Jetstar or Virgin Blue

[echnidna]

Having just flown to Coolangatta by Virgin and returned by Jetstar I don't think I'll ever fly jetstar again , I reckon their service sucks.
What do you think?

[ozwinner]

For the extra coupla bucks, Ill stick with Qantas.


Al :)

[kiwigeo]

Qantas is an evil monopoly....go Virgin.

[echnidna]

Qantas is an evil monopoly....go Virgin.
All monopolies are evil :D :D

[bitingmidge]

All monopolies are evil :D :D

Why is there only one Monopolies Commission??

P
:confused: :confused: :confused:

[craigb]

I've not flown on either so can't vote.

Last domestic flight (to and from Melbourne) was Qantas.

It seemed o.k. but I wasn't paying. :rolleyes:

[Zed]

I played monopoly once and I can attest it wasnt evil.

[Daddles]

I'll type a reply to this thread when my arms recover from all that flapping

Richard
actually, haven't flown in four years, five if you only count the times I used an aeroplane

[bitingmidge]

Qantas is an evil monopoly....go Virgin.

How can Qantas be a monopoly when there are other airlines in the market?

P

:rolleyes: :confused: :rolleyes:

[Zed]

midge, your a bit of a political ratbag incha ? you sure your not one of the left wing pinko's looking for something to protest about ? what is it this week ? land rights for gay whales ? eh ????? :rolleyes:

[kiwigeo]

How can Qantas be a monopoly when there are other airlines in the market?

P

:rolleyes: :confused: :rolleyes:

Yes technically you have a point..perhaps I should have said a "government protected airline with an unfair advantage over its competitors".

Heres an example of what Im talking about...

A few years back I was working a job on an oil rig out on the north west shelf with the chopper support coming out of Karratha. With the current activity on the NW shelf as well as the huge numbers of tourists heading up that way there was an obvious need for the only major airline servicing the town to put on more flights. Our requests were ignored and we were eventually forced to fly our people in and out of Karatha using a WA based air charter service. What was the major airlines response to this.... they complained to a WA Member of Parliament that we were operating an air service in direct competition with them and we should be forced to go back to using their flights to move our people around.

[Grunt]

I tend to fly to Brisbane and Sydney for work at least mostly. I won't fly JetStar because they fly out of Avalon which is a bit too far from my place.

I went to Sydney a couple of months ago via Virgin and it worked fine. I wouldn't part with my hard earned to buy any drinks or food though. Only an hours flight anyway.

Last month I flew up to Brisbane with Qantas. I though ripper, get some free food and drinks. I did. A tiny unappetising muffin was the offering! Got a free juice I suppose.

For a 1 or 2 hour flight I don't give a toss who I fly with. Who ever is cheaper.

[Sturdee]

Why anyone would fly Jetstar is beyond my understanding. :confused:

You have to be there no later than 30 minutes before departure time. A friend of mine came 29 minutes before the scheduled departure time and was refused the flight and lost his money even though the plane took of 1 hour late because of a delay in Sydney. :mad:


Peter.

[Ashore]

Why anyone would fly Jetstar is beyond my understanding. :confused:

You have to be there no later than 30 minutes before departure time. A friend of mine came 29 minutes before the scheduled departure time and was refused the flight and lost his money even though the plane took of 1 hour late because of a delay in Sydney. :mad:


Peter. Case in tassi Hobart airport man in the cueue with 40 minutes by the time he reaches counter its less than 30 minutes refused flight lost money

Jetstar no way



The trouble with life is there's no background music.

[Schtoo]

Who is Jetstar? What do they look like?

If they are any worse than Virgin, I'll make sure I run, not walk, the other way.


I spose I should give Virgin their due. Only time I have flown them was Adelaide to Melbourne, and it was a bus but at least it was a clean bus.

This was after coming out of Kansai, via Singapore on Singapore Airlines. Hitting Adelaide and leaving on a bus, well, a bit of a come down is a bit of an understatement... ;)

I wouldn't fly Qantas again anyway. Last time I did, I paid nearly $2,000 to spend a broken 11 hours with my knees stuck in my ears on the oldest aircraft I have been on.

Code share pulls serious vacuum, especially when it costs that freakin' much. As a result, we try to avoid that mob on the likely chance we will get stuck on a JAL aircraft again.

If you gotta fly out, Singapore or Cathay are much better.

And on Singapore, you get more eye candy. ;)

[boban]

In the last 7 years I would say I've flown over 100 times to various destinations with a large variety of carriers, regional and the big boys. Honestly, they are much the same at the end of the day. I've had bad experiences but not many.

