Jetstar flight review - Sydney to Sunshine Coast.

[PaulST]

Hi all,
Jetstar aren't exactly the type of airline that you aspire to fly in so this flight report is for the benefit of people possibly visiting Australia and who've found that Jetstar's prices are the cheapest travelling within Australia.


Jetstar are a LCC owned by Qantas who've been operating in Australia for a few years now. Their domestic fleet (within Australia) consists of A320s while their international fleet is made up of 787s (having just recently given their A330s back to Qantas).


There's a few important points to remember if you wish to fly with them.


1) There's no food or luggage included, and they're all entirely economy class. Food and luggage are available at extra cost.
2) Make sure you check-in online and ideally take carry-on luggage only as their check-in and/or bag drop process is painfully slow and there's often a large queue.
3) Often the Starter Plus bundle (often costs around $30) is a good idea as it means you can change the flight (only pay for the price difference), get $5 worth of food (which covers a muffin and a hot drink), get to chose your seat and gives you a few Qantas FF points and status credits.


[video=youtube;H4QTrxWLYQE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4QTrxWLYQE[/video]


I should declare that the youtube channel is mine although I earn no money from it (the enjoyment from flying is enough for me. )

 

[eastwest101]

While largely correct, you may want to re-word point 4, as I think you'll find that the claims of frequency are a bit debatable unless booking a golden triangle route (and if your flying the golden triangle then you may as well fly either QF or VA anyway). Good luck getting JQ to rebook you on a QF mainline service if a JQ plane goes unserviceable, while there has been examples of this in the past I have noticed that there has been an increasing reluctance for this to happen lately. If it does all go wrong/pear shaped/late with curfews and misconnected flights then I don't think anyone could claim that JQ's service recovery is anywhere near as good as QF or VA's or indeed some of the other major full service carriers in the USA.

By the way - you have obviously brought a decent video camera - not many video cameras seem to cope well with the changing light conditions in aircraft but your seemed to do so.

 

[PaulST]

While largely correct, you may want to re-word point 4, as I think you'll find that the claims of frequency are a bit debatable unless booking a golden triangle route (and if your flying the golden triangle then you may as well fly either QF or VA anyway). Good luck getting JQ to rebook you on a QF mainline service if a JQ plane goes unserviceable, while there has been examples of this in the past I have noticed that there has been an increasing reluctance for this to happen lately. If it does all go wrong/pear shaped/late with curfews and misconnected flights then I don't think anyone could claim that JQ's service recovery is anywhere near as good as QF or VA's or indeed some of the other major full service carriers in the USA.

Fair enough. Maybe the rebooking on QF is less common now. My comment was based on a friend's experience (possibly in 2013) where his JQ flight was cancelled and he, rather politely, kicked up a stink and requesting to be put on a QF flight.

I'd tend to agree that these days you might as well fly QF as once you add the price of luggage or any flexibility, the price ends up being the same. Unfortunately for me, they're not starting direct flights from SYD to MCY until December (in 717s) this year, but otherwise I'd have flown with them.

 

[Dr Ralph]

Point 4 is not correct. In January I was on a flight from the Gold Coast to Sydney. It was cancelled and it was 2 days before I could be accommodated on another flight. I was simply above ones by Jetstar. Has to find a hotel and taxi. This is not an uncommon experience. Remember no compensation is provided for this type of situation as Jetstar claimed it was weather related. I won't ever fly Jetstar again.

 

[PaulST]

Point 4 is not correct. In January I was on a flight from the Gold Coast to Sydney. It was cancelled and it was 2 days before I could be accommodated on another flight. This is not an uncommon experience. Remember no compensation is provided for this type of situation as Jetstar claimed it was weather related.

Fair enough. I'll change point 4.

 

[Alanslegal]

Cool video, thanks for sharing.

I have been a supporter of JQ and will continue to do so (unlike QF on the other hand).

Earlier this year JQ did kind of stuff me up with my flight to SYD-HNL where they cancelled the flight with only 24 hours notice but managed to get me on a QF plane to BNE and connect to the BNE-HNL service the same day. It stuffed me up as I had to spend the afternoon travelling to BNE rather than having the 6pm departure out of SYD. Anyway, it was my 4th trip to HNL with JQ so I am very grateful for they are around - as well as getting me to several other Asian destinations. Plus the Price Beat Guarantee really allows JQ to be the cheapest out there - assuming the bare bones flight only package. Given that I don't carry around golf clubs or the kitchen sink, it works super well in my personal situation.

 

[PaulST]

Earlier this year JQ did kind of stuff me up with my flight to SYD-HNL where they cancelled the flight with only 24 hours notice but managed to get me on a QF plane to BNE and connect to the BNE-HNL service the same day. It stuffed me up as I had to spend the afternoon travelling to BNE rather than having the 6pm departure out of SYD. Anyway, it was my 4th trip to HNL with JQ so I am very grateful for they are around - as well as getting me to several other Asian destinations. Plus the Price Beat Guarantee really allows JQ to be the cheapest out there - assuming the bare bones flight only package. Given that I don't carry around golf clubs or the kitchen sink, it works super well in my personal situation.

Were you in J or Y? Seems like decent service if only in Y.

 

[Alanslegal]

Were you in J or Y? Seems like decent service if only in Y.

I was in Y. Initially they offered a direct flight the next day but given I had hotel reservations and a rental car confirmed, I asked for something that gets me in roughly the same time which was granted.

I don't rate JQ J at all and wouldn't recommend it, but then again, I don't believe in any premium economy type product on any airline - it's either a flat bed or I'm sucking it up in Y.