Another Jetstar whinge

[p--and--t]

Why?

They carry around 30million pax a year and reasonable prices and for the most part things go smoothly. If you want to get a service you haven't paid for then fly someone else. I'm sure if they were lfying Virgin and wanted to check a bag on afare without a bag there would be issues, likewise if they flew the beloved QF and had a bag but wanted a second bag they would pay.

You can't just buy a ticket and expect services you are not entitled to on any airline.

Given my recent experiences (admittedly limited as a non-statused passenger and in Y only) I would choose JQd over VAd unless VA was significantly cheaper until VA get their sh.. together.

 

[Rich]

I've never had to pay for luggage or anything else at check in (in Australia). Is it normal to finish the check in and pay somewhere else later? I always imagined you would pay at the check in counter or at least pay somewhere first.
It sounds like old grandma thought she could pull a swifty and get away with not paying.

 

[Pushka]

Why?

They carry around 30million pax a year and reasonable prices and for the most part things go smoothly. If you want to get a service you haven't paid for then fly someone else. I'm sure if they were lfying Virgin and wanted to check a bag on afare without a bag there would be issues, likewise if they flew the beloved QF and had a bag but wanted a second bag they would pay.

You can't just buy a ticket and expect services you are not entitled to on any airline.

I've got three Jetstar flights coming up in June. Two on a return flight to DPS . We've done it before and they are fine. At least they do fly direct from Adelaide to DPS unlike Q. Halves the trip time.

It does seem weird they didn't have to pay at checkin.

 

[Ade]

I've got three Jetstar flights coming up in June. Two on a return flight to DPS

My deepest sympathies JK!

 

[tdimdad]

If the story about checking in bags without a prior or on-spot payment is true, that sounds strange. You'd think that the payment would usually occur before the bags are sent off. There must be more to this than what's given to the article.

The "no food, no water" sounds false. One would think that there are at least water taps available (perhaps even filtered water) in the terminal. Though, if it was one of the last flights of the day, then the eateries might have closed but Gold Coast as a town may still have a place or two open even late at night. Besides, flying with kids would more often take place at daytime than late evening but their mileage may vary, naturally.

 

[kpc]

A contrasting Jq experience....Our party of 4 flew Jq business from Syd to Sgn a few days ago...overall no complaints...flight was 30 mins late due to a pax not boarding after checking in, plenty of food and drink, semi recline seat for a day time flight and inflight entertainment with headphones . Checkin staff were disinterested and slow but they had to check our e Visas and flights leaving Vietnam and enter the details x4. 14 kg carryon and 30 kg checked luggage. Normally cost about $1699 one way per pax but we used 55K Qf pts and $180 taxes per pax...and 2 of us spent 2 hours in the Qf F lounge and the other 2 in the substandard Qf J lounge prior to the flight.

 

[dajop]

My bet, passenger thought they would get away with it, spun a story at checkin but didn’t count on staff doing checks in the boarding lounge or at the gate itself, which Jetstar regularly do.

 

[Flyfrequently]

I've got three Jetstar flights coming up in June. Two on a return flight to DPS

Hopefully JQ treats you better than on your last trip to DPS @Pushka
We are heading there in June going J QF !

 

[Happy Dude]

Damn love a good JQ sink the boot in thread but this just looks like a severe case of idiot passengers instead

Instead? More like "as usual".

 

[Pushka]

Hopefully JQ treats you better than on your last trip to DPS @Pushka
We are heading there in June going J QF !

That was Qantas that dumped us! There's nothing JQ could do that would be worse I don't reckon. Well, of course there is. When in June? We are June 17. Via Melbourne. So still an F lounge visit.

 

[Flyfrequently]

That was Qantas that dumped us! There's nothing JQ could do that would be worse I don't reckon. Well, of course there is. When in June? We are June 17. Via Melbourne. So still an F lounge visit.

Yes, I do remember Your tale of woe @Pushka
We fly out of Melbourne 8th, staying in Nusa Dua till 20th.
My (pilot) nephew often flies DPS yet to be in his "top ten" for staff travel though - we are a big family!

