Jetstar done it again

[flightnse]

Rugby fans furious at being left stranded by Jetstar NZPA
June 21, 2009, 8:20 am

After a rough first week's operation, budget airline Jetstar is now under fire for leaving All Black rugby fans stranded in Auckland last night.

At least 10 people with tickets for the second test against France -- and the Jetstar flight to get there -- say they were left behind when the Qantas subsidiary closed its gates half an hour before the 3.40pm takeoff time for its final flight of the day to the capital.

"We got to the counter and were told we weren't able to board," John Cole told the Sunday Herald.

Cole, who was travelling to the rugby with his wife and daughter, said conversations with Jetstar managers proved fruitless, so the family shelled out an extra $180 each for Pacific Blue tickets to ensure they made the match.

Another passenger, who didn't want to be named, said he was standing in line when staff closed the counter. He also booked a ticket with Pacific Blue.

"They took too long to check everyone in. Next thing you know they announced that the next passenger would be the last. It wasn't just poor service, there was no service."

DJ Kris Hyman and his friends Michael Earley and Rhys Grosvenor were booked to play music and provide visuals at a gig for about 800 people in Wellington.

"We were in the line before boarding time," Mr Grosvenor said.

The friends missed the gig because other flights were full with rugby fans and Mr Earley plans to contact the Commerce Commission tomorrow.

Jetstar corporate communications manager Simone Pregellio said a service announcement was made saying the flight was due to close and no passengers made themselves known.

"A small group of passengers arrived 22 minutes late... eight minutes before the flight was due to depart. It was far too late to allow people to board," she said.

Mr Cole said the response was "a blatant lie. My wife heard the announcement but was already standing in the queue."

Jetstar began flying between Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Queenstown last week, replacing Qantas on the routes.

Half of the domestic services departed more than an hour late in the difficult first week.

The airline had rejigged its schedule from June 24 to improve its on-time performance.

[d3fai13r]

QUOTE (flightnse @ Jun 21 2009, 11:30 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The airline had rejigged its schedule from June 24 to improve its on-time performance.

For the third time in my life, i realise that LCC is good only on launch sale&if you are planning your travels years ahead. This JQ changed schedule, and noticed me yesterday(i have flight on 24June), and i bought "checked in" baggage specially to take my tripod with me(to take photos in CHC after sunset), so i was departing 8pm, they moved it to 6:30pm... thank you guys.. good bye... Have had similar problems with not LCC-they were giving me free change of flight in similar cases(i was paying only difference in fares, no change fee).
And all this phrases "NZ have choise"etc(inc. DJ(PB) slogans about new TT routes)-are just nice words, nothing else.
Return old, on-time, Qantas, rather then this [censored]

[larral1123]

Not a good start Aye

[benwynn]

Dont get me started on JQ. Im sure it will all be fine in a few months, but for gods sake J*, do some research before you start ops!

Me and my mother are coming to New Zealand in early July. Anyway, long story short, we we're booked on JQ to fly CHC-AKL before connecting to an international flight to SYD. Now, just the other day I received an email, telling me JQ were changing the schedule, by not 20 or 30 minutes, but 2 hours and 20 minutes!

So anyway, due to the lack of availability on other airlines at comparable prices, we had to change to an earlier JQ flight, and we now have around 5-6 hours to kill at Auckland.

[NZ255]

QUOTE (benwynn @ Jun 21 2009, 12:55 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

and we now have around 5-6 hours to kill at Auckland.

I've done 9 hours

[benwynn]

That certainly is a long stretch Nick! I've done 5 before, but thats me, not sure how my non-aircraft/anything aviation related interested mother will go.

[NZ255]

Heck...even I was bored!

[FJFlyer]

To be honest I wouldn't be surprised if Jetstar pulls out of the NZ market within a year, especially at the rate they're going now.

[Rebound]

The biggest mistake was Qantas pulling out and launching Jetstar. No doubt more business travellers will head Air NZ's way where the money is anyway. Air NZ Must be loving it

[benwynn]

I think the plan was to be a similar situation with Virgin Blue/Pacific Blue, ie Flying on Jetstar from WLG-AKL then to SYD all on one itinerary. They wont pull out of the trans-tasmans anytime soon, and I doubt the domestic market either as I dont think Jetconnect will be willing to place 737-800s on domestic NZ routes.

