Jetstar's return for free sale is on to Japan. Early access at present until midnight, then public access begins.
^Club Jetstar Early Access ends 11.59pm AEDT Monday 29 January 2024 and Public Sale ends 11.59pm AEDT Thursday 1 February 2024, unless sold out prior. Other conditions apply, see below.
edit: after comments below, here is a link to all the other currently active airfares to Japan on ozbargain which hopefully will help someone for comparison.
Depends where you're flying from. AC as well as the other deals on at present tend to only be from SYD/MEL.
So AC for SYD/MEL and everywhere else Jetstar?
Air China isn't particular excellent either to be fair. If you look at the previous posts in the last few weeks, there have been deals to Japan on ANA (excellent), China Southern (4 star), AC (3 star?), Fiji Airways Business (not a 5 star but a cheap business class!), Scoot (shudder) and more.
@beatthatflight: Those star ratings are meaningless and are all paid for by the airlines through advertising.
@donga100: I've flown china southern and ac and i think china southern is better in every way in terms of the service.
@zjz93: China Southern beats Qantas and Cathy Pacific for bang for buck. Service also exceeds them for economy class
Have not tried Air China and why are they worse than Southern?
@neonlight: Customer service and reliability. I've never had a delayed flight with cs and I fly both every year or two. Had 3 delays with ac overall. Furthermore most of my cs flights with layovers they provide free hotel
@muppet: Look at the current rankings list. Does it look right to you? AirAsia and Scoot are 31st and 33rd respectively which puts them ahead of Air Canada, Thai Airways, United, Rex, Virgin Australia, etc.
I know for a fact that some airlines send the survey to their entire staff encouraging them to complete it favourably for their own airline and unfavourably for competitors.
@beatthatflight: I DON'T TRUST Jetstar! They fail to deliver everytime I trusted them. I will only try them again if someone likes Singapore Airlines bought them and the entire staffs need to be re-educated.
@beatthatflight: you make jetstar sound like it is qantas, its not. i would actually say that ac and cs are better, and also looks cheaper too.
It's $74 to check a bag x 2, $9.50 per leg to pick a seat x 4 (goes through Cairns), meals are $12 x say 4. So $234 extra.
Honestly makes that ANA deal with the free domestic transfer and no stop overs so much better around $1000 imo.
Or maybe I don't mind paying extra for convenience.
The Tokyo flights also go to Narita so add like $40 each way for the train. I think bus is cheaper though.
@ozbargainer88: you could take the local train instead for like $5 but it will take about double the time.
@ozbargainer88: Depends. There's the Airport Limousine Bus, costs roughly the same as Narita Express but you have the added advantage of getting dropped off at certain hotels.
@ozbargainer88: I paid $13 one way on the Keisei Sky Access takes 1hr.
You can pay about $25 one way for the Skyliner and takes 50min.
Not sure where you got the $40 from.
@ozbargainer88: Just did the Tokyo to Narita trip. The express bus has a limitation of one luggage per person, so you're screwed if you're travelling with check-in + carry-on luggage. No issues with train or airport limousine bus though.
AC
CA. AC is Air Canada.
If you're talking IATA codes, sure. I was just abbreviating, and context was clear enough.
obviously, because that is where most people live. lol
Maybe, but Jetstar has direct flights which saves a lot of time and discomfort.
Flights from Melb (maybe Sydney) to Tokyo go through Cairns.
Yuck! Didn't realise that. I'd probably go on Air China too in that case if their connections were decent.
@donga100: Why is cairns bad for connections? From melb/Syd, it should be similar flight duration compared to air China, no? So depends on how long layover is?
@fufufu: The cabinet is really bad with Jetstar Cairns flight, very short leg room and seat is a nightmare campare with others. Basically domestic airplane used for international flight. Would never consider again.
@vihand: Agree their plane going to Japan direct always felt uncomfortable and legroom very limited.
Its budget flight. I wouldn't take out with young family but young couples are fine
@fufufu: The MEL/SYD flight to Cairns will be on a smaller domestic aircraft. On the way home you will need to collect bags and pass through Customs and Immigration in Cairns. If you fly through another country you don't need to do any of that until you land in Australia.
@donga100: Why is this a bad thing? I've come back into Australia through smaller airports like Gold Coast and it's so much easier than clearing customs/immigration in Sydney and especially Melbourne. Is Cairns particularly slow? It honestly couldn't be much harder than Melbourne is sometimes.
