The Case for Budget Airlines 1: JetStar

In a short while, I will be flying JetStar to (and from) Auckland. As the date approaches, I reflect on the various terms and conditions of my ticket, of the process of buying said ticket, and of previous JetStar experiences.

I have not had that many, truth be told; only twice before this one, actually.

I have flown JetStar once in Australia a few years ago, from the northern airport of Darwin down to Adelaide. The ticket price was quite cheap, on special then (at a price which still compares favourably with the prices advertised now), with checked bags (well, I assume 1 bag, but I didn't have 2 to test these sometimes controversial waters) included. The flight left at around 2.00am, with Darwin airport doubling for an evil Purgatory (or a mild form of Hell) during the hours spent waiting from the arrival of the last bus from the city centre until the time we could actually board the plane. The ticket was akin to an EFTPOS receipt (not touristy enough for my liking), though the check-in was efficient. Once on the plane, there was no need for inflight service or entertainment as the 6 hour flight was at the perfect time to get a good sleep, and the flight arrived in Adelaide more or less when JetStar said it would.

My second experience with JetStar was a lot shorter, in flight terms, though not in aggravation. While I was in South America last year, JetStar took over from Qantas flying domestically in New Zealand. My return ticket from Auckland to Wellington was carefully arranged so that there would be no problem with my connection from LAN Chile with two checked bags - I even had a second "special" ticket purely for the sake of the JetStar people. According to Qantas, I was booked on that flight. I knew this (and you knew this was coming) because I had to call Qantas when JetStar told me that they had no indication that I had ever been booked on the flight. JetStar may be a Qantas subsidiary, but the word of the parent bore no weight with the offspring, and so I was told I would need to buy a new ticket - but not for the flight I was expecting to take, as that was full. I was told that I could buy a ticket for the next flight, meaning that I would need to wait about 8 hours for the 2.00pm flight to Wellington. As I had arrived in Auckland at 3.00am, this option held little appeal. So I forewent JetStar on that occasion, and got myself a $400 one-way ticket to Wellington on Air NZ, the cost of which was later reimbursed by an apologetic Flight Centre.

And so, now we come to my upcoming trip. I bought some cheap tickets to Auckland a few months ago, wary of the limitations of the different fare classes. For example, I knew JetSaver Light looked the cheapest, but that was because it came with no checked luggage, and if one was unfortunate enough to want to take luggage, one would be hit with an additional one-way cost probably more than price of the entire original return tickets. Armed with this knowledge, I went through the process knowing I would take only a bit of hand luggage for my overnight stay, and proceeded through the screens expecting that I had things well sussed.

I was therefore a little bit surprised when I came to the "where do you want to sit?" screen. Some people do have preferences when it comes to seating, so I thought it was a nice thought to have this option there, but, for an hour long flight, it didn't really bother me. So, I thought I would just leave that alone and let them place me wherever they liked. But I couldn't. The screen would not allow me to continue without having first selected a seat for each journey. And then I saw why - there was a "seat reservation" fee, on top of the price of the tickets. I am not altogether sure how this works, as I imagined the ticket I was trying to purchase was for a seat on a plane, rather than, say, lying in the aisle or stowing myself away in the luggage compartment, but a nominal fee there was. So I selected some seats, and the fee was added to the price of my ticket. But now for the kicker: when I checked my ticket, the terms and conditions read, in effect, that I might not get my seat if JetStar decided otherwise. So, I read this turn of events this way: I have to pay to book seats which I might not actually get on the flight, should the computer say "no". Aha. Well, I will be keeping a mindful eye on which seats I eventually end up inhabiting, and may well ask for a refund for that portion of my fare should they not be the ones I actually requested. We shall see how that goes...

Verdict: JetStar does not have the best reputation in New Zealand, though I think that reputation is slowly getting better after its disastrous first few months of operation. I still get the impression that sometimes it is trying to pull a "fast one" on me, but we shall see how this next trip turns out. Stay tuned! Star rating - to be determined.