Jetstar criticised after boys' soccer team stranded

[oz_mark]

Personally, I would not have bothered with travel insurance for such a trip. But I would have expected to pay for any additional costs such as accommodation, meals and ground transportation if my flight was cancelled due to bad weather. So I don't see a lack of travel insurance as a failing of the organisers of this trip. But this does highlight that we all need to understand our responsibilities and the airline's responsibilities when we choose to travel.

I just hope the media coverage of these types of situations helps people who don't travel regularly to understand these responsibilities.

I concede it is your choice as an informed traveller as to whether you take insurance or not.

The probem is that the media tends not to focus the stories correctly. Instead of taking the opportunity to educate travellers, they take a bag the airline approach. Hardly a good way of informing the masses of their rights and resposiblilties.

 

[Yada Yada]

These comments are crass and hardly even worthy of the playground or even Omni.

crass adj.
So crude and unrefined as to be lacking in discrimination and sensibility.​

I didn't find Andrew's comments crass at all. I'd classify them as "funny". And he makes a very good point. You seem to be supporting the notion of user-pays to an extreme that most companies probably would consider to be crass.

JQ markets and operates in a well known manner. Having a member of staff hand hold passengers affected by a weather delay *does* cost money. 1 hour of a staff member's time is not free is it, or do you suggest that JQ staff should work for free to do so?

No-one's saying it won't cost JQ some money to allow a few staff to use the phones to help their pax in an extraordinary circumstance. IMO it is money well-spent and would probably cost a lot less that the public relations nightmare they create by not helping out.

Who I vote for is irrelevent and completely unrelated to this

Well, perhaps not. A stong user-pays mentality is generally a pretty good indicator of one's political leanings.

BTW, what's "Omni"? Aside from being a cheap bubbly liquid.

 

[acampbel]

... If wanting extra frills from travel, then book with a carrier that offers them. If this had occurred with a carrier such as BA , then my views would be different. If you pay for a big mac, you don't expect a gourmet meal surely? ...

In all my years of travel around the world by plane, train, and automobile (and boat, elephant, whatever) I have never, repeat NEVER, been abandoned by the operator. Even when interruptions to travel were partly or fully my fault.

I am sure that most if not all of these operators had fine print to the effect that they had absolutely no responsibility for any costs due to cancellations or delays, and yet they still felt some sense of responsibility to look after me until my journey was complete.

With that experience behind me, I too would have been very surprised and disappointed at the total lack of care reportedly being shown by Jetstar. Are they obligated to do anything except fly you to your contracted destination at some point in time that suits them? - No. Will they lose many future customers by showing a callous disregard for the predicament they had put this group in? - Yes. And they bloody well should!


Cheers,

Andrew

 

[Dave Noble]

In all my years of travel around the world by plane, train, and automobile (and boat, elephant, whatever) I have never, repeat NEVER, been abandoned by the operator. Even when interruptions to travel were partly or fully my fault.

Have these travels been on carriers that claim to be LCCs such as Ryanair for example or on full service carriers such as QF?

With that experience behind me, I too would have been very surprised and disappointed at the total lack of care reportedly being shown by Jetstar. Are they obligated to do anything except fly you to your contracted destination at some point in time that suits them? - No. Will they lose many future customers by showing a callous disregard for the predicament they had put this group in? - Yes. And they bloody well should!

Therein lies a difference. I would expect it from a carrier such as QF or BA but not with the likes of JQ or FR. Will they lose customers, I doubt it very much. Too many people look just at the ticket price; if it is a few $ cheaper they will go for it. In fact FR seems to relish in what would be bad publicity to come back with "we dont do anything more than we have to, but look at how cheap we are"

One of the reasons I would not fly with carriers such as FR is because of their "not my problem" attitude should things go wrong , I would rather pay the extra to go with a proper airline.

Dave

 

[jakeseven7]

The Federal Police managed to be helpful, and Virgin Blue did the right thing in a similar situation too.

Um, how can you even compare the Virgin situation which has been summarised in one sentence.

The DJ flight sounds like they were already in the air and got lucky when Launceston cleared - but thats just a guess. One thing is for certain though -they then had a lovely 2.5 hour bus ride from Launceston to Hobart.

They also don't sound like they were threatening/intimidating staff. Airport staff are not thin skinned people, so to call in the Feds means they were seriously uncomfortably with the way that one person in the group was behaving.

It sounds like one bad apple has made the situation worse for everyone.

Customer 'disaster experiences' with Virgin and Jetstar pop up whenever it is a slow news day.

 

[Yada Yada]

Um, how can you even compare the Virgin situation which has been summarised in one sentence.

Well, I did because it was all I had to go on. :mrgreen:

The DJ flight sounds like they were already in the air and got lucky when Launceston cleared - but thats just a guess. One thing is for certain though -they then had a lovely 2.5 hour bus ride from Launceston to Hobart.

Perhaps, but I feel sure that the pax very much appreciated the provision of transport to get them home as opposed to being stranded with no help.

They also don't sound like they were threatening/intimidating staff. Airport staff are not thin skinned people, so to call in the Feds means they were seriously uncomfortably with the way that one person in the group was behaving.

I don't know about that - airport staff are much less forgiving these days and very likely to call security or police at the drop of a hat. Unless of course you are an NRL football player in which case you seem to be able to break the law and still fly.

Customer 'disaster experiences' with Virgin and Jetstar pop up whenever it is a slow news day.

Yes, they do indeed. Although Jetstar seem to be better than the rest at getting bad publicity. Perhaps they need to improve their customer service?

 

[jakeseven7]

Well, I did because it was all I had to go on. :mrgreen:

Thanks for your interpretation then Naomi

 

[acampbel]

Thanks for your interpretation then Naomi

So in what way was Yada Yada factually incorrect? Simply quoting the Hobart Mercury shouldn't lower someone's reputation ... after all - Media Watch do it all the time!

You seem to be trying to lump Virgin and Jetstar into the same bucket, but I think Jetstar and Qantas have more incommon - don't they?



Cheers,


Andrew

 

[jakeseven7]

So in what way was Yada Yada factually incorrect? Simply quoting the Hobart Mercury shouldn't lower someone's reputation

I never said he was.. Just that you couldn't infer from that information that Virgin had done a better job. Yada Yada is Virgins biggest fan on here so we have to keep him in check sometimes Oh and some would argue your point about quoting the Mercury

You seem to be trying to lump Virgin and Jetstar into the same bucket, but I think Jetstar and Qantas have more incommon - don't they?

Um not sure what you are talking about. I did mention something about Virgin and Jetstar taking it in turns copping heat about LCC and poor service in the media, that was all.

 

[acampbel]

..I never said he was...

Calling someone Naomi is hardly complementing their even-handedness

... Just that you couldn't infer from that information that Virgin had done a better job....

Oh yes you could - Virgin organised a bus, Jetstar called the police.

... Yada Yada is Virgins biggest fan on here so we have to keep him in check sometimes ....

Whether or not he is factually correct???

...Oh and some would argue your point about quoting the Mercury ....

Yes - I certainly was ....hence the reference to Media Watch!

...Um not sure what you are talking about. I did mention something about Virgin and Jetstar taking it in turns copping heat about LCC and poor service in the media, that was all...

This is the part that I find annoying. I'm not entirely sure what the official definition of a LCC is, but from my Brisbane trip last week (up Qantas, back Virgin) I would rank Virgin above Qantas. Both seem to be streets ahead of Jetstar, who have made it clear in no uncertain terms that they are a Low Service Carrier. Maybe that would be a better term to use as it can then be applied to any airline, no matter what they charge.


Cheers,

Andrew