@fufufu: I did the VA flight from HND into CNS. The transfer from international to domestic was horrendous as it involved moving luggage from one terminal to another in very muggy conditions. Shock to the system considering it was dry and cold in Tokyo.
Still shorter times overall to reach destination.
Yep, had a passenger take the wrong bag through the Cairns layover, and ended up having to leave for Japan without checked in luggage for 3 days. Not Jetstar's fault but going through Cairn's is a big no for me. Staff in Narita didn't enter in all the details on the form for lost luggage so Jetstar had no way of tracking it when calling up but got delivered by Yamato / TA-Q-BIN to the accommodation after a lot of stress and worry.
If anyone is going through Cairns, would recommend setting yourself up close to the side of the chute where luggage comes out so no one else takes your bag
Direct flights*
*As long as it's not cancelled last minute
Something something operational purposes
Jetstar
saves a lot of time and discomfort
Pick one
seeing a lot going through cairns for long layovers. it would be fine if it was a nice airport, but cmon, its cairns
Not cheaper for Bris/GC
Direct flight + I pack a sandwich + I always only travel with a single carry-on backpack anyway. Jetstar was made for my povpack self.
OneBag gang lesgooo
Don't trust Jetstar, it's a trap! They can't guarantee your return flight and so if it was a free return, they can avoid paying any compensation! Flight can be cancelled anytime! You will be likely to pay double if not more to return home.
This can easily be overcome by buying appropriate travel insurance with cancellation/delay coverage. Also no airline in the world guarantees a flight will go ahead
buying appropriate travel insurance with cancellation/delay coverage.
It's difficult to compare the price of travel, when for some airlines such insurance is necessary.
Can anyone who has bought insurance with cancellation cover, please advise how much the insurance cost, was it just flights or did it include medical insurance, and which insurer did you use?
The bulk of the cost of insurance is the medical side, but the travel expenses part is usually a small add on. For example, i recently flew to asia for a month and travel insurance including cancellation/delay was $130, with just medical it was about $105.
This was with FastCover.
Also, in my opinion you should ALWAYS have this insurance, regardless of airline. If you break your leg for example and cant fly, if you only have medical insurance you will be completely out all of those costs.
@dreamtime: Credit cards do this for free, here's what Amex covers:
Medical Emergency Expenses Cover including up to $2,500,000 towards medical treatment
Trip Cancellation and Amendment Cover – up to $30,000 in the event your travel is cancelled
Personal Baggage, Valuables, Money And Documents Cover up to $10,000 to cover loss or damage to baggage, money or documents
Personal Liability Cover – up to $2,000,000
Travel Inconvenience up to $500 for flight delays of four hours or more, missed connections or delayed baggage
@exa: Does Amex have exclusions for pandemics? I had travel insurance through Bankwest Zero Platinum card, wasn't able to claim anything "because pandemic".
Most travel insurance comes with unlimited medical insurance as the standard/default. Then you can add travel cancellation if you so wish. SCTI is generally a good one that pays out relatively quickly and easily. Cost is all dependent on destination, duration, age and how much cover you want so impossible to give you a cost. Travel Insurance is mainly for medical not cancellation/delays which is why it's always included.
Though apparently if you get injured overseas, you can just scam the public by setting up a gofundme page with your sob story about how you fell off your scooter and didn't bother to get travel insurance so please donate $$ to me.
@illusion99: In fairness, scooters often arent covered by insurance. Also, its not a "scam" to ask friends and family to help you out if youve been in an accident. Its their choice whether to or not.
A scam would be asking for money for medical help and then spending it on something else
@dreamtime: I’m using the word “scam” in the ozbargain sense. Where Apple charging over $2000 for phone is a “scam”. Ice cream over $10 at Coles is a “scam”. A $250 backpack is a “scam”
Sure but you don’t need gofundme to ask friends and family. You can just contact your friends and family directly. Gofundme “scams” are to prey upon the public with a sob story and essentially getting free insurance
this was couple years ago but I got travel insurance for $120 when I went to Hong Kong for a wedding. The day before I board the return flight I was diagnosed with Covid so had to buy a new ticket plus accommodation for 7 more days, adds up to almost $4k. I claimed all of it back -$200 excess. It took 2 -3 months for them to process but I'm still glad I bought insurance.
