Why fly Jetstar?

[dajop]

When Jetstar launched, air fares became almost as cheap as rail tickets and air travel was affordable to all. T

Not almost as cheap, but cheaper! A journey from Sydney to Melbourne is $91. You can get flights from Sydney to Melbourne (Avalon) for $35. So $35 for airfare, $17 for luggage, $22 for transfer from Avalon to city, $16 for transfer from city to SYD airport, that's $1 cheaper! Would be more except for the $40 in transfers.

 

[Bali Belly]

I have been on jet* numerous times it is Not my choice but QF does not fly to my destinations anymore i.e. different times etc. but with VA status match I guess I have been lucky in reality I would like to know where Qf will fly to as it seems the areas that I frequent have disappeared only to taken over by J*

 

[Cool Cat Phil]

As a self funded flyer, mainly to Europe and Asia, JETSTAR can be very useful. I have flown to SIN and PEK several times on JQ in Business Max. Main reason it is about half the price of QF business and you get ff points and SC as per QF. With the new "enhancement" it is in fact even better as you get the "old" SC without all the new levels. I have booked a return trip MEL to BKK in JQ Business Max and on with AY to HEL and LHR all in business for $1650 on JQ (QF $2800)and AY $2900. Gives me a total of 600 SC! QF in PE would be about $5500 and I certainly would not get that many SC in PE on QF.
JQ in business is not the same as QF international, (almost exactly the same as QF domestic business). But at roughly half price and full status credits it is worth it in my situation. The staff in the JQ business cabin are no where near as good as QF cabin staff, but they are helpful and try hard. I suppose you get what you pay for. I look forward to trying AY business, particularly, their new cabin.
It would not suit business travellers as it takes much longer than QF/EK MEL to LHR, so it is not for everyone, but can be a very good alternative.
Having said all this I don't fly JQ domestically.

I agree wholeheartedly with your thinking on flying to Europe with multiple Carriers & including JQ into the mix.

Makes a lot of sense to me as you avoid many of the higher taxes that are imposed on flights to Australia as the UK being the starting point of the journey.

The ridiculously high departure taxes of the UK are calculated on distance flown, so concluding your journey in somewhere like BKK, SIN or NRT, then continuing onto AUS with Jetstar can be a very attractive proposition in reducing the cost of the flights since much of the cost is taxes.

Besides the "Full Monty" of business max on JQ is very attractive from a Points & SC perspective & actually gets better come July 1st.

 

[dajop]

The ridiculously high departure taxes of the UK are calculated on distance flown, so concluding your journey in somewhere like BKK, SIN or NRT, then continuing onto AUS with Jetstar can be a very attractive proposition in reducing the cost of the flights since much of the cost is taxes.

Nope, doing this would be insignificant. SIN is in same zone as Australia, BKK & NRT are one zone less. Total saving in the UK departure taxes would be £11 in economy and £22 in business. From the UK far better to fly to first to somewhere like IST, MXP, BCN or ZRH, as the charge is minimal for short distances, and these countries only have small duties.

Note you can already do LCC's all the way to Europe, if that's your thing .... Take Jetstar to Bangkok then Norwegian to Europe.

 

[serfty]

...

When Jetstar launched, air fares became almost as cheap as rail tickets and air travel was affordable to all. There were no frills or luxury, just fast cheap transport to the most popular holiday destinations at a price families could afford.[/FONT][/COLOR]

...

No - fares were already cheap before Jetstar was launched.

Qantas formed JQ to combat those cheap fares

I still have archives with e-ticket receipts for Qantas MEL-SYD-MEL travel purchased in 2004 for $116 all up.

 

[Deleted member]

Flying like almost everything else is now defined by a price .
Most of us buy the weekly grocery run at Woolies and Coles.
I occasionally shop at high end high quality purveyors of fine veg,meat wine etc. but not often enough for these " boutique" shops to proliferate.
Joe public wants a cheap price to keep his overseas package holiday costs low. He will spend the real money on food and drink.
So IMHO it won't get better ( fewer lcc's) it will only get worse.

