Justinf
Established Member
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2009
- Posts
- 2,008
Mods please move if this is not in the right section.
I took the plunge and travelled from Avalon to Sydney return with Jetstar.
Avalon is a 35 minute drive from my place in Barwon Heads whereas Tullamarine is a 75-minute drive on a good day.
I wanted to visit my sister and her family in Mosman, Sydney for a week before Christmas and then head up to the Entrance North where they have a holiday house.
With just 7kg of hand luggage I arrived for my 12.35pm Tuesday flight at 11.30am and parked and was in the terminal and through security by 11.35am.
Flight was on time.
apart from the limited legroom (which I expected), it was fine. Easy peasy.
Returning yesterday, I arrived at SYD at 5pm for my 6.30pm flight back.
flight was delayed until 7.10pm and I got to the gate at 6.40pm.
The incoming flight had already landed and passengers were disembarking so not too long to go we all thought.
After about 20 minutes with no activity Jetstar announced that due to a mechanical fault, the flight was cancelled.
Passengers with baggage were instructed to collect their luggage from a carousel and report to the service desk.
I arrived at the service desk pretty much straight away but there was already about 60 people in front of me.
The line moved VERY slowly.
two agents trying to sort out an entire A320 plane full of passengers.
It became fairly clear that it was going to take ages. There were about 150 people behind me in line too.
There would be no more more flight to Avalon that night.
I got a text from Jetstar saying the flight had been cancelled and that i could rebook by following a link.
I jumped on and there was a choice of a 6.40am deperture or an 8.05am and then the next one was not until 3.30pm.
I managed to rebook myself on the 8.05am flight which was good as I had my daughter's birthday the following day.
If I had've left it to the service desk I doubt this flight would have been available.
I stayed in line hoping to be able to organise a hotel etc for the night.
But the text also had a link saying that you could do it yourself. JQ would reimburse up to $150 for a room, up to $30 for a meal and taxi fares.
The line was going nowhere. It was mayhem and I saw the very worst of human behaviour treating the staff with contempt (to put it lightly) when it was not their fault.
I decided to book my own hotel, a $139 place in the city and jumped into a cab.
Checked in, went to a pub for some dinner and then woke at 5am and made my way back to the airport and got thrugh security by 6am. Was very early, but I'd rather be early than late.
To cut this story short, the flight left on time at 8.05am and I eventually got home at 10.15am. The only thing I missed out on was my seat selection which I paid $6 for when booking. No bog deal. Stuff happens. Ended up to 20C anyway which was an aisle.
Took pics of my receipts and then umped online to try and get the reimbursement sorted.
Live chat took a while to to connect but once it did, I was able to sort it out very quickly.
All i needed to do was supply the reference numbers of my flights, the receipts and the online agent handled it very well.
Within 10 minutes it was all done. My claim was accepted and I would be reimbursed the $253 it cost me. It will take 8 business days, but hey. it is what it is.
Delays and cancellations happen. It's a part of air travel. I've been pretty lucky so far.
JQ kept everyone informed and made the cancellation announcement very early which was great. The service desk was very slow, but by making arrangements myself, I was able to make the best of a bad situation.
I guess what I am trying to say is that if this happens to anyone else, don't have any hesitation in taking matters into your own hands.
Honestly, I reckon by the time the last person in line for the service desk was served, it would have been at the absolute least, two hours.
I managed to get on the 8.05am flight which allowed me to get home to celebrate my daughter's birthday. Had I waited at the service desk, I am certain I would have missed out on the two early flights and would have had to get the 3.30pm or 6.30pm.
JQ was very effecient in processing the reimbursement claim.
So if this happens to you, and you find yourself anywhere past No 10 in line at the service desk, just make your own arrangements and the claim is very pain free.
I took the plunge and travelled from Avalon to Sydney return with Jetstar.
Avalon is a 35 minute drive from my place in Barwon Heads whereas Tullamarine is a 75-minute drive on a good day.
I wanted to visit my sister and her family in Mosman, Sydney for a week before Christmas and then head up to the Entrance North where they have a holiday house.
With just 7kg of hand luggage I arrived for my 12.35pm Tuesday flight at 11.30am and parked and was in the terminal and through security by 11.35am.
Flight was on time.
apart from the limited legroom (which I expected), it was fine. Easy peasy.
Returning yesterday, I arrived at SYD at 5pm for my 6.30pm flight back.
flight was delayed until 7.10pm and I got to the gate at 6.40pm.
The incoming flight had already landed and passengers were disembarking so not too long to go we all thought.
After about 20 minutes with no activity Jetstar announced that due to a mechanical fault, the flight was cancelled.
Passengers with baggage were instructed to collect their luggage from a carousel and report to the service desk.
I arrived at the service desk pretty much straight away but there was already about 60 people in front of me.
The line moved VERY slowly.
two agents trying to sort out an entire A320 plane full of passengers.
It became fairly clear that it was going to take ages. There were about 150 people behind me in line too.
There would be no more more flight to Avalon that night.
I got a text from Jetstar saying the flight had been cancelled and that i could rebook by following a link.
I jumped on and there was a choice of a 6.40am deperture or an 8.05am and then the next one was not until 3.30pm.
I managed to rebook myself on the 8.05am flight which was good as I had my daughter's birthday the following day.
If I had've left it to the service desk I doubt this flight would have been available.
I stayed in line hoping to be able to organise a hotel etc for the night.
But the text also had a link saying that you could do it yourself. JQ would reimburse up to $150 for a room, up to $30 for a meal and taxi fares.
The line was going nowhere. It was mayhem and I saw the very worst of human behaviour treating the staff with contempt (to put it lightly) when it was not their fault.
I decided to book my own hotel, a $139 place in the city and jumped into a cab.
Checked in, went to a pub for some dinner and then woke at 5am and made my way back to the airport and got thrugh security by 6am. Was very early, but I'd rather be early than late.
To cut this story short, the flight left on time at 8.05am and I eventually got home at 10.15am. The only thing I missed out on was my seat selection which I paid $6 for when booking. No bog deal. Stuff happens. Ended up to 20C anyway which was an aisle.
Took pics of my receipts and then umped online to try and get the reimbursement sorted.
Live chat took a while to to connect but once it did, I was able to sort it out very quickly.
All i needed to do was supply the reference numbers of my flights, the receipts and the online agent handled it very well.
Within 10 minutes it was all done. My claim was accepted and I would be reimbursed the $253 it cost me. It will take 8 business days, but hey. it is what it is.
Delays and cancellations happen. It's a part of air travel. I've been pretty lucky so far.
JQ kept everyone informed and made the cancellation announcement very early which was great. The service desk was very slow, but by making arrangements myself, I was able to make the best of a bad situation.
I guess what I am trying to say is that if this happens to anyone else, don't have any hesitation in taking matters into your own hands.
Honestly, I reckon by the time the last person in line for the service desk was served, it would have been at the absolute least, two hours.
I managed to get on the 8.05am flight which allowed me to get home to celebrate my daughter's birthday. Had I waited at the service desk, I am certain I would have missed out on the two early flights and would have had to get the 3.30pm or 6.30pm.
JQ was very effecient in processing the reimbursement claim.
So if this happens to you, and you find yourself anywhere past No 10 in line at the service desk, just make your own arrangements and the claim is very pain free.