[victor_alpha_charlie]

I don't see why they're complaining to be honest. Why not turn up an hour before just to make sure? If you plan to be checking in 35 mins before departure then you run the risk of missing out... It happens. If they want service they should be paying extra and flying ANZ...

[towerguy]

J* might not PULL out of the domestic market

BUT

at this rate they stand a damn good chance of being THROWN out!

[deaneb]

QUOTE (victor_alpha_charlie @ Jun 21 2009, 06:34 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't see why they're complaining to be honest. Why not turn up an hour before just to make sure? If you plan to be checking in 35 mins before departure then you run the risk of missing out... It happens. If they want service they should be paying extra and flying ANZ...

I disagree - if you have to be there 30 mins before the flight and you are in the que, then you are there! How can anybody second guess the time it takes for them to process the peple arriving. 30 minutes from flight departure they should stop people from joining the end of the que, not the next person in line !!

[d3fai13r]

Pity that JQ starts to be like RyanAir((( 30 minutes for check-in, 45 for bagdrop.... QF a was coming usually 20-25minutes before departure and no problem... more on Wednesday

[d3fai13r]

ok... have just flown 2 flights with JQ. Before flight they changed timetable and called me(3 times, 2 previous i just haven't heard the phone), then send 2 emails and 2txts, and on each one it was an advise to arrive to airport 1hour before dep.time, but not less then 45min. Also they have announcements in the airport about when check-in closes etc. So probably thats not their mistake that people missed the check-in time(i was looking for time spend in queue for morning flights(CHC 6:40 and WLG at 7:...), maximum time was like 5-6 minutes... so if you will arrive at least 40 minutes, you won't have any problem(for 1 morning flight they closed check-in 30min.before departure, but from CHC 25min(as aircraft arrive at gate)).
PS all this story about Air NZ&Jet*(50nzd discount etc), just dropped reputation of Air NZ from high to zero(for me!). Hate when airlines(and companies in general) uses someones name to make add for themselves(that's why i hate Branson and all that's related to Virgin)

[greaneyr]

It's pretty obvious the media wants them to fail (they want everything to fail), so they're doing what they can to make sure we notice areas that some customers have become disappointed over. How many satisfied passengers have they already transported around the country that we haven't heard from? All a storm in a teacup if you ask me.

[creator2003]

I tend to agree with you greaneyr,its all a bit pick on the new guys even AIRNZ is making themselfs out to be the good guys in all this helping passages to get places with discounts ,where were the discounts or even the service from AIRNZ when they were closing down our airports routes and so on ,jetstar is doing fine and making alot of travel possible for us now them and pacific blue ofcourse and the real news is
headlines

"airnz jump on band wagon and only now offer cheaper fares for New Zealander ",
"ozzys set the standards of cheap airfares and travel ...where the hell is AIRNZ??"
"AirNZ digs deep to bail out jetstars travellers " wow was that a discount i hear

the list goes on

[HardCorePawn]

Sorry Mike, going to have to play devils advocate here for a minute....

DISCLAIMER: My wife works for AirNZ... so I'm probably a bit biased

What you have to remember is that AirNZ is a "Full Service" airline... where-as Jetstar is a "Lost Cost Carrier" aka LCC. There is a reason why Jetstar offer lower fares than AirNZ.

Do Jetstar offer any sort of inflight service that doesn't involve you having to get your wallet out? "There is a water fountain in the economy class cabin with cups." "On domestic services in Australia and New Zealand and services to and from New Zealand, passengers who would like a drink or snack in-flight can purchase refreshments on board. Our selection includes fresh sandwiches, snacks, confectionery, soft drinks, fruit juices, beer, wine and spirits. Tea and coffee can also be purchased." If you're interested you can see the pricelist here

Do Jetstar give you any sort of free baggage allowance on these low fares? (The answer is no... its $40 booked online/phone, $80 at the airport for 20kgs on a Jetsaver Lite fare)... Granted you get 20kg free on a Jetsaver or JetFlex fare... but are these the $19 fares that people are raving about?? I don't think so... You also pay $10/kg if you are over your limits...

