like and behaviour has nothing to do with which class you are flying in - and I'm sure I wash pretty often! More about the individual I think....

I will look that place up you mentioned. We are going to spend four days I think in Queenstown before spending 2-3 days driving up the west and across to CHC. Then bound for the north island

I know! I've seen the badly behaved in J as well. Anyhoo. The trip on the Earnslaw inc. lunch is a great day out. The luge is fun as well. ....and if you can afford it, the Scenic Helicopter Flight - "The Grand Circle". We landed on a peak in the snow to take photos. Quoted price was NZ $ 295.00. I asked nicely if a discount was possible and they charged me NZ $ 225.00 without batting an eyelid. I'm a big Queenstown Fan