JQ - My Positive Experience

[Cruiser Elite]

boomy I wrote it was a budget terminal - I firmly think it is - but I also think it is more than adequate to cater for LCC pax - I do not mean those pax are 2nd rate citizens in anyway but for cheap domestic flying I think T4 ticks the necessary boxes quite adequately. I was flying JQ too just as a reminder that I am not posting OT.

 

[Scash]

MCY is our home port so JQ is pretty much the only option. Apart from weather delays really haven’t had too many issues.

 

[moffat39]

Have previously posted on other threads my positive experiences with JQ on domestic flights. My most recent flight with JQ was Brisbane to Hobart return for the Australia Day weekend. Both flights on time and crew were great. I too had one of those fares where I received a voucher on the flight to use.


I find on JQ that if you smile and treat the crew with respect (as you should)you get good service. I have seen other passengers who almost snarl at the crew as if it is beneath them to travel on JQ. My flights on JQ from Brisbane are mostly where the other option is VA ( Mackay, Newcastle and Hobart) and when I have flown on JQ it is price driven.


As for JQ international don't get me started how bad it is though I only have one return flight to compare it to. That was to Bali and the return flight was in J - that was dreadful.

 

[ike]

My in-laws (3 pax) came recently KIX/CNS/OOL and then we did OOL/MEL/HOB/SYD/OOL/CNS (not all on the same day) and we had no problems at all...(Were 6 of us all together)
All these flights were on time the cabin crew were great!! We had no baggage just cabin so cant comment on baggage pick up etc - We did on line check in couple of the flights were Price Beat.
Then the in-laws went back to KIX from CNS again no problems at all! Only issue were the unhappy check in staff at CNS for the KIX leg...But overall no problems I would personally only travel JQ on Domestic only)

 

[moa999]

I've flown JQi a number of times and had no issues and generally better than my expectations

 

[RobJ]

So JQ suffers the derision of many - Deathstar - coughstar - just to name a few references. Warranted? Justifiable? Maybe - maybe not. I guess you should only form a view from your own personal experiences. I personally have been guilty of uttering 'Never ever again on Jetstar - I am giving them life'. But like most life sentences I hand out they are willingly commuted where $$$s or convenience are involved.

But on a serious nope - I think we are very fortunate in Oz to have 2 x top tier mainstream carriers in QF and VA and we are also very fortunate to have 2 x LCCs in JQ and TT - we all know what competition does to pricing - for everyone's benefit let's hope all 4 of these carriers not only survive but also prosper. Most importantly they are great employers of so many of our Australian workforce.

This week I did experience 2flts on Jetstar - JQ464 MEL-BNK Thu May 25 16:30-18:30 / JQ465 Fri May 26 19:00-21:15. Ret cost was $299 incl 1 x checked bag + exit row 13D seat selection both sector (VA quote was ~$700 same days).

464 pushed back 2mins post dep sch - seat was way more comfortable than I had expected - crew were excellent with their service - a $15 Shiraz & Tapas x 2 saw me arrive about 5mins post arr sch a very happy little vegemite.

465 was delayed 15 mins due to late arr into BNK - same seat 13D and crew again fabulous. Senior pax in 11F had a melt down once airborne and crew were very attentive to her which delayed snack cart somewhat - but no biggie. Ordered the Shiraz & Tapas selection again to be told sorry our of Crackers & Cheese would you like Pringles instead - only slight downer on flt. About to pay the $15 with CC and crew member says I have been issued a comp $10 F & B voucher via my booking - NFI why but tks anyway.

Flt landed 10mins past sch arr and as we were waiting to deplane I asked crew member reason for delay out of MEL - she replied she didn't really know why as all pax on board by sch dep time but she thinks Capt was not happy about some late loading cargo. AS I was chatting to crew member pax in 12C joined in and noted he does JQ465 / JQ464 every 2 weeks and he could not remember the last time any delay greater than a few mins either end.

So all in all an excellent experience - I would not hesitate for 1 min to fly JQ again.

I am sure others have similar positive experiences so please share.

I don't bother with Jetstar domestically as, having usually flexible times, I find QF fares are competitive, occasionally better. But I've used Jetstar Business Class a few times for international and find them excellent - naturally you don't expect QF J class, but they're better than QF's PE, you get as many status credits as the mainline carrier and they're quite a saving financially. Even down the back, people should realise that by world standards JQ is one of the more classy low-costers.