Have any of the people complaining that they are being forced to pay extra to change/rebook their flights actually bothered to check the terms and conditions on their low cost fares? I think it is time people started taking some responsibility for the situations they find themselves in... Jetstar haven't hidden anything from anyone, they are quite honest and open about their terms and conditions... and have been quite upfront about the 30minute cutoff before they even started operations...

So how are those "low fares" starting to stack up now??

There is a reason that AirNZ refused to sign a delay/disrupt agreement with Jetstar... who then kicked up a huge stink crying "But you had one with Qantas!"... yeah? Qantas also had similar full service facilities and a reasonably similiar (and stable) schedule... What benefit does AirNZ get from signing up to an agreement with an airline that doesnt fly as often and doesnt supply the same product?? I'll give you a hint, its somewhere between zero and none.

Try comparing Apples with Apples guys...


As I mentioned earlier, my wife works for AirNZ and we get cheap travel with them... However, if she wasnt there, I'd definitely consider Jetstar as a viable travel option... I'd just use a little bit of common sense and check all the terms and conditions... show up well before the 30 minute cutoff... and make sure I add up all the little 'extra's like baggage etc when determining who is actually cheaper!

[d3fai13r]

ok... ill try to write my opinion and calcs about travelling around NZ(sorry if my English is not very good).
Starts with period of preDJ... AKL-WLG-AKL for 240NZD rt QF+NZ(3 weeks ahead).
PreJet*-AKL-CHC-WLG-AKL(QF-DJ-DJ) 200nzd(also something like 2.5-3 weaks ahead)+free upgrade to business on QF.
Jet* 3 weeks ahead-AKL-CHC-AKL with baggage-102nzd+12 dollars in flight for tea and muffin/cookie(like air nz)=114nzd+advantage of JQ-you can choose seat during the booking(no need to checkin online or run to airport to get better seat).
Now looking on wednesday(usually the cheapest day of the week) 15 and 22 july on all three carriers, routes AKL-WLG/CHC-AKL morning departure(6-10am) and evening(6-10pm) return same day.

15July WLG:
JQ 124NZD(inc taxes, baggage and coffee+muffin on both flights)-no addons price is 92nzd
NZ 178NZD
DJ 118nzd+have not found if they charge you for domestic flights(2-4 dollars for credit card payment)-no addons -$90

22July WLG:
JQ 114NZD(inc everything)-$82 no addons
NZ 98NZD
DJ 148nzd(if no credit card charge)-120nzd no addons

Now Christchurch

15July:
JQ $124, price without addons-$92
NZ 178nzd
DJ 268nzd-240nzd no addons

22July:
JQ $144inc everything, $112 no addons
NZ $178
DJ $163, no addons $135

IMPORTANT: all charges are online(in the airport baggage for JQ/DJ costs more), bookings made through website, and assuming that you don't have excess baggage(20kg for JQ/23 for DJ)

Thats not really representative, because this everything is subject to availability etc, but the general idea is you need check each airline to found the best price. Hovewer do not forget that JQ now have low fare finder+price beat.
No point to look on ZQN prices because they are just crazy, its sometimes cheaper to fly Aussie than ZQN.
Conclusion is... yes competition made fares lower, but once you traveling not in triangle AKL-WLG-CHC, then good bye all low fares, low costs etc.
PS nice calculator about LCC charges(actually more about FR) http://www.britishairways.com/travel/value...or/public/en_gb

[creator2003]

Yeah i see ya point but i still think that this has filled the gaps that airnz have been pulling ie.. close to home "Hamilton Airport " they could have pulled the lavy fixtures and free bits to still supply the routes at least or some but instead just pull them altogether .
for whatever reasons i think this way ,im only looking at this all from a far and what i read and see into it ,
there are financial stuff behind all this and decisions i wouldnt be able to make ,
i just see how they now start + media to point out and pick on other airlines that they made room for ,doesnt really make much sence