turtlemichael
Established Member
- Joined
- May 24, 2006
- Posts
- 1,928
I said I would never do it but here I am doing it. I’m voluntarily taking a Jetstar flight. My only other Jetstar experience was involuntary. I was returning from Bombay to Sydney on an award ticket when we got diverted to Melbourne because of bad weather in Sydney. This was in January 2006. The upshot was that to get to Cairns Qantas flew us back to Sydney but then we were put on a Jetstar flight to Cairns. I guess I was a little peeved to be downgraded and would have been happy to be put up in Sydney overnight then take a business class flight to Cairns the next day. This however was not an option! So Jetstar it was and, for reasons often stated on this board, I vowed never to do it again.
I guess time weakens resolution. We decided to fly Jetstar Cairns to Singapore January 4th because: 1. It was two short sectors, CNS- DRW and DRW-SIN of around 2 and 4 hours respectively. Surely that was tolerable? Second, with a Jetflex fare I could pick to Status credits and points and select an exit row. Third, it was the most convenient time wise. I could do things that morning in Cairns and be in Singapore that night. Fourth, there was no other practical option other than going via another Asian or Australian city with a much longer elapsed time.
But before that I should state the travel plans . We were going on a cruise from Singapore to Hong Kong on Silversea’s Silver Whisper. As anyone who is into cruising will know, this is a pretty good cruise line. We were also to overnight in Singapore and have a couple of nights in Hong Kong prior to heading back to Sydney for 2 more nights then on to Cairns. Total time away would be 15 nights.
Now for my impressions. This JQ flight is a bit different from most. It is operated by Jetstar Asia and does not have a star class section.
We arrived 2+ hours before the flight. Check in was operated by 3 agents and there were about 10 pax waiting in front of us. It still took 45 minutes to get to the front of the queue. The major problem was that there were substantial delays caused by probably 5 people with overweight luggage who were unhappy about paying. There was a lot of repacking at the check-in and there were some quite heated arguments; “Its only 1 kilo over”. “It was okay on the way down”. etc etc Another had lost her passport. The consequence was that all the agents were testy and defensive and short. This is not a job I would want nor I suspect did most of them.
Our luggage was just underweight so no problems there but it was still a very frosty check-in. The agent appeared to be not enjoying her job and I could understand why. But that is not meant to be my problem. I have reported elsewhere that our pre-selected exit row seats were deselected by JQ. I wont go into the details of that again and have sought an explanation from JQ/QF. Suffice it to say that this was about the worst check in experience I have had in many years of flying. I felt at the end of it that I and all the others were an inconvenience to JQ rather than the reason they exist.
The QF international lounge was the next stop. It’s not the best QF lounge and the food selection is poor. A couple of bracing wines helped though. I wonder about the lounge’s future given the limited number of full service OW flights now using CNS.
The first, only and final lounge call to go to the gate came 50 minutes before STD. Were we going to get away early? It was thus surprising to get to the gate (6) and find no seating and no agents. A hundred or so people standing around, sitting on the floor and just waiting for the airline to get into gear convinced me that JQ was a true LCC and systems were designed for their convenience rather than the passenger. Eventually an agent showed about 25 minutes before STD and we boarded the A320. There were pillows and rugs on all seats, it was clean and fresh looking.
The major problem is the seat pitch. I’ve read elsewhere that it's 30 inches and seems the smallest I’ve experienced. Knees hit the seat in front when sitting bolt upright and I am not particularly tall. Anyone over 5ft 10 in old terms is likely to be uncomfortable. Fortunately, the plane is only 2/3rds full so there are spare seats to manoeuvre my legs into. A full plane would be very uncomfortable. If you fly this service do everything you can to get an exit row.
We take off on time and VDU’s are handed out at $10.00 for the flight. Quite a few seem to take them. Contrary to what I expected there is no charge for the drink or sandwich. It was good economy fare and perfectly acceptable. The Asian crew is friendly smiling and obliging. They promptly answer the call buttons which is somewhat unusual these days. We arrive Darwin 15 minutes early. On reboarding, again early, I adopt standard cattle class practice and collar three seats. Again the beverage trolley does the rounds and a meal is served. Beef or fish. I decline and just have the cheese. It’s pretty clear that one of the issues with the Asian crew is English skills. It’s very hard to make a simple request understood until the senior intervenes. I guess that I need to remember the this is not an Australian airline.
We arrive 25 minutes early which is a blessing. 40 minutes after the doors open I am in Singapore Intercontinental.
My conclusions on this service? Check-in and pre-boarding in Cairns International is the worst I have experienced. In flight service is very good and ahead of most Y services but the comfort level on board is very poor and would be a real struggle for many on a full plane. As the jetflex fare from CNS was about the same as flying on QF to BNE then SIN, I have learnt my lesson and will plan better next time. Not flying JQ is worth a good few extra hours in the air. I rate this my worst flying experience and it is in sharp contrast to the next leg on VS from HKG to SYD. While I expected a basic package I did not expect the sort of ground service we got nor the poor comfort level on board. It’s a case of an extra inch or two making a difference! I just hope the JQ is not the future but fear it is.
