Jetstar Fees and Charges

[kyrah96]

Back in September last year I booked a flight with jetstar from Singapore to Darwin for travel in July this year. The cost was a total of $220 for the flight which was made up of approx $74 for the flight and $146 were fees and charges/taxes.
Now exactly the same flight is $38 for the flight and about $36 in fees and charges/taxes making for a total of $74.
I understand that the cost of flights goes up and down and i just have to wear the fact that by booking early I paid more for the flight. However can someone explain why the difference in fees and taxes. Maybe the fuel surcharge went down but it is a big difference. Is there anyway I can claim back the cost of the fees and taxes. it really makes a huge difference when we are a family of four travelling. By delaying booking I could have saved us almost $600.I know I have to wear the cost of the increase in flight charge but I am really angry about the huge difference in the other taxes. has anyone had any success writing to Jetstar to request reimbursement. I mean we havent flown yet so Jetstar have not had to outlay those fees and taxes.
Anyway sorry if I am rambling. i am just searching a way of keeping the cost down for our family holiday and it is disheartning to see your flight reduce in cost.
On another note has anyone had success in changing a flight (to the next day) and getting a refund in the difference of fare if it is cheaper than your original fare? I am even wondering if I have a case to cancel the flight seeing as the depature time has changed by 1 hour. Is that significant enough for jetstar to issue a refund and then I can rebook a cheaper flight.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

 

[Hvr]

G'day and welcome kyrah96 I really doubt you have any comeback at all with Jet*.

Your seat is guaranteed and if they were all sold out then you would still be able to fly where as if you had waited for cheap seats then you would've missed out.

Also getting a refund out of Jet* is like getting blood out of a stone. It rarely happens and never quickly even if you're entitled to one.

This is essentially like purchasing a product from a shop and they they have a sale a week later. It is a matter of luck and you never know which way it goes.

I can only suggest you enjoy your holiday.

 

[Mal]

Welcome.

The usual comment people will give is "If you booked your flight when you booked it, and it went up $600 the day after, would you be prepared to pay the airline $600?"

It's not much different to buying a house where the price keeps changing over time.

Check your conditions carefully, although I'm not sure with Jetstar, sometimes you can rebook international flights for a penalty of say $100. That sometimes enables you to get a refund on the difference - but again depends on the airline and their policies.

Sorry I can't be more specific.

 

[kyrah96]

yes I understand that you take pot luck when purchasing a flight that it could go up or down but I guess it was just the huge difference in the fees/taxes component of the flight that had me thinking I could claim a partial refund. Has anyone out there had success in changing a flight and getting a refund of the difference in fares??? i dont mind how long it takes but any sort of refund would be good. We will have a great holiday anyway as we got great deals on other components of the holiday but I just thought I would put the question out there and see if anyone had come across a similar situation.

 

[straitman]

kyrah96,

Welcome to AFF.

Without looking things up I don't recall the amounts but a huge percentage of what you have been 'taxed' will have disappeared when the fuel fines were deleted.

I know how you feel as I had it happen to me also.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

I would ring Jetstar and ask them if you book again for the same flight at the cheaper rate, would they refund the first booking seeing as though you're all travelling on an identical itinerary but on a new ticket.

Now whilst I think the answer is probably no, the second option would be to ask them to put the first one into a credit shell so it can be used at a later date & check that this can be for future travel on both domestic and international Jetstar flights.

It just depends whether to want to be out of pocket for that 2nd airfare SIN/DRW until such time you book and travel again.

On another note has anyone had success in changing a flight (to the next day) and getting a refund in the difference of fare if it is cheaper than your original fare? I am even wondering if I have a case to cancel the flight seeing as the depature time has changed by 1 hour. Is that significant enough for jetstar to issue a refund and then I can rebook a cheaper flight.

Again, you can only ask them. I'm pretty sure that there is no refund on any fare difference if you are changing and the new fare happens to be lower. You could ask them if they could speak to a supervisor to see if they would authorise waiving the change fee in light of the fact they changed the time on you however I'm sure the fine print (conditions of carriage) gives the airline every right to do so.

I don't suppose they would let you add a new flight to another destination for a future date that would offset the difference in the fare? That's probably getting a bit messy and you want to keep it as simple as possible.

Hope you have a great time in Darwin.

Cheers
Oz