Price difference booking Jetstar flights on Qantas website

[Mattg]

I was just having a look at some flights on the Qantas website, and Jetstar of course appears as an option. But I can't help noticing that some of the Jetstar flights listed on the Qantas website are considerably more expensive than the same flights booked on the Jetstar website.

Take JQ500 (MEL-SYD) on 17 February 2021, for example. Booking on the Qantas website, a Jetstar Max ticket on this flight would cost $452.49.



But if you go to the Jetstar website, you can book a seat on this flight for $69 and add a Max Bundle for $85. Total cost is $154 and, as far as I can tell, this comes with exactly the same inclusions (1,200 points, 20 status credits, 30kg checked baggage, fee-free changes, etc.).



My question is - what, if anything, do you get for the extra $298.49 it costs to book on the Qantas website? I mean, it's almost three times the cost. Am I missing something, or is this a huge rip-off?

 

[henrus]

Am I missing something, or is this a huge rip-off?

Yes, it's a huge rip-off. You don't get anything more than booking on JQ although it is on 081 ticket stock.

They've listed Jetstar flights on the Qantas website for quite a while now however in the early days if you selected a trip with just Jetstar flights it would make you go and book on the Jetstar website instead. You didn't even get an option to continue at a more expensive price on Qantas' site.

The initial intention was that if you were flying at a route or a time that didn't have a QF service then you could book a single ticket that would include the JQ service. I've got no idea why they've since allowed people to book just JQ flights via QF although with more limited flights (and I'm talking before COVID on some routes where QF hand's the route to JQ) even businesses insisting on booking via the business portal or those with vouchers/Qantas credits makes sense to have these JQ flights come up.

So why is it much more expensive... Qantas doesn't have a direct link to Jetstar's booking system and instead books it like a normal travel agent. In the process, Qantas literally books via the GDS and because Jetstar only releases a limited number of tickets via the GDS in a small number of fare classes and overpriced fares, this is all Qantas has access to.

These are the economy classes Jetstar releases via the GDS, with Qantas only selling Starter and Starter Max fares.

For that particular date you're looking at try searching the ITA matrix, first with no conditions and you'll notice the prices for Jetstar services about match (give or take a few dollars) the prices you see on the Qantas website for the Jetstar starter fares (and notice the ITA should show a fare class of either H or K). If you repeat but this time book starter max in either T, V or Y you'll notice the fares again give or take a few dollars match the Jetstar Starter Max fares on Qantas.

Yes, they could probably spend a lot of money creating a link between Jetstar's Navitaire and Qantas' Amadeus booking systems although as the current system works, if it ain't broke don't fix it! Especially in these COVID times when a link between the two would probably cost a lot of $$$ that QF really doesn't need to spend. Some travel agents like websites (eg. flight centre) have been able to do this but they do issue tickets directly onto JQ instead.

At the end of the day, Qantas probably should bring back the warning message telling people that it may be cheaper on Jestar's website but also they're a business and you don't have businesses like Liquorland telling you that the same product is cheaper down the road at First Choice (even though they're owned by the same company), it's up to the buyer to figure that out.

 

[eastwest101]

Yes as henrus says its probably about the fare class, and with Covid-19 cutting down the number of flights in total, it means that often a mixed QF/JQ itinerary might be the only way to achieve a sale for particular city pairs.

In this case we are talking about MEL-SYD though, so I expect the fare difference is all about the different customer experiences in the case that JQ did decide to cancel JQ500 on that day.

Someone booked with a Qantas ticket on the Qantas site might expect to be notified and re-booked onto an earlier or later QF flight and get to where they want to be on the same day, wheras someone who booked a Jetstar ticket will be waiting in a phone queue for a JQ flight voucher and waiting weeks/months for a refund.

So the fare difference is the Qantas group yield managers saying that its possible that flight might be cancelled and you can guarantee travel on that day by paying an extra $298, which co-incidently would be similar to the last minute walk up fare on a Qantas flight on that day (or a few days before).

