Saturday 5 March 2011

Another day, and another shit story about Jetstar

Qantas' budget airline Jetstar has been forced to refund a group of teenagers for flights cancelled to a cancelled Christchurch swimming competition, in the aftermath of the earthquake.

David at KiwiBlog has highlighted the appalling record of Jetstar across the Tasman. He says that Jetstar must have the worst corporate reputation or brand of any major company in New Zealand.

"Time and time again they treat their customers like shit," David Farrar says. "They did it in their first week of operations, and have kept it up since. It would be great to have decent competition in NZ, but I refuse to fly Jetstar in NZ. Their service is bad enough, but it is their attitude that really appalls me."

I flew into Christchurch the day after the 6.3 quake on February 22nd. Air New Zealand bent over backwards to accommodate those wanting to travel to and from the devastated city. Their $50 'compassionate fares' have now been extended till the end of March, gaining them massive respect and praise, however the additional Australian airport and government taxes, tripled the base fare. Wankers.

Another 4.8 quake has just occurred tonight in Christchurch at 7.34pm. It was centered close to Lyttelton, at a depth of 11km. There are now 165 confirmed as dead, with close to 50 still missing. It was also revealed today that as much as 800 buildings will have to be demolished, and it's likely a commission of inquiry will now occur.

3 comments:

Al said...

Have flown Jetstar on several occasions and have never experienced anything like above. Mostly good value fares (though always comparing each flight purchased with those of Virgin or Qantas to ensure best value), and adequate service. I think airline bashing has become a sport and people forget that it's just a business like any other. If you don't like the value or service, go to a competitor. Simple.

Tony Hillier said...

Jetstar have a tendency to cancel flights that look as though they're not going to reach a certain capacity (three quarters full I suspect). This week the return leg of a Cairns-Perth flight next month that I booked months ago was cancelled. The alternative was to spend another day in Perth and incur the cost of an overnight stay or to be re-routed via Sydney or Brisbane, which would have meant a 7 hr wait at those airports to pick up the connecting flight. My partner has had at least three mid-morning flights to Sydney over the past year or so changed to Red Eyes with very little notice.

Let's face it, Jetstar has budget travellers over a barrel and they know it! They even have the temerity to use people from Asian call centres to convey the bad news, so complaint is futile.

Unknown said...

I must say that I never have had a problem with JetStar or JetStar Asia (so far).

I am surprised however that JetStar is allowed to use Singapore based cabin crew on the Cairns-Darwin leg.I suppose they pay them overseas rates, which makes it a lot cheaper for them. So flying budget does come at a price and it is costing Australian jobs.

During the 3 hr. stopover in Darwin, the unfortunate cabin staff had to use the same dreadful facilities in the appalling international transit hall as the other passengers.

This transit hall is a total embarrassment. Lousy facilities, rude service (even by Cairns standards !), no bar, no tv's.. I don't know what first time international visitors must be thinking. Especially after the intimidating sniffer dog spiel on arrival.

Certainly the NT is making enough money out of their mining business to pay for a decent airport. What a disgrace.