Plus Bundle Price Increase?

[MH_fan]

I was outraged when I saw that the Plus Bundles now include checked luggage and that wass why the prices have increased. This is the final nail in the coffin for me and Jetstar. They're not even a consideration now, even when they have ridiculously low prices such as the recent MEL-SIN sale. When I saw what they wanted to charge for the Plus Bundle, I just turned away. And this is in addition to the ridiculous service charge/credit card fees!

 

[Pablo]

I ended up emailing them to complain about it. Just ridiculous. Makes Qantaslink even more of an option from NTL-BNE. If we have to pay that much (fare, plus bundle, upfront seat) I expect full service.

 

[laughinman1]

For my new bookings, I don't mind this new $35 Plus Bundle. I usually pay $19 Plus Bundle and $22 for 15kg checked luggage.

For my existing booking, I had to call Jetstar customer service with a complaint.
I had already paid $19 Plus Bundle and $22 checked luggage. But I had to change my flight time, which the Plus Bundle allowed. Jetstar's site (and customer service) tried to charge me the new $35 Plus Bundle, giving me a total of 35kg checked luggage. Customer service eventually agreed that only fare difference was payable, and waived the need to pay for the new $35 Plus Bundle.

 

[Nick-]

Its just not friendly for business travellers. I regularly do same day return journeys Syd to Mel and would never now consider adding a Plus package. The points/sc were the main draw of the package previously and to be honest it was already ridiculous that Jetstar make customers pay more to offer recognition of customer loyalty. I mean why really do we need to pay for recognition???

This latest move means I won't be using jetstar at all for my commutes as I've a cheaper alternative in Tiger or for same price as fare with plus bundle I can now fly Virgin/Qantas. Just shows how out of touch Jetstar is with their customers once again.

 

[Pablo]

Just shows how out of touch Jetstar is with their customers once again.

You nailed it!!

So out of touch!

 

[ozbeachbabe]

I liked the fact I used to be able to select a bundle but have the option of travelling HLO which of course meant deselecting the 20kg baggage allowance they automatically selected for 'passenger convenience'.

Was contemplating JQ for a SYD/BNE trip as I need 5 more SC for Plat requal however a $69.00 fare becomes $104.00 if I want points & SC as I am forced to pay for 20 kg of checked luggage I don't need. Then if I pay by credit card there's another $8.50 service fee which makes the total cost $112.50 as you can no long avoid this fee by using the JQ mobile site. I haven't investigated whether you can still avoid this fee by purchasing a JQ voucher then redeeming against that.

Will just book a QF Red-e-deal fare as there are plenty of flights the day I want with $115.00 fares available so just purchased a $50.00 voucher to use in order to avoid the cc surcharge fee. At least flying SYD/BNE from T3 I'll be able to use the J Lounge which I wouldn't have bothered doing for a JQ T2 departure plus get a decent meal onboard if flight is during scheduled meal service times.

Note that if purchasing a QF voucher there is a time lag for it to be issue (just like for etickets for flights) so do the voucher ahead of time so you're ready to roll when you want to actually book your flights.

 

[laughinman1]

I know this is now obvious to most, but ozbeachbabe made me realise the main problem now: we can't fly light AND earn status credits anymore. Why would Jetstar market themselves more like Qantas (where checked luggage is included if you want to earn Qantas points and status credits). Might as well book Qantas ...

 

[Nick-]

It's just a total lack of appreciation for customer loyalty. If you don't appreciate your customers then they will shop elsewhere. For those tossing up between points and cost.. well Tiger will clearly be the winner here.

 

[Pablo]

I sent an email to JQ complaining about this and got this reply:

Thank you for contacting Jetstar. I'm sorry to hear that you are dissapointed about the changes on our Starter Plus Bundle.

On 16 July 2015 Jetstar changed the inclusions of our Plus Bundle product. If you make changes to your booking from this date you will be offered the opportunity to upgrade your package to include the new offerings (for a fee) or you can choose to keep your original Bundle. If you want to keep your original Plus Bundle inclusions you will need to make your changes through our Contact Centre.
Depending on which Jetstar Group airline you are travelling on and which route (domestic or international) our new Plus Bundles have different inclusions.

Passengers travelling on Plus Bundle fares within Australia will receive an Inflight Voucher, free standard seat selection and a 20kg checked baggage allowance. They will also earn Qantas Frequent Flyer points or a Jetstar Flight Rewards Voucher.

The fare rules of our Plus Bundle have not changed so if you would like to make changes to the time, date or name of your booking you won’t need to pay any change fees, only the difference between the cost of the flight you booked and the cost of the flight that you want to travel on. If you want to change the route you will need to upgrade your Plus Bundle to a Max Bundle and any changes to your booking must be made before airport check in for your flight opens. This type of fare is also non-refundable, so if you don’t travel and you don’t make changes you will unfortunately forfeit your fare.

I understand that you've found this new bundle more expensive and may not be suitable to you however this change was based on recently undertaken research on what customers value most in our Plus and Max Bundle products. These changes are applied so that we can keep our costs low and continue to offer our every day low fares to our customers.

