As Australia’s largest low-cost carrier, Jetstar is often criticised for various reasons. But after once vowing to never fly Jetstar again, our member Cruiser Elite decided this week to give the airline a second chance. They didn’t regret their decision.
Our member flew Jetstar from Melbourne to Byron Bay as the fare was less than half the price of Virgin Australia on the same route. This included Jetstar’s extra charges for a checked bag and exit row seating.
The outbound flight, JQ464 from Melbourne to Byron Bay, exceeded expectations.
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.
The return flight back to Melbourne was delayed slightly. On this flight, Jetstar also ran out of our member’s preferred snack choice. But these were only minor issues and didn’t spoil an otherwise pleasant flight. Our member was particularly impressed with the crew, which are described as “fabulous”.
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.
Another member adds that their Jetstar experiences too have been pleasant. But they believe the difference between Jetstar and full service airlines becomes more apparent when things go wrong.
Happy to say I’ve had a couple of good JQ flights, Cruiser; in fact 100% success. Left on time, seat and service OK for an hour flight etc etc. Where JQ gets its bad reputation is when things don’t go to plan – the service recovery.
In Melbourne Jetstar uses Terminal 4, which is set up specifically for low-cost carriers. Some members love this terminal, particularly as there is a fantastic food court with a wide range of choices available. But other members dislike the lack of seating and the long walk required to get to the gates.
Cruiser Elite‘s conclusion? They’re willing to give Jetstar another go.
So all in all an excellent experience – I would not hesitate for 1 min to fly JQ again.
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.
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