 

[ksthommo]

Due to Cyclone Jasper, Cairns Airport closure our flight CNS/DPS 18 December was cancelled.
Flight was booked using QFF Points and paid for extra luggage, meals and seats through Jetstar.
Got an email the night before for alternative options, via Adelaide 19 December or via Sydney 20 December.
Happy with the options.
Selected Via Sydney 20 December, all good. CNS/ADE flights were cancelled 19 December anyway.

Then go to MMB on the Jetstar website, shows we have an amount of $42.50 outstanding, paid it and would sort it out later.
Not to be now owe another $63, after ring rounds between Qantas and Jetstar know one knew what the payments were for.
Talk to Qantas Trade Department?

Finally got the payment of $63 removed by a great Jetstar call centre agent and even assigned us up front seats on both CNS/SYD
and SYD/DPS Flights.

Submitted a customer card feedback through Qantas, see what happens with that one.

 

[eastwest101]

If the story about checking in bags without a prior or on-spot payment is true, that sounds strange. You'd think that the payment would usually occur before the bags are sent off. There must be more to this than what's given to the article.

The "no food, no water" sounds false. One would think that there are at least water taps available (perhaps even filtered water) in the terminal. Though, if it was one of the last flights of the day, then the eateries might have closed but Gold Coast as a town may still have a place or two open even late at night. Besides, flying with kids would more often take place at daytime than late evening but their mileage may vary, naturally.

Yeah something is missing from this story, so JQ check-in accepted the checked-in baggage and presumably, it was to be loaded onto the aircraft, the passenger was most likely directed to pay at another Jetstar counter at the airport, and whether through miscommunication or some other reason did not do so, and went through security and attempted to board, now obviously Jetstar must have systems in their IT and boarding process to pick up on situations like this, and they were denied boarding. This also means that Jetstar presumably were prepared to find and unload checked-in luggage probably causing significant delay to the aircraft and all the other passengers.

Given that the passenger in question has only flown once or twice in their life, its not too implausible to think that maybe this is a miscommunication, but I'm wondering why a LCC like Jetstar would make it so difficult to take payment for the ancillary revenue that they rely on? Surely if they have a credit card already on file for the booking, they can just bill that credit card in situations like this, rather than delay an aircraft and offload passengers? Don't JQ ground crews often have roaming agents with EFTPOS facilities to catch people out with excess luggage anyway, surely this would have been a job for them?

 

[elanshin]

It always baffles me that people try to get away with things on JQ. Fly JQ, stick to their rules, fly QF sneak that 15kg carry on on board no problems.

Besides, flying with kids would more often take place at daytime than late evening but their mileage may vary, naturally.

Given the rest of the situation, I'm not sure how bright these guys are.

Given that the passenger in question has only flown once or twice in their life, its not too implausible to think that maybe this is a miscommunication, but I'm wondering why a LCC like Jetstar would make it so difficult to take payment for the ancillary revenue that they rely on? Surely if they have a credit card already on file for the booking, they can just bill that credit card in situations like this, rather than delay an aircraft and offload passengers?

CC is not the only method of payment online, if there was a CC involved we probably won't have gotten a slop story like this. Also it's very risky procedure to charge using card on file for a new charge without having you hit agree and sign a bunch of stuff. All of which is comparably easier to have you just pay at the counter.

As for accepting bags, I can understand JQ and in a sense they probably thought they were doing the customers a service. If they were to go by the books, it would be go to service desk, pay for luggage come back line up again and then bag drop.

Don't JQ ground crews often have roaming agents with EFTPOS facilities to catch people out with excess luggage anyway, surely this would have been a job for them?

Yes. Hence why many people here thinks theres more to the story that the person is omitting. There is almost certainly a denial of payment involved.