The best service I've had was in Qantas business class, but you pay for that. I've also had my worst experience with Qantas. Try cancelling your flight, changing your flight time and not informing you. That cost me over $300 and I got nothing but legal mumbo jumbo from customer service. These were $500 flights.

For a quarter of the price, I wouldn't complain too much about bad service. Remember you get nothing for nothing and sometimes nothing for something.

[floyd7]

Why anyone would fly Jetstar is beyond my understanding. :confused:

You have to be there no later than 30 minutes before departure time. A friend of mine came 29 minutes before the scheduled departure time and was refused the flight and lost his money even though the plane took of 1 hour late because of a delay in Sydney. :mad:


Peter.

So what is the problem?? Your friend must have been aware of the conditions when purchasing a ticket. Can you really blame the airline?

Used Jetstar this w/end adelaide - melb and back again and I couldn`t fault them

[Ashore]

So what is the problem?? Your friend must have been aware of the conditions when purchasing a ticket. Can you really blame the airline?

Used Jetstar this w/end adelaide - melb and back again and I couldn`t fault themWhat about the guy in tassi he was there on time but their staff couldn't get to him and he still lost out




The trouble with life is there's no background music.

[floyd7]

What about the guy in tassi he was there on time but their staff couldn't get to him and he still lost out


[/size]

Was he or was he not at the counter on time? Obviously not, but bought the ticket knowing the conditions. Don`t like the conditions, don`t buy the ticket!!

[bitingmidge]

In the last 7 years I would say I've flown over 100 times to various destinations with a large variety of carriers, regional and the big boys. Honestly, they are much the same at the end of the day. I've had bad experiences but not many.

For a quarter of the price, I wouldn't complain too much about bad service. Remember you get nothing for nothing and sometimes nothing for something.

I'm also a pretty heavy user of Aircraft of all sizes and brands.

On domestic routes, particularly if one is doing the business hour thing, it is surprising how often Qantas is the same price or even the cheapest alternative.

Jetstar is an airline of last resort for me for three reasons only:
1) I don't fit. The seats are spaced at exactly the same dimension as my upper leg, so if there were no backrest on the seat in front I'd be right.

2) I often fly into airports 10 or 15 minutes between scheduled departing times, with my Qantas boarding card tucked safely in my pocket. With Jetstar I'd lose 45min twice in a day!

3) Orange uniforms are not pretty.

Virgin is just another airline, there's no reason for me to dislike it, I've had no unhappy circumstances, but if I'm going to pay $5.00 for a cup of coffee then it's not going to be Nescafe! :eek:

Finally Qantas: just another airline, occasionally one gets a whiff of great service, only to be dashed against the rocks next time one travels. With serious airmiles, a special (metallic coloured :o ) frequent flyer card and life membership of "the Club" one can't expect too much can one!

Cheers,

P

[Gingermick]

I missed a flight coming out of Brisbane once as some nut was on the story bridge pouring acid onto cars (Police stopped traffic after a bit and traffic was backed up to the PA Horsepiddle) I told all this to the girl at the Virgin Blue counter and she transferred the value of the flight onto the next available. I had to pay the difference but was very happy that they didn't make me forfeit my flight.

[Dean]

I can nearly always find Qantas tickets for under $10 more than Virgin Blue on most major routes. I'm happy to spend that little extra for some inflight entertainment, free newspaper and a snack, plus proven Q safety record.

Last time I flew Virgin Blue I sat there bored for 2 hours, and that was after reading the dull in-flight magazine about holiday destinations no non-billionaire could afford :)

Yet to try Jetstar, but probably will not after reading the other posts here :)

[echnidna]

Was he or was he not at the counter on time? Obviously not, but bought the ticket knowing the conditions. Don`t like the conditions, don`t buy the ticket!!

The bloke in tassie arrived early but got stuck in their queue and was refused service.

Sometimes unforeseen delays occur.

I got to coolangatta 3 minutes late (I would have been 10 minutes early except for unexpected delays on the freeway) and was refused service.
People in front of me were also refused service yet they must have only been a minute or so late.

However we could have still comfortably reached the boarding gate within their specified time.

Then we got slugged an extra $100.

(Virgin doesn't rip off like this)

AT THE BOARDING GATE Jetstar passengers queue up in a compound like a herd of sheep 20 minutes before boarding so you stand around like a stale bottle of P*** because jetsar don't allocate seats.

Virgin allocates seats so you remain seated in the departure lounge until ready to board the plane.

Qantas sucks too - but after all they are jetstar anyway.
Their food is horrible.

ok sometimes you can get a qantas flight within $10 of virgin.
I'd rather travel virgin and spend the saving on virgins inflight food which is far better quality than qantas free food.