 

[henrus]

Someone booked with a Qantas ticket on the Qantas site might expect to be notified and re-booked onto an earlier or later QF flight and get to where they want to be on the same day, wheras someone who booked a Jetstar ticket will be waiting in a phone queue for a JQ flight voucher and waiting weeks/months for a refund.

Whilst one may expect this, unfortunately, that sort of rebooking doesn't seem to be the case. Jetstar has had two-strike actions over the last few years, first a pilot strike in December 2019 and then a more general strike in February 2020. In both cases, Qantas published policies covering these strikes here and here with none of the rebooking options allowing those with JQ flights on 081 tickets to be rebooked on QF. Instead, rebooking had to occur on JQ, receive a Qantas credit, or a refund. These options matched Jetstar's (except you received a JQ credit instead of QF one) which means there was no real advantage to hold a 081 ticket on JQ over someone just holding a booking direct with JQ.

 

[dylarr]

wheras someone who booked a Jetstar ticket will be waiting in a phone queue for a JQ flight voucher and waiting weeks/months for a refund.

Jetstar have actually been amazing to deal with for refunds of cancelled flights in comparison to Qantas during COVID. Their cancellation e-mail tells you to go on the chat and say "Network Adjustments" for a refund. When you do this, a simple form pops up and the money is refunded within a week. No need to even speak to anyone, unlike Qantas who actually removed the refund option from their website as COVID started to rip so you are forced to call them and wait in the queue, then wait another 10 weeks for your refund.

There's absolutely no upside to purchasing standalone Jetstar flights from qantas.com unless it's a Classic Flight Reward. You are just throwing money into the bin.

 

[Ade]

Am I missing something, or is this a huge rip-off?

It's mostly a rip-off. However, in my experience booking JQ flights on QF website - the only good thing that I ever experienced was that the ticket is issued by QF, so they are the ones you talk to if you need to change or if your flight is cancelled. Given one's status with QF, the access to platinum/premium customer care and being able to get through to a human being fairly quickly has helped before ...

For instance, when it was storm in SYD, flying JQ on a ticked booked on QF website - helped immensely as QF premium cc moved me to a different flights etc. Same case during CoVID - unexpected MEL lockdown - cancel tickets - much easier talking to QF customer service than JQ customer service

 

[Rich]

Not that it is worth it, but interesting the starter fare on Qantas includes checked luggage, whereas it doesn't when going direct with Jetstar.

 

[Ade]

Not that it is worth it, but interesting the starter fare on Qantas includes checked luggage, whereas it doesn't when going direct with Jetstar.

Yea, that's true. When booking as a QFF on QF website for a JQ seat, bags are included based on the QFF level

 

[Mattg]

Not that it is worth it, but interesting the starter fare on Qantas includes checked luggage, whereas it doesn't when going direct with Jetstar.

That's true, although you could book a Starter fare with a Plus Bundle on the Jetstar website for $17 less, and this also comes with checked luggage... as well as points and status credits.

 

[justinbrett]

It used to be if you wanted a max fare, you had to pay the full Y fare which was roughly the same on both QF and JQ's websites.

Now JQ will let you pay for a max bundle - which is a fixed price on a given route ($85 for short routes), combined with ANY fare. So if you get a sale fare or even a very cheap normal fare, you can walk away with a fully flex Y ticket for less than $150. And that's with full Y SCs earnt.

It's a good deal if you are chasing SCs. I imagine this scenario is too flexible for the legacy system used by Qantas. I never book JQ flights on Qantas unless it's a codeshare connecting to an international flight (eg I have flown NTL-MEL-LAX).

 

[davestan]

I also noticed that if you book on the Jetstar site and elect to pay with Qantas points, the same flight requires less points than booking a Classic Reward flight on the Qantas site.

 

[PERLHR]

If ticketed by JQ and not QF do status pax also get lounge access? Do they also collect points on QF FF.?

 

[AIRwin]

If ticketed by JQ and not QF do status pax also get lounge access?

Yes but QF lounge is in a different terminal at MEL and SYD

Do they also collect points on QF FF.?

