Hi just returned from a fantastic 6 weeks vacation in Thailand , there was only one problem, my choice of airline from Christchurch to Bangkok, I usually fly Qantas or Air New Zealand but cos of their later flights this time went with Jetstar via Melbourne leaving at 8.20 instead of the Qantas 6am flight, You would assume that being Jetstar it would be cheaper , how ever I wanted all the extras including extra leg room etc so it worked about the same. Morning to leave July !st at 8.20, Im up at 4am , ready to be picked up at 4am, better check my messages and here we have a notifacation that my flight to melbourne has been changed to 5pm , meaning I will miss my connecting flight to Bangkok by about 6 hours. I go online to Jetstar and point this problem out to them, eventually they get back to me and say I am now booked for the following day leaving for Brisbane at 6am , then after a 5 hr stopover in Brisbane , on to Bangkok, My accomodation in Bkk was all prepaid  through Agoda, no mention from Jetstar about  any compensation, they did say there would a small free voucher on the flight but the  onbourd crew said the had no record of that, That was going up , a day late and the general service on the flight was very very budget.Returning on 11th of August i had a 9.20 pm flight booked coming via Melbourne , I got to the Airport early thinking I would have a meal and a few drinks there before my flight to find that my flight had been changed to 3.05 am tuesday morning meaning again I would miss my connection by many hours. The Thai booking staff where very helpful but could give no imformation on connecting flights, There appeared to be about 20 people on the flight in this same situation. Upon arriving in Melbourne we where assured by the cabin crew that a JetStar rep would meet us on arrival with more details.Embarking from the Plane in a rather quiet area of Melbourne airport , there was no one from Jetstar in sight, we wandered through the airport looking for some one from Jetstar , being constantly given wrong instructions from various places such as international transfer and then ending up at Australian immigration where the staff where very helpful , they rang the Jetstar office who said they would send some through, we waited about 45minutes there but no one come, by now some people in our group got a txt to say they where booked on a Qantas flight  leaving at 6.30 approx, Others did not get the txt , in my case I did about 3 hours later.By now some of us had done the immigration thing and entered  Australia, we found a Jetstar desk where the staff where extremly unhelpful and sai they had no knowledge of the situation, we then found the Qantas counter where the staff where the opposite, they confirmed we where booked on the Qantas flight arriving in Christchurch at mid night and issued us with boarding passes. he Qantas flight compared to Jetstar was great. Then to top it all off, our baggage did not arrive , fortunatley mine was delivered to my house about 20 hrs later, Several  people in this situation had limited english skills and where only spending a few hours in Christchurch, I dont know how they got on. So what I learnt from this is NEVER NEVER fly with Jetstar internationl, I use them often in NZ for short Domestic travel but they are NOT an international airline, I am fairly well travelled and would rate them as the worst so called international airline in the world.SO BEWARE, DO NOT FLY JETSTAR INTERNATIONAL under any circumstances

Going to Brisbane then to Melbourne then to Bangkok. 

Hope you enjoyed the Chapel in Pattaya. 

1 hour ago, Griff64 said:

...I usually fly Qantas or Air New Zealand but cos of their later flights this time went with Jetstar via Melbourne... You would assume that being Jetstar it would be cheaper , how ever I wanted all the extras including extra leg room etc so it worked about the same...

NEVER NEVER fly with Jetstar International... I am fairly well travelled and would rate them as the worst so called international airline in the world.SO BEWARE, DO NOT FLY JETSTAR INTERNATIONAL under any circumstances

My limited experience is the same, flying returns Melbourne-Bangkok.

• Drip pricing means the price you first see is not the price you pay. The bottom line is not much different from Thai, which is much better and the price is all-in.
• Poor time keeping. How about 5 hours at Melbourne Airport, 2 hours check-in plus 3 hours late departure! Return one hour late out of BKK.

