Why I Flew Jetstar to the AFF Melbourne Gathering

Coming from Canberra, I had a choice of three airlines to get me to Melbourne last Friday for the AFF member gathering: Qantas, Virgin Australia or Jetstar.

Jetstar wouldn’t normally be my first choice, but on this occasion I think it was actually the best option. So I booked it, and I didn’t regret it. Here’s why…

The price (and schedule) was right

Jetstar only has one daily flight between Canberra and Melbourne, while Qantas and Virgin Australia have multiple departures throughout the day. Normally, this means I end up booking a different airline on this route (which I fly regularly). But on this occasion, Jetstar’s schedule happened to work better for me than any other option.

I then compared pricing. Even with a Flex Plus bundle, Jetstar was still cheaper than any Virgin Australia or Qantas flight on the same day. So, it seemed like a bit of a no-brainer to book Jetstar.

As well as Qantas Points and status credits, Jetstar’s Flex Plus bundle includes a checked bag, exit row seating, additional flexibility and a $10 onboard credit.

The Jetstar experience

To be honest, I don’t love flying Jetstar out of Terminal 4 in Melbourne. That terminal is often quite crowded and it’s a long walk from the Qantas lounges, which I can access when flying Jetstar through my Qantas status. (By the way, a Qantas Club membership would also get you into the lounge when flying Jetstar.)

Departing from Canberra Airport, there are no such issues. Jetstar’s check-in counters are right beside the Qantas check-in area, and there was no queue at all.

It took barely a minute to clear security at Canberra Airport, and I headed upstairs to the Qantas lounge while waiting for boarding.

From the lounge, it was a short walk to the gate in Canberra. The inbound aircraft had arrived early from Melbourne, so boarding also began a bit early.

Admittedly, Jetstar’s Economy seats aren’t the most comfortable in the world. But this flight only lasted an hour, and I was able to choose my favourite exit row seat for free with the Flex Plus bundle. This came with ample legroom to stretch out.

I was impressed by how seriously Jetstar took its responsibility to ensure those sitting in the exit row were suitable to be there. During boarding, the gate agent asked me when I’d last sat in an exit row and whether I was willing to assist in an emergency. Then, before take-off, the flight attendant gave everyone in the exit rows a thorough briefing before handing out safety cards for everyone to read. It was so thorough that I half-expected a quiz at the end of that briefing. 😉

If the flight isn’t full, I often find that the exit rows are the last to get filled on Jetstar as most people aren’t willing to pay for them – and I therefore often have an empty neighbouring seat. This wasn’t the case this time as the flight was 100% full.

Before take-off, another friendly flight attendant came through the cabin to inform everyone who had a food & beverage credit of how much money they had to spend on items from the menu. This crew member also mentioned that hot food would be unavailable on this sector due to the short flight time.

Sure enough, after take-off the crew came around and I was able to use the $10 credit that came with my bundle. Snacks and non-alcoholic drinks are $5 each, so I got one of each. This was pretty much on-par with what I’d expect to get on a Qantas flight from Canberra to Melbourne, and is better than Virgin (which only gives cups of water for free on this route).

We landed on time in Melbourne and by the time I’d walked all the way from the Jetstar gates in Terminal 4 to the baggage carousel, my checked bag was ready for collection.

All in all, this was a near-perfect experience. Jetstar sometimes gets a bad rap, but it’s not always justified!

The risks and downsides of flying Jetstar

Of course, the real test of any airline is how they deal with things that go wrong, like delays and cancellations. It’s easy to say that Jetstar is a great airline when everything is on time, but that isn’t always the case.

There’s always a risk that a flight might get delayed or cancelled. Given Jetstar only has one daily flight on the Canberra-Melbourne route, I’m not sure what would have happened if Jetstar had to cancel this flight as the airline has fewer alternatives than its competitors to rebook passengers onto. It wouldn’t have worked for me to fly the next day, so I suspect I may have had to book a new last-minute ticket on another airline. That’s part of the risk you take when booking a budget airline.

I’ve been burned by this before. Jetstar once cancelled a Brisbane-Sydney flight I was booked on, and the only alternative flight it offered was two days later. I called Jetstar and they flat-out refused to rebook me on any other airline, including Qantas. And of course a last-minute ticket on another airline cost way more than the value of the refund I got for cancelling the Jetstar ticket.

One thing I did notice about my Jetstar flight is that pretty much every passenger around me was sitting in the wrong seat. This caused a bit of “musical chairs” during boarding. Also, one of my fellow Jetstar passengers was very rude to me for no particular reason – but I guess that could happen on any airline!

The AFF gathering in Melbourne

As I mentioned at the start of this article, I flew to Melbourne last Friday to attend the AFF gathering that took place over the weekend. This was a great event! As always, it was nice to put more faces to AFF usernames and to chat with like-minded aviation geeks and points enthusiasts.

Singapore Airlines generously donated a lot of prizes at Saturday night’s dinner, and both guest speakers – Udhara de Silva from Singapore Airlines, and former Flybuys COO Phil Hawkins – provided great insights.

If you haven’t been to an AFF gathering before, I’d highly recommend it. Keep an eye on the Meetings & Social Events forum for details of the next ones!