ozbeachbabe
Senior Member
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2009
- Posts
- 6,459
A friend was doing looking at airfares Brisbane to Cairns on the Webjet site & I was asking her why wasn't she booking it direct on the JQ website she replied it costs the same. That definitely is not the case but appears that way at first as the Webjet site show the all inclusive price.
You can see the breakdown of costs if you click on the tiny blue link that says 'show details' but I'm sure many people miss this just as my friend did. If the breakdown of costs was more obvious instead of being conveniently hidden I think more people would realised it's cheaper to book direct through the airlines' own website.
In my friends case she will save $100.90 by booking her BNE/CNS/BNE flights for 2 adults & 2 children direct through the JQ website thus avoiding the fees and charges by going through Webjet. The breakdown is as follows:
Airfares
4 @ $338.00 pp = $1,352.00
Baggage 15 kgs pp
4 @ $35.00 pp = $ 140.00
Credit card surcharge
4 @ $17.00 pp = $ 68.00
Webjet booking price guarantee
1 @ $12.95 = $ 12.95
Webjet processing fee
1 @ $19.95 = $ 19.95
Webjet price $1,592.90
Jetstar price $1,492.00 (using JQ MC/POLi/BPAY or Jetstar voucher) as no cc surcharge,
price guarantee or processing fee.
Some other points I noticed when doing comparisons between both sites are as follows:
Zero payment options with no surcharge through Webjet - you must pay the credit card fees
If booking through Webjet they charge credit card fees of $68.00 even if you wish to pay with a Jetstar Mastercard that would attraction zero charges if booking flights directly with Jetstar on their website.
No option offered by Webjet to pay via BPAY, POLi, Jetstar voucher or Jetstar Mastercard so there is no avoiding the credit card fees of $68.00 ($17.00 x 4) for the 2 adults & 2 children in the booking.
Confusing information with regard to changing dates of travel on a Starter fare
When you click on the Starter fare rules on the Webjet site with regard to time & date changes as the response is about whether the booking is transferable!
Misleading information with regard to the cost of fees associated with changing a Starter fare
Webjet state that believe that there is "$0 Webjet fee for changes made online", however when you read further is says to refer directly to the JQ website and invites you to read the Planning and Booking - Fare information - it doesn't even provide a direct link to click on enabling you to view the fees. IMHO this is lying by omission because it doesn't disclose you still need to pay the Jetstar change fees.
Furthermore when reading through fare fules for changing the link on the Webjet site tells you about change fees applicable for bookings made direct with Jetstar. Why do this as they should be telling customers what the change fees are if you have booked through the Webjet site.
Webjet do not offer Starter Plus bundles for frequent flyer points & status credits
If selecting a Starter fare on the Webjet site there is no option to pay the extra $25.00 per person that allows free date changes (subject to the same fare being available), name changes, free basic seat selection or the all important QF frequent flyer points and status credits.
Again very confusing as they tell you that you can upgrade to these bundles on the condition that you pay the change fee plus the fare difference at the time of change! Why not just offer it to begin with as it wouldn't be worth selecting if you have to pay fees and charges for something that should've been available as an option at the time of booking.
Webjet baggage allowance only 15 kilos per person
Jetstar fares that include baggage allowance only give you the choice of taking hand luggage only up to 10 kilos or checked baggage of 15 kilos - there is no option like on the Jetstar website to select a higher baggage allowance by paying the applicable price to have 20/25/30/35/40 kilos. On the JQ website you can pay $90.00 which will give you 40 kilos of checked baggage.
If you booked through Webjet you can only select a maximum of 15 kilos which costs $35.00 per person so if you had excess of that amount you would be forced to pay the airport rates of $15.00 per kilo!
You can see the breakdown of costs if you click on the tiny blue link that says 'show details' but I'm sure many people miss this just as my friend did. If the breakdown of costs was more obvious instead of being conveniently hidden I think more people would realised it's cheaper to book direct through the airlines' own website.
In my friends case she will save $100.90 by booking her BNE/CNS/BNE flights for 2 adults & 2 children direct through the JQ website thus avoiding the fees and charges by going through Webjet. The breakdown is as follows:
Airfares
4 @ $338.00 pp = $1,352.00
Baggage 15 kgs pp
4 @ $35.00 pp = $ 140.00
Credit card surcharge
4 @ $17.00 pp = $ 68.00
Webjet booking price guarantee
1 @ $12.95 = $ 12.95
Webjet processing fee
1 @ $19.95 = $ 19.95
Webjet price $1,592.90
Jetstar price $1,492.00 (using JQ MC/POLi/BPAY or Jetstar voucher) as no cc surcharge,
price guarantee or processing fee.
Some other points I noticed when doing comparisons between both sites are as follows:
Zero payment options with no surcharge through Webjet - you must pay the credit card fees
If booking through Webjet they charge credit card fees of $68.00 even if you wish to pay with a Jetstar Mastercard that would attraction zero charges if booking flights directly with Jetstar on their website.
No option offered by Webjet to pay via BPAY, POLi, Jetstar voucher or Jetstar Mastercard so there is no avoiding the credit card fees of $68.00 ($17.00 x 4) for the 2 adults & 2 children in the booking.
Confusing information with regard to changing dates of travel on a Starter fare
When you click on the Starter fare rules on the Webjet site with regard to time & date changes as the response is about whether the booking is transferable!
Misleading information with regard to the cost of fees associated with changing a Starter fare
Webjet state that believe that there is "$0 Webjet fee for changes made online", however when you read further is says to refer directly to the JQ website and invites you to read the Planning and Booking - Fare information - it doesn't even provide a direct link to click on enabling you to view the fees. IMHO this is lying by omission because it doesn't disclose you still need to pay the Jetstar change fees.
Furthermore when reading through fare fules for changing the link on the Webjet site tells you about change fees applicable for bookings made direct with Jetstar. Why do this as they should be telling customers what the change fees are if you have booked through the Webjet site.
Webjet do not offer Starter Plus bundles for frequent flyer points & status credits
If selecting a Starter fare on the Webjet site there is no option to pay the extra $25.00 per person that allows free date changes (subject to the same fare being available), name changes, free basic seat selection or the all important QF frequent flyer points and status credits.
Again very confusing as they tell you that you can upgrade to these bundles on the condition that you pay the change fee plus the fare difference at the time of change! Why not just offer it to begin with as it wouldn't be worth selecting if you have to pay fees and charges for something that should've been available as an option at the time of booking.
Webjet baggage allowance only 15 kilos per person
Jetstar fares that include baggage allowance only give you the choice of taking hand luggage only up to 10 kilos or checked baggage of 15 kilos - there is no option like on the Jetstar website to select a higher baggage allowance by paying the applicable price to have 20/25/30/35/40 kilos. On the JQ website you can pay $90.00 which will give you 40 kilos of checked baggage.
If you booked through Webjet you can only select a maximum of 15 kilos which costs $35.00 per person so if you had excess of that amount you would be forced to pay the airport rates of $15.00 per kilo!
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