 

[Evolocity]

After living in Asia for 8 years, and flying a multitude of LCC, one can't complain about Jetstar!

David.

 

[Pushka]

After living in Asia for 8 years, and flying a multitude of LCC, one can't complain about Jetstar!

David.

But in Australia we have different benchmarks!

 

[boomy]

But in Australia we have different benchmarks!

True, we have Tiger. Can't get much lower than that

 

[davidj]

boomy I wrote it was a budget terminal - I firmly think it is - but I also think it is more than adequate to cater for LCC pax - I do not mean those pax are 2nd rate citizens in anyway but for cheap domestic flying I think T4 ticks the necessary boxes quite adequately. I was flying JQ too just as a reminder that I am not posting OT.

If terminal 4 is a budget terminal, what does that make terminal 3? Super budget? I believe there are more retail/F&B stores in T4 to make it relatively premium.

Also I'm a little confused with the continued reference with "2nd rate citizens" and LCC pax. There are plenty of well off people who use Jetstar for various reasons.

 

[serfty]

If terminal 4 is a budget terminal, what does that make terminal 3? Super budget? I believe there are more retail/F&B stores in T4 to make it relatively premium.

It is not the number of retail stores ... it's the amount of seating at the gates.

 

[Dannyism]

I recently flew MEL-SIN-MEL with QF A332 and JQ 788. I wanted to give a bit of a review of the JQ787-800 experience contrasted against the Qantas. I am a gold QFF on a long weekend holiday, so that will be the paradigm I'm reviewing from.

Firstly, the reason I can do the contrast is because JQ cancelled my flight over and I was rebooked onto the QF flight 6 hours later. The flight was cancelled about 18 hours before departure. That was my first ever JQ flight so bad first impression. Qantas wins this round obviously.

So the checkin experience;
Fast and easy kiosk checkin and bag drop at Changi, no line ups. Business class check in at Melbourne with QF. Happy with both outcomes, a tie.

Boarding;
QF priority boarding. However JQ was civilised comfortable. QF wins by a hair.

The plane;
A330, 240v power, entertainment 7? toilets, leg room fairly poor. 2 4 2 layout. Because of the late change we were in the 4 section not the 2 section.
B787, nice and new, pressure and humidity help with jetlag, leg room actually quite good, comfortable seats, huge windows, 787 has faster airspeed. 3 3 3 layout sucks a bit, 4 toilets, I was left waiting uncomfotably in a very long line. The winner? I'm not sure, I really liked the 787, but the toilets might be a deal breaker for me as I go to the toilet a fair bit. Nah, JQ wins with the new 787.

Service,
JQ tried. But QF was very very pleasant. Greeted by name and offered drink to settle in, really wonderful experience. Better meal on QF, included entertainment, better meals, booze etc. QF wins comfortably.

Overall I would rather fly QF, but only because my flight was cancelled and I get the nice Gold QFF treatment. If JQ didn't cancel the flights and I had no status I'd happily fly the 787 to Singapore again.

 

[JohnK]

Arrived at OOL just after 3:00pm today for the 5:00pm flight JQ423 to SYD only to see it delayed until 7:30pm. The last JQ flight to SYD cancelled. Most flights delayed and the 3:55pm flight QF865 to SYD only delayed 1 hour which means over 2 hours out in the terminal.

I noticed the 2:30pm flight JQ415 to SYD delayed until 4:00pm. Asked if they were moving passengers and they said Yes but flight full. Went to kiosk to check in but did something wrong. The guy I asked earlier came round looking for me and asked if still wanted to go earlier. Yep.

Now have boarding pass for 1D for earlier flight. Would have even taken a middle seat.

 

[Revenge]

I choose to fly JQ a lot because I'm based in OOL and there are many more JQ flights to MEL and SYD than QF and even VA.

JQ flights tend to be good value for money even with Starter Plus package which I usually get to earn points and SCs. The seat selection and $10 voucher are handly and overall the experience tends to be pleasant and not that far below a QF experience.

As a SG the QF lounge access in OOL is good for morning flights, although I recently was unpleasantly surprised to find the lounge closes after the day's few QF flight have left, so it's not available to JQ pax in the afternoon.