Vietnam flights and Jetstar Pacific

[TimB]

Hi,

I'm taking a short holiday in Vietnam, and will need to book some flights within the country. (Flights to and from have already been booked.)

I've done some quick comparisons between Vietnam Airlines and Jetstar Pacific, and I'm tending towards the latter on the basis of price, with the difference being significant in some cases. But I've heard that Jetstar Pacific can be extremely unreliable at times, with flights delays of 8 hours not uncommon. While I don't have any tight connections to worry about, missing out on a day's sightseeing (on an 8 day trip) because of a delayed flight would be very annoying.

I haven't had any experience with Jetstar Pacific, and a quick search here didn't turn up much that was relevant in terms of discussions about them. Does anyone have experiences (good or bad), or suggestions of a general nature that might help me? As well as reliability, I'm interested in any booking issues, service quality and any problems, etc.

Thanks,

Tim.

 

[TomVexille]

I flew 3K SGN-SIN July last year. It was a basic no-frills experience. Had no issues booking through the JQ website. Departed only a couple minutes late and arrived early. Staff were friendly. For a hour and a half flight, I couldn't justify the extra $100 to fly SQ or VN.

 

[puppysparkes]

We did 4 flights with Jetstar Pacific in October 2013. All flights were uneventful. Keep your BP if your'e intending on claiming points as I haven't seen any points post for the eligible sectors flown[FONT=arial, sans-serif].[/FONT] Consider good travel insurance that covers all types of delays and loss of hotel deposits etc.

We loved Vietnam and we'll go again soon, enjoy the trip!

 

[TomVexille]

We did 4 flights with Jetstar Pacific in October 2013. All flights were uneventful. Keep your BP if your'e intending on claiming points as I haven't seen any points post for the eligible sectors flown. Consider good travel insurance that covers all types of delays and loss of hotel deposits etc.

We loved Vietnam and we'll go again soon, enjoy the trip!

Strange that your points haven't posted, mine did within a few days.

I also loved Vietnam, wasn't there nearly long enough. Just need to find the time to properly explore the country.

 

[smit0847]

I flew Jetstar Pacific SGN-DAD//DAD-HAN a few years ago. My experience:

Booked the flights 2 days before the trip - prices didn't seem to differ much.
Delays seem to be the norm, not the exception - no explanation of apology provided.
Safety standards very, very low in comparison to Australian airlines, but it was more amusing than scary.
Onboard offering and experience (except safety standard) very similar to JQd AU. If you want a cultural experience fly VN instead.
Flight extremely lightly loaded (20%) - not surprised they are not making any money.
Despite Vietnam being a rapidly growing and progressing economy flying is still very much a novelty and a formal occasion for the locals so they dress very formally (full suit) even though its an LCC.
Multiple flights in the old DAD airport boarded the same gate at the same time which led to mass confusion.

 

[TimB]

I flew 3K SGN-SIN July last year.

I had to double-check because I wasn't sure myself, but 3K is actually Jetstar Asia, the carrier based in Singapore, not Jetstar Pacific (code BL) based in Ho Chi Minh City. (Proliferation of Jetstars is confusing!)

 

[TomVexille]

I had to double-check because I wasn't sure myself, but 3K is actually Jetstar Asia, the carrier based in Singapore, not Jetstar Pacific (code BL) based in Ho Chi Minh City. (Proliferation of Jetstars is confusing!)

Oops, you would be correct.

 

[puppysparkes]

Strange that your points haven't posted, mine did within a few days.

I also loved Vietnam, wasn't there nearly long enough. Just need to find the time to properly explore the country.

I was unable to enter our FF numbers during the booking process. I used the live chat option to initiate my complaint and received a call back by someone who offered to enter them into the booking. My partner through out our BP's so I'll have to rely on the live chat print out.

 

[TomVexille]

I was unable to enter our FF numbers during the booking process. I used the live chat option to initiate my complaint and received a call back by someone who offered to enter them into the booking. My partner through out our BP's so I'll have to rely on the live chat print out.

Ouch, just another lesson as to why we need to keep BP's until flights post

 

[dajop]

Has the QF earning changed for Jetstar Pacific (BL)? I thought that it was the one member of the Jetstar franchise you can't earn QFF points on.

Edit: just checked QFF T&C, BL is not listed. That might explain why FF number can't be added and points aren't posting.

 

[puppysparkes]

We selected the jetstar frequent flyer and jetstar flight rewards voucher option. http://www.jetstar.com/vn/en/planning-and-booking/fares/fare-types