Flying on the Cheap

You get what you pay for. But here is fair warning for all of you traveling on Jetstar on a national leg of an international flight.

When booking travel through the Qantas site be aware that the suggested itineraries bring up Jetstar (Qantas' cut price airline) flights. I booked a flight to the United States with what I thought was Qantas and was slightly perturbed when I found out that I was flying the domestic leg with Jetstar. Never the less I have flown with Virgin before and their domestic and international arms function like separate companies and apart from queuing up for a ticket I haven't had too many problems. I thought it would be the same with Qantas, after all they were within the top 3 airlines of the world (a couple of years ago).  I couldn't have been more MISTAKEN.

When I checked into my flight, I had a massive cycle case, a check in bag, a roller bag and my handbag. I noticed that the person in Jetstar didn't print out my other boarding passes or tag my luggage to my final destination. Naturally I enquired what the problem was, the Jetstar person, to my absolute horror told me that I would have to get my bags off in Sydney domestic, get to the international airport with my bags and then check into my international flight with Qantas as they were separate companies and their baggage handlers couldn't load my bag onto a truck to get it to the international airport.

So I thought Qantas should be able to help me out, after all I fly with them all the time, Im a valued customer. I could not have been more wrong. The shrew at the desk simply did not want to help, I explained to her my situation with my bags and being unable to catch the bus to the international terminal she very unhelpfully suggested that I catch the train. The train was down three flights of steps! She suggested that I carry my bike case, my check in bag, my trolley all down the stair and then up them again. Unbelievable!

At Sydney I simply cut my losses collected my bags, caught a cab to the international airport (because I only had an hour to check into my flight). I think the $50 that I might have saved on the fare actually cost me as much to pay for a trolley for my luggage, pay for a cab and then pay for another trolley at the international terminal.

In short Qantas are starting to be a gigantic waste of time and money, no wonder they are failing. Qantas needs to realize that their customer service is shoddy and that the little guys like me are going to start flying different carriers. Little guys like you and me actually make up most of Qantas' business, so dont get pushed around. Vote with your money and your feet. Give Qantas a message. I know I will be.