 

[Brissy1]

I'm at bne waiting for my JQ(!) flight to syd, and I've plenty of time because none of you WPs will allow me into the qpub (not that I've asked :⁠-⁠) and I'm thinking of the positives :
- these people make self entitled seniors like me (see qpub comment above) look relatively good,
- he said he'd never fly jq again, I can hear the ool staff cheering from here,
- and so, if I'm on jq I won't be delayed by him/mil/et al,
- the 9yo might learn to take control, might be the most mature person in the family if he acts his (9yo) age,
- if I ever encounter someone who's given, or gives themselves, a name as ridiculous as Jay Tee, I've profiled them,
- I've learnt that 48yo grandmothers with 9yo grandsons exist

 

[tdimdad]

As for accepting bags, I can understand JQ and in a sense they probably thought they were doing the customers a service. If they were to go by the books, it would be go to service desk, pay for luggage come back line up again and then bag drop.

Perhaps the pax arrived at the bag drop quite late and the staff thought it'll be better to speed up things by taking the bags in and trust the granny to do the payment prior to the flight. If time was an issue here, perhaps sending the pax to pay first and then return to the bag drop would have been too late for them to be accepted.

After the bags have been taken in, one of two likely thought patterns may have taken place:
1) The granny has gone to pay but been unsuccessful. Because the time was already short, she decided it'll better to board the plane and deal with the payment later (and then "forgot"). Perhaps, if she's both unfamiliar with airports, flying and how it all works, she was also overwhelmed and felt clueless.
2) The granny saw the bags being accepted and quietly decided 'stuff it, they are in without needing to pay anything, not going to spend good money now...'.
Either way, they fell foul when JQ cross-checked the data and discovered the luggage was over limit (compared to what had been purchased).

I'd make a guess that JT may also be a very infrequent flyer. Otherwise he would have made sure to explain to the granny what to do at the airport. FWIW, I've taken people to the airport and accompanied them through the check-in / bag drop until they disappear into the security queue. Sometimes I've taken them to the gate (domestic) and waited there until the plane has departed, just to make sure everything goes well and they get to depart (tactic best suited with MIL's though not personally tested... ).

 

[jakeseven7]

Sometimes I've taken them to the gate (domestic) and waited there until the plane has departed, just to make sure everything goes well and they get to depart (tactic best suited with MIL's though not personally tested... ).

That is the well known PIL method of dispatching guests. The feeling when you see the planes tires leave the Earth

 

[Princess Fiona]

Perhaps the pax arrived at the bag drop quite late and the staff thought it'll be better to speed up things by taking the bags in and trust the granny to do the payment prior to the flight. If time was an issue here, perhaps sending the pax to pay first and then return to the bag drop would have been too late for them to be accepted.

After the bags have been taken in, one of two likely thought patterns may have taken place:
1) The granny has gone to pay but been unsuccessful. Because the time was already short, she decided it'll better to board the plane and deal with the payment later (and then "forgot"). Perhaps, if she's both unfamiliar with airports, flying and how it all works, she was also overwhelmed and felt clueless.
2) The granny saw the bags being accepted and quietly decided 'stuff it, they are in without needing to pay anything, not going to spend good money now...'.
Either way, they fell foul when JQ cross-checked the data and discovered the luggage was over limit (compared to what had been purchased).

I'd make a guess that JT may also be a very infrequent flyer. Otherwise he would have made sure to explain to the granny what to do at the airport. FWIW, I've taken people to the airport and accompanied them through the check-in / bag drop until they disappear into the security queue. Sometimes I've taken them to the gate (domestic) and waited there until the plane has departed, just to make sure everything goes well and they get to depart (tactic best suited with MIL's though not personally tested... ).

The Granny is aged 48, JT joined the “I hate JQ Facebook group” to post this rant.

He then clarified that he hadn’t actually made the payment before they got removed.

But hey he’s got his 10 minutes of fame.

 

[dajop]

Can’t help but think the phrase “transferred funds” is the source of a lot of the angst, Transferred funds and 10 min deadlines never sit well together.

 

[Pushka]

The comments on the FB page are hilarious. And don’t dare ask why was it Jetstars fault. And worse - most of them pile on the emotion by calling her elderly. 48! With a 9 year old grandchild. Just doing the maths here.