Only with a bundle

 

[P001P001]

Also noticed that for multi-leg flight searches you are not able to completely filter out non Qantas-only flights in the search results. If Jetstar fly any one of the legs, and Qantas fly the other then Jetstar will appear in the results. A further trap if you're not carefull.

I actually gave up and went back to Virgin for ease of price comparison and booking process.

 

[nfw]

Boy things must be slow to dead; this is such old news. The only time it has worked to my benefit is when I booked JetStar Japan and received all the "upgrades" for the same points price as a starter seat and fare. Was odd but I took it and flew.

 

[SOPOOR]

I must be the only one in the world, but ive had phenenomal service from jetstar overall

- once I had my flight delayed by 4-5 hours, they paid for another nights hotel (only after I asked for it)
- once family member had their flight delayed by 24 hours and from a different city, jetstar paid for hotels/food/travel costs

the only bad exeperince I had was when I was dealing with philipino call centre and I was price matching a return flight, and the guy decides to book me a one way flight, and then says "did you want to book a return flight? now I can book your return flight for you, oops sorry the return flights are double the price, sorry flights arent refundable"

wrote a scathing complaint to jetstar Aus, they apologised, refunded the fare, and gave me a $50 credit

 

[DavidS1]

Thanks for the "heads up". Here is my complaint to Qantas today:

We have been robbed/scammed booking through Qantas.com

My wife and I are Qantas Gold customers and searched for flights from Adelaide to Darwin on 15 September 2021. The site included Jetstar flight JQ81 which suited our timing and so we booked online. The cost was $512.38 and, as your confirmation indicates that no hold luggage is included (it actually says 0 x 20kg), we paid Jetstar an additional $64.63 for 20kg each and a further $30.30 for upfront seats - so, in total, $587.31.

Having been alerted by Australian Frequent Flyer to huge discrepancies in charging between Qantas.com and Jetstar's on website, I checked the same flights there today. So, I can book the same flights with 20kg hold luggage, upfront seats ( + a meal and 1,450 Qantas points, neither of which is included in the current booking) for the two of us at a price of $370.

So that's a mark up of $217.31 - almost 60% - for fewer inclusions!

Is this how Qantas treats its loyal customers and specifically those using Qantas.com as a first point of access? We are appalled by this treatment and ask that you remedy this daylight robbery as a matter of urgency.

 

[zenyattamondatta]

Here is my complaint to Qantas today:

We have been robbed/scammed booking through Qantas.com

Not a good start.

 

[Seat0B]

Thanks for the "heads up". Here is my complaint to Qantas today:

Let us know how this resolves please?

 

[henrus]

Is this how Qantas treats its loyal customers and specifically those using Qantas.com as a first point of access? We are appalled by this treatment and ask that you remedy this daylight robbery as a matter of urgency.

So I guess you'd be even more appalled to find out that Qantas prices can go up or down depending on if you're logged in:

Higher price when logged into Qantas FF account

Today was making a return domestic booking and noticed my prices quoted were up to double when logged into my frequent flyer account. Using a private browser or a cleared cache brought the prices back down again. I wonder how many times I have paid a higher rate without noticing this thinking...

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

I'll refer to my case of beer example... If I buy a case of beer at Liquorland for $45 but then down the road at First Choice the same case is $40, it's up to me as the consumer to hunt around for the best price. No sane person would expect the Liquorland staff member to tell me that it's cheaper down the road because that's just how businesses work.

Would they be more likely to tell me it's cheaper down the road if I'm loyal? The answer is probably not and in this day and age, those who think "loyalty" still applies are just being suckers (I could spend all day going on about how loyalty programs are just giant data collection exercises but I'll restrain myself for now).

These days the QF loyalty program is less about loyalty and more about business, it's now a moneymaker (even more so in these COVID times), and whilst we don't have the full 2020 picture, the Qantas 2020 annual report shows just how important the loyalty cash cow really is:

Qantas Domestic	Qantas International	Jetstar	Qantas Loyalty