Fortunately the trip was all uphill from here, and substantially so, and I’ll report that shortly.
I guess time weakens resolution. We decided to fly Jetstar Cairns to Singapore January 4th because: 1. It was two short sectors, CNS- DRW and DRW-SIN of around 2 and 4 hours respectively. Surely that was tolerable? Second, with a Jetflex fare I could pick to Status credits and points and select an exit row. Third, it was the most convenient time wise. I could do things that morning in Cairns and be in Singapore that night. Fourth, there was no other practical option other than going via another Asian or Australian city with a much longer elapsed time.
But before that I should state the travel plans . We were going on a cruise from Singapore to Hong Kong on Silversea’s Silver Whisper. As anyone who is into cruising will know, this is a pretty good cruise line. We were also to overnight in Singapore and have a couple of nights in Hong Kong prior to heading back to Sydney for 2 more nights then on to Cairns. Total time away would be 15 nights.
Now for my impressions. This JQ flight is a bit different from most. It is operated by Jetstar Asia and does not have a star class section.
We arrived 2+ hours before the flight. Check in was operated by 3 agents and there were about 10 pax waiting in front of us. It still took 45 minutes to get to the front of the queue. The major problem was that there were substantial delays caused by probably 5 people with overweight luggage who were unhappy about paying. There was a lot of repacking at the check-in and there were some quite heated arguments; “Its only 1 kilo over”. “It was okay on the way down”. etc etc Another had lost her passport. The consequence was that all the agents were testy and defensive and short. This is not a job I would want nor I suspect did most of them.
Our luggage was just underweight so no problems there but it was still a very frosty check-in. The agent appeared to be not enjoying her job and I could understand why. But that is not meant to be my problem. I have reported elsewhere that our pre-selected exit row seats were deselected by JQ. I wont go into the details of that again and have sought an explanation from JQ/QF. Suffice it to say that this was about the worst check in experience I have had in many years of flying. I felt at the end of it that I and all the others were an inconvenience to JQ rather than the reason they exist.
The QF international lounge was the next stop. It’s not the best QF lounge and the food selection is poor. A couple of bracing wines helped though. I wonder about the lounge’s future given the limited number of full service OW flights now using CNS.
The first, only and final lounge call to go to the gate came 50 minutes before STD. Were we going to get away early? It was thus surprising to get to the gate (6) and find no seating and no agents. A hundred or so people standing around, sitting on the floor and just waiting for the airline to get into gear convinced me that JQ was a true LCC and systems were designed for their convenience rather than the passenger. Eventually an agent showed about 25 minutes before STD and we boarded the A320. There were pillows and rugs on all seats, it was clean and fresh looking.
The major problem is the seat pitch. I’ve read elsewhere that it's 30 inches and seems the smallest I’ve experienced. Knees hit the seat in front when sitting bolt upright and I am not particularly tall. Anyone over 5ft 10 in old terms is likely to be uncomfortable. Fortunately, the plane is only 2/3rds full so there are spare seats to manoeuvre my legs into. A full plane would be very uncomfortable. If you fly this service do everything you can to get an exit row.
We take off on time and VDU’s are handed out at $10.00 for the flight. Quite a few seem to take them. Contrary to what I expected there is no charge for the drink or sandwich. It was good economy fare and perfectly acceptable. The Asian crew is friendly smiling and obliging. They promptly answer the call buttons which is somewhat unusual these days. We arrive Darwin 15 minutes early. On reboarding, again early, I adopt standard cattle class practice and collar three seats. Again the beverage trolley does the rounds and a meal is served. Beef or fish. I decline and just have the cheese. It’s pretty clear that one of the issues with the Asian crew is English skills. It’s very hard to make a simple request understood until the senior intervenes. I guess that I need to remember the this is not an Australian airline.
We arrive 25 minutes early which is a blessing. 40 minutes after the doors open I am in Singapore Intercontinental.
My conclusions on this service? Check-in and pre-boarding in Cairns International is the worst I have experienced. In flight service is very good and ahead of most Y services but the comfort level on board is very poor and would be a real struggle for many on a full plane. As the jetflex fare from CNS was about the same as flying on QF to BNE then SIN, I have learnt my lesson and will plan better next time. Not flying JQ is worth a good few extra hours in the air. I rate this my worst flying experience and it is in sharp contrast to the next leg on VS from HKG to SYD. While I expected a basic package I did not expect the sort of ground service we got nor the poor comfort level on board. It’s a case of an extra inch or two making a difference! I just hope the JQ is not the future but fear it is.
Fortunately the trip was all uphill from here, and substantially so, and I’ll report that shortly.
We are on board and sipping champagne inside 10 minutes. I have done several cruises, but not on anything as luxurious as Silver Whisper. The 9 day itinerary takes in Kuching in Sarawak, HCM City for two days and Nha Trang in Vietnam, and Guangzhou in China. There are 3 sea days. Having been to Vietnam extensively before, this is just a little follow up. 
But my expectation could be lower than yours as I am not a WP and probably not used to the luxury of Flounges 