For me, first choice is ThaiAir. Second choice is Singapore, followed by Malaysia if layovers are OK. (I have overnighted at hotels at Changi (SIN) and Kuala Lumpur airport).

NEVER FLY JETSTAR, EVER. not even their staff use them when travelling staff travel. 

35 minutes ago, reefdiver said:

....not even their staff use them when travelling staff travel. 

It wouldn't be a staff travel then wouldn it?

They use Qantas. 

Thanks guys confirming my opinion, they got to be the worlds worst airline airline, all we can do is keep spreading the word so others do not get caught like we have, interesting their own staff will not use them

The very helpful staff at Australian immigration who helped us out had  also some very bad opinions of Jetstar

Just a quick follow up, it was not a great amount but mainly just to piss of Jetstar, I contacted them online yesterday and suggested they should reimburse me for my first nights prepaid accomodation in Bangkok, since it was their fault I was not there.Big surprise they promptly declined but would not give any reason, just a message keep repeating, This has been declined

i used jetstar once from MEL to BKK, never again. every little thing is an extra fee, i mean this model is ok if you are flying domestic or even short internationals like to bali but on a semi long haul it is awful. the food is also pretty ordinary given how much they charge for it.

also if you don't know, jetstar being the cheapest/cheaper airline has the lowest priority at any australian airport so they are always running late. you dont get these problems with departures from australia with the other more expensive airlines - part of that expense is how much the airlines pay for their priority 'ranking'.

another big negative is these flights are usually full because they are the cheapest, and the AU-BKK flights all connect to india from BKK so you have to deal with that too. it all adds up to a genuinely unpleasant experience and the money you save i guarantee you will wish you could spend twice that amount to not be on a jetstar flight. 

My experience with Jetstar has never been great. The worst turbulence I have ever had in my life happened on one of their flights and it really stuck with me.

The whole thing felt chaotic, like the plane was bouncing around nonstop, and the staff did not seem very reassuring either. Every flight I have been on with them has been completely packed too.

It is also the little things that make it worse. There are constant delays. I know budget airlines come with trade offs, but Jetstar really pushes it. After that turbulence experience, I honestly try to avoid flying with them unless there is absolutely no other option.

Edited October 21, 2025Oct 21 by Tiger407
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I work in Hotels as a Manager for Marriott, and i can confirm that most of the distressed booking emails we get from airlines are mostly all from Jetstar. They never treat there customers well, we had a couple turn up one night after being told that Jetstar had booked a room for them at our hotel and it wasn't true. Always fly Singapore airlines never had an issue with them, would love to try Thai airways though to compare. 

I’ve used Jetstar internationally from Melbourne to BKK & HCMC 8 times in total. Never had an issue to be honest. 
Thai airways is better but not 40% increase in price better, for me. 
I am aware passengers have had issues with luggage not making it to their destination. 
I’m curious to learn more. 

Never came across an Airline that is so petty. They have a shed as a terminal at Tullamarine and its a long walk away from the main terminal building. They even have weighing scale mounted on wheels that they pull along the queue of customers waiting to board. The bags are weighed and over weight ones are charged with the portable POS device. 

They are now capturing the international airlines traffic who land at Tullamarine and Sydney but need a domestic connection to their home city. The passengers have no choice as the international airlines pick Jetstar due to cost. I feel sorry for those struggling to walk from the terminal to shed and back. 

I've never had a problem in 20 years.

And yes Jetstar staff do at times fly Jetstar.

2 hours ago, Joeleg said:

Never came across an Airline that is so petty. They have a shed as a terminal at Tullamarine and its a long walk away from the main terminal building. They even have weighing scale mounted on wheels that they pull along the queue of customers waiting to board. The bags are weighed and over weight ones are charged with the portable POS device. 

 

I think Allegiant Airlines in the US can compete with any carrier to see who can be more petty. 

I'd like to see all Airlines count and weigh carry ons. It's ridiculous what they allow people to board with.