HOW MANY PEOPLE HERE VOTED QANTAS BUT HAVE NEVER FLOWN QANTAS?

[kiwigeo]

The best service I've had was in Qantas business class, but you pay for that. I've also had my worst experience with Qantas. Try cancelling your flight, changing your flight time and not informing you. That cost me over $300 and I got nothing but legal mumbo jumbo from customer service. These were $500 flights.



(rant mode ON)

Theres definitely a difference in the way they treat you if you fly business class but overall Qantas's business class is not worth the extra dollars.....I only go business if the client is paying for it or Ive just had 4 weeks on an oil rig and am very likely to morph into a pathological killer if subjected to 3 hours in Qantas economy class.

Qantas are useless at keeping passengers informed of flight changes..even if youre a Qantas Club member and have registered your mobile number for their (non-existant) SMS flight change message service. No they just merrily cancel your flgith and rebook you on a later flight and dont have the common courtesy to tell you. Oh the joys of spending an extra hour enjoying the sights of Adelaide airport.

Priority baggage...what a joke. Over a period of 8-9 years Ive only had my bags come off with the rest of the priority baggage on 3 occasions....the figure is accurate because I make a note in my diary every time I fly. Maybe not a big issue to most people but when youre on a tight schedule getting your bags off first does make a difference.

Customer service.....another joke. I dont bother ringing them up to complain anymore....all you get is excuses...no apology and no effort made to rectify the situation.

Try changing a booking more than once via Qantas's website....you sit there wondering why you keep getting thrown back to the entry page. You then ring up Qantas and report a problem with their website. They spend days trying to track down the problem. You then get told that internet bookings can only be changed once via the net. if you want to change them more than once you have to ring up the 1300 number and pay the normal booking change fee. Theres nothing at all on the website that explains this. I rang them up to suggest they add more info to their booking page but got some lame brain excuse as to why they couldnt.

(rant mode OFF)

[vsquizz]

A few years back I was working a job on an oil rig out on the north west shelf with the chopper support coming out of Karratha. With the current activity on the NW shelf as well as the huge numbers of tourists heading up that way there was an obvious need for the only major airline servicing the town to put on more flights. Our requests were ignored and we were eventually forced to fly our people in and out of Karatha using a WA based air charter service. What was the major airlines response to this.... they complained to a WA Member of Parliament that we were operating an air service in direct competition with them and we should be forced to go back to using their flights to move our people around.
Landed in either Pt Hedland or Karratha awhile back (both Qantas only) and as we taxied in the Hostie gave us the ususal spiel finished with "and thank you for flying with Qantas today". Plane was full of a crew change for one of the rigs and a voice from the back of the plane yells out "Like we have a bloody choice lady" which brought forth much chuckling and wry smiles.

Cheers...I voted Qantas for anything East West/Coast to Coast after hearing some horror stories about the other mobs.

[Sturdee]

So what is the problem?? Your friend must have been aware of the conditions when purchasing a ticket. Can you really blame the airline?

Used Jetstar this w/end adelaide - melb and back again and I couldn`t fault them


Wouldn't have been so bad if the plane left on time.

My friend was 1 minute late according to them and then the plane left 1 hour late :mad: , so he was actually there 89 minutes before departure rather than 29 minutes before departure. This doesn't happen with Virgin. :D

Thats why Jetstare sucks. :mad:

Peter.

[kiwigeo]

Plane was full of a crew change for one of the rigs and a voice from the back of the plane yells out "Like we have a bloody choice lady" which brought forth much chuckling and wry smiles.



Rig crews never in the best of moods when theyre heading out to the job....a different story when theyre heading home though. I actually feel sorry for the flight crews when they get landed with a plane load of rough necks straight off a rig.

I really cant think of an airline Ive really enjoyed flying with....with perhaps the exception of Singapore....and Air New Zealand before the Ansett debacle.

[vsquizz]

Theres definitely a difference in the way they treat you if you fly business class but overall Qantas's business class is not worth the extra dollars.....I only go business if the client is paying for it or Ive just had 4 weeks on an oil rig and am very likely to morph into a pathological killer if subjected to 3 hours in Qantas economy class.

Kiwi, I reckon BC is worth it for the leg room and comfortable seats and the service is a bonus...but I'm no midget.

A lot of Business people I know who fly much more than I do (now) have chucked in their Gold Wing memberships because they found the service at the airport was hardly better than cattle class.