 

[lastrow]

Yes QF fares were cheap and this was whyJQ was introduced . Jetstar was set up with a cost structure much less than Qantas and therefore Jetstar was able to accomodate the low fares whilst still remaining viable. Qantas has always been hamstrung by its high cost structure

 

[nowmedia]

Unless its a cheap weekend getaway to Melbourne to drink litres of French in the Sydney J lounge I don't fly Jetstar. I get an exit row 99.9% of the time on QF and often with a shadow - all on the cheapest tix. Certainly don't get that on Jetstar. All that aside Jetstar Japan was quite good late last year for trips where the Shinkasen wasn't viable.

 

[boomy]

Unless its a cheap weekend getaway to Melbourne to drink litres of French in the Sydney J lounge I don't fly Jetstar. I get an exit row 99.9% of the time on QF and often with a shadow - all on the cheapest tix. Certainly don't get that on Jetstar. All that aside Jetstar Japan was quite good late last year for trips where the Shinkasen wasn't viable.

Which French is served in SYD J lounge?
If you want to get an exit row on JQ then all you need to do is ask for it in the J lounge.
I try not to fly JQ too often but when I do, I usually manage to get an exit row seat.

 

[JohnK]

Qantas has always been hamstrung by its high cost structure

Where are the high costs? Senior management and executives?

I thought with outsourcing costs should decrease.

 

[nowmedia]

*SYD F lounge

 

[Simo]

I try and avoid JQ but due to timing it is needed.

 

[kpc]

Jq is the 3rd most frequent airline I fly after Qf and Sq. Can't beat $69 fares from Syd to Lst / Hbr for weekends away...and of course $37 Jq35 fares

 

[burmans]

Jq is the 3rd most frequent airline I fly after Qf and Sq. Can't beat $69 fares from Syd to Lst / Hbr for weekends away...and of course $37 Jq35 fares

Well some on this forum would/have claimed that JQ is not cheaper but it's certainly my experience that they are.

 

[scotus]

I have not been a big fan of Jetstar in the past finding them uncompromising, inflexible and generally poor on the service front, their seats are very cramped also, I generally fly them if no other option. I flew JQ11 Gold Coast to Narita Tokyo on 10 April 2014 as this was the only direct option available. The fair was very good and my wife and I opted for Business Class one way at $700. We were very pleasantly surprised, the service was excellent, the meals were good, the seats were large and comfortable. Overall it was one of the best flights we have taken in a long time. Credit where due, I will fly Jetstar international Business again. Hope this is useful to anyone considering Jetstar international.

 

[lastrow]

We recently flew Honolulu to Sydney in Jetstar business class and the seats, meals and service were all as you say. Very enjoyable for a ten hour all daylight flight.

 

[mannej]

I have not been a big fan of Jetstar in the past finding them uncompromising, inflexible and generally poor on the service front, their seats are very cramped also, I generally fly them if no other option. I flew JQ11 Gold Coast to Narita Tokyo on 10 April 2014 as this was the only direct option available. The fair was very good and my wife and I opted for Business Class one way at $700. We were very pleasantly surprised, the service was excellent, the meals were good, the seats were large and comfortable. Overall it was one of the best flights we have taken in a long time. Credit where due, I will fly Jetstar international Business again. Hope this is useful to anyone considering Jetstar international.

The 330 product is currently what the QF domestic product was on the 330's a couple of years back. However, the A320's are quite cramped.

 

[Awesom Andy]

However, the A320's are quite cramped.

The seat is actually slightly wider than the QF 737. Either way, it works well enough for a short hop. The other week, I was on JQ116/117 SIN-DPS and back for $102 SGD including the plus bundle (pricing error), and for that price, I definitely wouldn't mind doing it again (although I doubt I would see that again).

 

[mannej]

The seat is actually slightly wider than the QF 737. Either way, it works well enough for a short hop. The other week, I was on JQ116/117 SIN-DPS and back for $102 SGD including the plus bundle (pricing error), and for that price, I definitely wouldn't mind doing it again (although I doubt I would see that again).

What about the pitch?

 

[TomVexille]

What about the pitch?

I personally found the pitch was not acceptable for MEL-CHC. On 3K SGN-SIN was okay because the flight time was only 1:20, but that's about my limit.