This week I booked a domestic flight on JetStar. My scheduled flight time was 8.35am. Thirty minutes before that is 8.05am.
I arrived at JetStar (Tullamarine) at 8.03am, failed to get the automatic machine to work and then showed my electronic ticket to the JetStar assistant who said that I had to get in the queue.
There were about 20 people ahead of me in the queue and by the time I got to the counter it was a couple of minutes after 8.05. I was told that my ticket had been forfeited, sold to someone else and that there was no room on the flight, that is, the flight was closed.
As I had forfeited my ticket I received no refund and JetStar were able to charge twice for the same seat.
I protested. I was told that this was my fault because I had not checked-in (presumably, completed the computerized check-in process) before 8.05am. I was told to read the Conditions. Well, I have now read them.
Condition 8.1 states: “For flights departing from a domestic terminal, check in will close 30 minutes before scheduled departure and for flights departing from an international terminal, 60 minutes before scheduled departure. You will not be able to check-in after these Check-In Deadlines. Arrival after these Check-In Deadlines may result in you forfeiting the entire fare paid.” Condition 8.3 states: “If you arrive late at check-in or the boarding gate (see 8.1), you will forfeit your Booking and no refund will be paid”.
Both these conditions require the customer not to “arrive” late. Arrive where? We are not told. I infer that, at least, it is an arrival if you are in the queue. Well, I had arrived before the deadline. I was in the queue when the deadline ticked over. They had no right to forfeit my ticket until they had ascertained that I was not in the queue. This could have been done by an announcement or a query of the people in the queue.
JetStar have their computer set to close the flight at the deadline time. In my case, the computer did that and then allocated the tickets to standby passengers so by the time I had reached the desk there were no tickets left.
In fact (and law) they were wrong. I had “arrived” and was entitled to be checked-in.
My view is that it is sufficient to arrive in the vicinity of the check in counter and that JetStar, before it forfeits the tickets, must make an announcement calling for the persons who have not checked in.
JetStar’s treatment of me was disgraceful. No doubt they do this as a matter of practice to many other customers. They lied to me about their own Conditions, they illegally forfeited my ticket and they stole my money.
The moral of the story is: never fly JetStar.
Sound familiar??????????????
Peter, most of us are smart enough not to fly with that company in the first place.
And i’ll tell you what – there is a wonderful legal expression ‘reasonable person test’ – it means in this context that most people would respond to your suggestion that arriving at 8:03 for a 8:05 check in close was acceptable with a scoff!
I have considerable sympathy with Mr Faris and others who trust JetStar, whose service is worse than other Australian discount airlines. But unfortunately it is part of a growing trend of Australian airlines taking their passengers for granted. I get pissed off with their cancelling flights unilaterally with no explanation beyond the unhelpfully vague ‘operational reasons’ or possibly fabricated ‘engineering difficulties’.
But we will get our revenge when avgas price increases drive ticket prices up and airlines’ custom down, and no sucker will sympathise with their begging for a free pass for carbon emissions. No doubt eventually the airlines will learn the lesson that the Australian banks now seem to be learning, that if you treat your customers poorly they will remember when their support is sought.
Boo hoo Peter Faris Q bloody C. Don’t be such a baby and next time don’t turn up at the last minute.
Jetstar is a budget airline and one way they save on costs is to have passengers turn up early enough so they can load luggage in a timely manner without putting on extra staff to accommodate all the turkeys who turn up with seconds to spare.
I can’t believe people are taking JetStar’s side in this. Sure, Peter Faris isn’t my favourite Crikey contributor by a long shot, but the fact of the matter is JetStar stiffed him. Don’t give me any of this bullshit that if “only he arrived 10 minutes earlier he would’ve been OK”. Why the hell should he? It his time, not JetStar’s to piss away so that save a few bucks on overheads. Every moment we spend in a queue for JetStar or any other airline, bank, or whatever we are being stolen from. And then to be stolen from again, by having your space taken and sold for additional profit is just pure banditry.