Anyway, thats not what the thread was about but I think some of the smaller airlines get a really raw deal, not necassarily direct from the Gov or Qantas but from the airports corp/owners. Virgin Blue flight stopovers in Adelaide used to be a tin shed (ala Bombay) on the side of the runway.

sorry Mumbai;)

Glad I don't fly much anymore but have to burn my FF points before they go the way of Ansett and the Dodo. Mate of mine who I served in the Navy with always used to say "spent 10 years in the Navy with 9 of them on a RAAF Hercules". Hercules, now theres 1 st Class service for you!:rolleyes: :D they even issue you with your own ear plugs for free!. Beats the hell outa Seakings anyway:o .

Cheers

[vsquizz]

If you Google in au for "Jetstar Sucks" you'll find a few interesting sites including this one containing some rough language...BE WARNED:

http://forums.australianinfront.com.au/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=104710

Cheers

[bitingmidge]

A lot of Business people I know have chucked in their Gold Wing memberships because they found the service at the airport was hardly better than cattle class.

I thought they chucked it in because Ansett went broke???


P
:D :D :D

[echnidna]

While virgin doesn't have a business class you can prebook a seat with extra legroom at a small extra cost

[kiwigeo]

I thought they chucked it in because Ansett went broke???


P
:D :D :D

Still got my Ansett Golden Wing membership card.....cant seem to bring myself to chuck it away.

[Gingermick]

While virgin doesn't have a business class you can prebook a seat with extra legroom at a small extra cost
It always seemed to me that the later you bought your ticket the closer to the back and the less your leg room.
They divided the length of seats by the leg room required, giving the number of rows. They then put three extra rows in reducing the leg room by successively smaller amounts till they got to the first few rows.
Then they thought, "stuffit we'll get another 4 in, no one'll notice, let's do it all again"

[Iain]

RAAF Hercebirds aren't that great, we offered much better service on the Caribou's, movies, pretty hosties etc etc, I wish :rolleyes:
Want earplugs, try a B52 with JATO...

[vsquizz]

I thought they chucked it in because Ansett went broke???


P
:D :D :D
:confused: ahhh bugger ..Goldwing - Qantas Club...:o It can't say it was the same thing because if I remember correctly Ansett used to provide quite good service.

Iain - Pearce to Changi non-stop with a Hangover..:( and a Mickey Mouse pilot )opening the backdoor and flying along the Zytdorp cliffs at somewhat less than 500 feet.

Cheers

[kiwigeo]

How about someone starting an airline just for woodies....the planes would be fully fitted out flying workshops and instead of sitting in crappy old airline seats everyone would get a lovely hand crafted high back shaker chair to sit in.

[Iain]

Heres a nice trans atlantic starter, in flight movies optional

[Ashore]

Heres a nice trans atlantic starter, in flight movies optionalDS 2 isn't it




Russell



The trouble with life is there's no background music.

[echnidna]

How about someone starting an airline just for woodies....the planes would be fully fitted out flying workshops and instead of sitting in crappy old airline seats everyone would get a lovely hand crafted high back shaker chair to sit in.

We can give all dark siders a FREE TICKET.
COZ they'll be sitting under the floor pedalling very hard. :D :D :D :D :D

[lesmeyer]

G'day.
Had some very good and some bad from the Q. Worst was when a month ago when we took my MIL to Perth Intl to fly back to South Africa. Purchased a Qantas seat on SAA plane (code share). While in the queue noticed many people checking in 3 or even 4 bags. At the counter asked to check in MIL's hand lugguage as well - she is 75 and this would assist greatly when boarding and disembarking. The Quatas b**ch refused and I calmly (unlike me) thanked her for her crap service and said how unlucky we were to get her for the check -in. Got boarding pass and promptly went to SAA customer service and they willingly took the hand lugguage to be checked in. One would think that Qantas may be willing to assist the elderly. NOT SO (well not this time).
Les http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com.au/images/icons/icon9.gif

[Iain]

DS 2 isn't it




Russell



The trouble with life is there's no background music.


DS or DH 2, not sure which.

[bubbletrouble]

Flew JQ last week for the first time, didn't find it too bad. Flight attendants (exception of one bloke) pretty hot and were generally friendly and had a bit of a joke with me and mates. Check-in chick a bit rough but you have to expect that from people who must cop &&&& all day long from cranky passengers. It's good for what you get, so what you don't get your seat allocated or free food but you don't in the movies or on Greyhound either. Happy for what I paid. I reckon people expect too much for bugger all money but if you're going to be a pain in the &&&& you're not going to have a happy Jetstar staffer willing to help you.

[Grunt]

(exception of one bloke)

So, you thought the other blokes were pretty hot. :D:D

Oh, BTW welcome aboard.

[Ashore]

. Happy for what I paid. I reckon people expect too much for bugger all money but if you're going to be a pain in the &&&& you're not going to have a happy Jetstar staffer willing to help you.