While we generally find that our customers are happy with the new bundle, we’re always looking to improve - so we appreciate your comments. I’d like to assure you that I will be passing your feedback on to our senior management team in my reporting

Thank you again for following this up with us. I hope that inspite of this we can still welcome you on board a Jetstar flight soon

Yours sincerely,

Rubbish reply. I have a feeling we need to let them know the real consume

 

[whatmeworry]

It helps to complain to them on Facebook and Twitter. Eventually they will get the message, unless they are total morons.

 

[mannej]

I sent an email to JQ complaining about this and got this reply:



Rubbish reply. I have a feeling we need to let them know the real consume

Rubbish response? It actually seems as if it actually addresses the issue of your disappointment of the changes. There are many examples of much worse responses out there (and many from full service carriers).

Whilst you may be disappointed with the changes, I don't think an email complaint will lead to JQ backing down from the changes.

 

[N860CR]

Who'd have thought... Jetstar slowly approaching Qantas prices on otherwise Qantas specific routes. Or was that the plan all along?...

 

[Kefci2000]

It helps to complain to them on Facebook and Twitter. Eventually they will get the message, unless they are total morons.

When they changed CO limit from 10 to 7, I meantioned the comments from this forum to their CEO, who said really? We have had really positive feedback on Facebook - so I think you are right....

I can see a Facebook campaign being started!

 

[MH_fan]

I'll simply vote with my wallet. Jetstar now becomes the last choice. At least with Tiger, you're getting the cheapest fare and you know that SCs and lounge access are not part of the equation.

 

[Mattg]

What "customer feedback" is this based on? For me, this change will simply see my fly Jetstar less...

 

[medhead]

Interesting development. Dose anyone know how this impacts JQ flights booked from the QF website.

Here is an outline of what I mean for booking JQ flights via the 2 portals:

[TABLE="class: grid, width: 500, align: center"]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"]Pricing system[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Website[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Inclusions[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Luggage[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]SC/Points[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Approx Fare level[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"]Old[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]QF[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]nil[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]yes[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]yes[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]JQ base + luggage fee. or
about JQ base + plus pack+ a bit more[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"]Old[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]JQ[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]plus pack[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]no[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]yes[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]JQ base + plus pack,[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"]New[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]JQ[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]plus pack[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]yes[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]yes[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]JQ base + plus pack[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="align: center"]New[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]QF[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]nil[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]Yes[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]???[/TD]
[TD="align: center"]???[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

So what is the new pricing for booking JQ flight via the QF website now? Is it still a bit higher than booking via JQ website with a plus pack? If so then surely a non plus pack JQ fare purchased via the QF website should now include earning.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

I don't quite get the JQ response about having to add 20kg baggage into the plus bundle price in order to keep fares low for everyone. The whole point about the JQ LCC fare structure is to pay for only what you want or don't want versus an all-inclusive full service carrier price.

All I see happening is the airline getting less money as people travelling HLO won't bother with the plus bundle and instead just pay the $77.50 ($69.00 plus $8.50 cc fee) unless they've got a JQ Mastercard or use BPAY.

It's seems ridiculous to have to pay 50% more now on JQ when you're travelling HLO just because you want points & SC. People will either just go for the lowest fare and fly Tiger or maybe QF as I did in my case but there will be times when VA will be cheaper than QF so the QF Group misses out on the revenue altogether.

 

[kamchatsky]

This is more reason to move to VA. VA points/SCs are getting more and more valuable with EY and SQ being strong partners, not to mention low taxes and charges on awards.

Yes VA is not in Star Alliance or Skyteam but hey SQ/EY/NZ/DL/VX/HA/AB/VS/SA/MI is pretty impressive coverage IMO. It pretty much covers everywhere except South America.

Also with this, Tiger becomes real alternative for flying cheaply. I think their on-time performance has improved as well.

 

[medhead]

Exactly, they've crowed about having the best performance in people buying the add-ons, which is apparently highly beneficial for financial performance. Yet they now introduce a measure that is a disincentive to HLO travellers buying an add-on.

I don't quite get the JQ response about having to add 20kg baggage into the plus bundle price in order to keep fares low for everyone. The whole point about the JQ LCC fare structure is to pay for only what you want or don't want versus an all-inclusive full service carrier price.

All I see happening is the airline getting less money as people travelling HLO won't bother with the plus bundle and instead just pay the $77.50 ($69.00 plus $8.50 cc fee) unless they've got a JQ Mastercard or use BPAY.

It's seems ridiculous to have to pay 50% more now on JQ when you're travelling HLO just because you want points & SC. People will either just go for the lowest fare and fly Tiger or maybe QF as I did in my case but there will be times when VA will be cheaper than QF so the QF Group misses out on the revenue altogether.

 

[Aussie_flyer]

Yes I must say this trend is pointing me towards VA. Im absolutely furious that JQ think we want bags on 1 hour flights. I dont remember the last time I checked in a bag on a domestic flight! I do however want my loyalty to the Qantas group recognised!