More and more people are complaining about the boarding policy of Qantas subsidiary airline Jetstar.
Over the weekend several people who tried to get on a flight from Auckland to Wellington for the rugby test were turned away, despite them saying they were at the check-in counter on time.
Jetstar says it is strictly enforcing its 30-minute check-in time but some disgruntled passengers are saying the airline is overbooking flights.
We'd like to hear from people who have had experiences - good or bad - with Jetstar. Please add your comments below.
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Have just returned from a break away in Wgtn. Amazing prices, totally hassle free travel and both flights departed and arrived exactly on time. I cannot understand earlier publicity, other than to say that people need to turn up well before the flight closes! (We used electronic book in.) For sure, would happily fly again any time. Very professional staff and procedures. Great to see new competition benefitting travellers. Well done.
In my experience, in more cases then not pax turn up for their flights either too late or right on the time of closing of check in. Airlines DO pay out hugely for holding an aircraft even for a few mins. If the airline has a strict checkin policy then dont just borderline it or stick to it, turn up early for it especially if your fare was a great deal price wise. There are a lot of factors that come into it when opening a flight again for checking in one or two people.. Such as fuel loadings to get the aircraft safely off the ground to touchdown, weight of bags in each hold also need to be balanced carefully for safe operation, seat allocation for human weight balanced in the aircraft cabin for safe operation and then on top of all that... on time performance.. Something to think about next time you fly...
I flew with Jetstar from AKL/OOL and they were great. We did have slight delays both ways but it didnt bother me as I didnt have a deadline to meet, I was on holiday. The food was nice and I expected to pay a little more for snax as I paid $58 each way.. No complaints from me.. My 2 girlfriends flew with them as well and they had no complaints either... I have worked in the airline industry for many years and I have found these two rules pretty standard among them.. IF the delays/cancellations are due to weather the airline will not offer to pay for meals, beds, or ticket refunds.. If the delay/canx is due to the airlines service such as plane or engineering problems then its a different storey. You really have to look at the TYPE of ticket you are purchasing and the conditions that fare type comes with. Most people make the mistake of purchasing a cheap or budget fare then usually it is a use it or lose it fare. Thats the catch!
My wife has just flown Chc-Akl yesterday and returned today. Both flights left on time and arrived on time. Improved professional attitude - different to when she had flown with them a month ago. She did ensure that if there were delays she would have plenty of time to spare. I'm still to be convinced.
I booked a return flight for 4 from Wellington to Auckland in February, for travel on 24 July 2009. Due to a last minute change of plan (couldn't get a dog sitter)I called Jetstar to ask if my mother could go in my place. It would mean changing the first name only, as we have the same surname. I was told the cost to make the change would be $260! When I asked who I could appeal or complain to, I was told I would need to write a letter to Customer Relations in Christchurch. They would not give me a name, an email or a fax address, so my letter could be looked at before my flight. Jetstar had sent me several emails since I first booked my flights, changing the times of my flights and each time, I have agreed to these changes, for their convenience, at no cost to them! They have had my advance payment for 5 months. I am beyond angry and will NEVER, EVER fly with them again!
I was booked to travel on Jetstar from SYD to MEL two years ago. We were in the queue for checking in when they announced that the gates had closed. I could not believe it! We were on time, in the queue. They jsut didn't care. We ended up spending about $400.00 for the 3 of us to get on a Qantas flight. Never again. I could not believe that unhelpfulness and arrogant attitude.
I flew from WGTN to AKL Sat 27 June 8:45am. Flight was delayed 2.5 hours due to Fog. We made sure that we checked in online,the night before, just to make sure that we did not miss our 30 min check in time.(hand lugage only) We were lucky that we did not have to be in Auck till 3pm. Staff were friendly.
I flew with Jetstar from Melbourne to Sydney last year,& the check-in staff were absolutely brutal about checking the size & eight of my single normal sized piece of cabin baggage.They had a chizzling,mercenary attitude designed to penalize me for as many extra dollars as possible & I've vowed never to fly with them again.They just aren't worth it!Barry