You are right you get what you pay for , we paid nothing to get your comments and thats what they are worth:mad:

[oges]

When I flew to Brisbane last year I looked into Jetstar, you can take off from Sydney but cant actually land in Brisbane. Coming home you can take off from Brisbane but cant land in Sydney. I guess it costs more money to land in the major airports??

I ended up flying with Virgin Blue

-- Doh! suckered into a recycled old post --

[Kev Y.]

I flew Jetstar to Coolangata in April last year, I didnt find the service to be bad like others claimed.. I got a seat, The plane left on time, it landed, my bags were waiting for me. Granted you didnt get a feed, and you had to pay for any food or drink, but hey, it was a budget airline, I KNEW what I was not getting before I flew.

I dont know maybe I am not as fussy as others either that or I am too easy going:eek:

[Iain]

I used to hate getting a meal on a one hour flight, the reality is, I have brekky, fly to wherever (locally), land, go to the town or city centre, have a meal and then do whatever I intended.
A coffee or orange juice does me for a one to four hour flight.
Oh, I forgot to add, it may be relevant, my wife is an Aussie :D

[ele__13]

Me well i fly virgin
jetstar is a pain in the bum ... i fly home to melb every cpl of yrs
this time im flying in and out of melb - bris a few times im still flying virgin and like it so much better then jetstar ... the idea of flying into avalon is ok BUT id rather fly into Tulla ... qantas is just 2 expensive and well id rather just pack someting to eat ... if i have to ... i find it a good excuse to snooze lol ... just me watch out melb im comming home 38 sleeps and im there with his lordship in tow :p:p:p:p:p:D:D:D:D:D:D

[Sturdee]

You are right you get what you pay for , we paid nothing to get your comments and thats what they are worth:mad:


Well said.


The trouble with Jetstar, unlike Virgin, is their inflexible 30 minutes cut of before scheduled departure and their use of Avalon instead of the nearer Tullamarine airport.

A mate of mine was booked to fly Jetstar and was there 25 minutes before departure time and was refused a checkin. Admittedly he was 5 minutes late under their rules but then the plane left an hour late and they still refused him.:mad:

Peter.

[Shedhand]

I'd rather drive than fly these days after spending the past 12 years in planes. I've got a gazillion frequent flyer points so when I do fly I fly QANTAS. Sometimes I pay so I can use my upgrade certificates to travel Business Class. Last year I took SWMBO and my MIL (MIL my idea:) ) on a drive from Melbourne to Sunshine Coast and back on the PAcific Highway. Tooks us 5 weeks and we saw places I'd only ever flown over. Living in Tassie makes it difficult to just take off in vehicle like mainlanders do but the ferry trip's pretty comfortable (and cheap).;);)

BTW The worst airline on the planet (or at least the Western World) is Amercian Airlines. Rude gum-chewing bimbos pretend to be flight attendants, the planes are smelly and dirty. If you pull out a camera to take a photo out the window you're immediately treated as a terror suspect.:eek::eek:

[Greg Q]

I used to hate getting a meal on a one hour flight, the reality is, I have brekky, fly to wherever (locally), land, go to the town or city centre, have a meal and then do whatever I intended.
A coffee or orange juice does me for a one to four hour flight.
Oh, I forgot to add, it may be relevant, my wife is an Aussie :D

Geez, we might be related-my wife's an Aussie too!:D

Good to find this old thread that I hadn't seen before. Wish I could add some comments, but discretion is the better part of....of..job security.:eek:

[Redgy]

BTW The worst airline on the planet (or at least the Western World) is Amercian Airlines. Rude gum-chewing bimbos pretend to be flight attendants, the planes are smelly and dirty. If you pull out a camera to take a photo out the window you're immediately treated as a terror suspect.:eek::eek:

And Alaskan airlines not far behind...very ordinary. One of the better ones over there is West Jet (Canada). They even make the safety talk entertaining.

As for Jetstar...only once, never again.

[Iain]

midge, your a bit of a political ratbag incha ? you sure your not one of the left wing pinko's looking for something to protest about ? what is it this week ? land rights for gay whales ? eh ????? :rolleyes:
But he only flaps his left wing, thats why he goes in circles:D :D :D

[Ashore]

Flew bombay to Kuwait 12 days before the Iraq invasion , ship sailed next day thank God, with Air India . Given a choice i'de have even used jetstar.
Ever seen a toilet with no seat or lid or running water on a plane , I have & in first class.

[Sturdee]

Geez, we might be related-my wife's an Aussie too!:D




So is mine. We might all be related.:D


Peter.