Anyone who buys travel insurance needs to hand in their ozbargain badge
Most platinum credit cards include travel insurance as long as you pay for at least half your travel and/or accommodation bill on the card and they are giving huge points bonuses on many cards
Most platinum credit cards include travel insurance
And they have specific exclusions for pandemics, which I found when my 2020 Japan trip was cancelled. I was unable to get anything from that card provider, Bankwest Zero Platinum card.
A few thousand dollars of pre-paid accomodation disappeared into thin air.
That’s good to know, thanks.
It’s only been a recent thing that was part of Alan Joyces weasly drivel that a flight ticket doesn’t mean they need to fly you somewhere. I’ve never heard anything like that. Go to a cafe and buy a coffee, imagine them saying, “sorry but it doesn’t mean we need to actually make you a coffee”.
so you wre saying Jetstar will magically bypass ACCC laws
Jetstar cancelled our flight to Japan when Cairns airport got flodded. We stayed overnight at the airport before the original flight date. We chose to stay at the airport and Jetstar reimbursed us for the hotel room and the meals ($400) but really had to push them by spending a few hoirs on online chat.
On international travel they are obligated legally to ensure your return to country of origin by the Montreal convention(s) as well as the nature of registration via ICAO and IATA.
They lose their operating license in said country if they cancel your flight without giving you a way back or onward (they are also suppose to make sure you have a ticket/means of leaving said country, even if you booked one way).
It is also how lost luggage, compensation for bodily harm etc. is governed.
I don't trust jetstar when they advertize return for "free".
it means dont bother returning
Dont trust jetstar period they are the worst.
They lost our luggage from gold coast to Sydney ended up not even being loaded on the plane
wow, Singapore once didn't load my bags, but that was on a 90 minute layover from France, and I got them the next day (with things that were on my customs dec. not being checked).
Not actually loading them on a direct domestic is something… special.
We have flown to Japan with Jetstar 4 times and not had a bad experience. Would jump on this like a shot if my eldest hadn’t just started school.
Yeah I've flown twice with Jetstar to Narita. No issues. I've flown with Qantas and JAL as well, and tbh none of those flights stands out as being significantly better or worse than the others.
Used this deal back in 2017 for first Japan trip. No issues, other than having to stop over in Cairns…what a shitty airport.
I enjoyed sitting in the lovely grass in the sun enjoying a beer after the first leg of the return flight.
You obviously don’t have kids 😂
Must be some other cairns. You should be covered in ants and/or sweat in no time.
That said, I had enjoyed the walk between terminals to stretch my legs between flights.
Double one way prices, offer return for free = profit
Have flown to Japan from Sydney approx 6-7 times with Jetstar before covid. Had one issue where we were flying Syd—>Gold Coast—>Narita, got on the plane at GC and after about 45 mins in the air they said we needed to turn back to Sydney. They put us up in a hotel at the airport for no cost and flew us out the next day.
No deals from PER
Haven't had an issue with Jetstar to Japan in the past. IMO you just need to set your bar super low and you'll be satisfied.
There are direct flights from Sydney to Osaka for $363 return. For example: https://imgur.com/qkZMi8W
So good
I booked for 2 on these - summer so don't need more than 7kg for 10 days travel… 1st time to Japan since splitting with my ex (from Japan - wish me luck!) - Thai partner travelling… My Japanese is almost non existent now and didn't spend a lot of time in Osaka before so it should be interesting - need to find a budget ryokan with a rotemburo and kaiseki dinner! Damn I miss those experiences….
Budget and onsen with kaiseki generally aren't words that go together. It'll be 15k-20k minimum for the "cheaper places".
Yeah I know! lol… I'm thinking it will be cheap Sake from Don Quijote and Nikuman or Onigiri from Lawson…and maybe a 13m2 room somewhere! ;) - Will see what I can find on a budget - I got spoiled by family there all that time ago! I have no idea about Osaka - didn't spend much time there…
That doesn't include all the tack ons that don't come with the base fair
Hows Js in terms of cancellations and the flight its self these days, they gotten better?
Damn this got me excited but it's still so expensive really, most flights are $800+, unless you could go fairly soon and spend almost a month there and blow all your annual leave or something.
blow all your annual leave or something.
Jokes on you I never got annual leave!
Not flying Jetstar for that price, not worth the risk
Every day we getting deals on Japan flights. Or is it just the new norm now that demand has peaked and supply is coming back ?
Likely due to lesser tourists going to Japan earthquakes + the plane crash all over the news.
Also those times are off peak seasons.
It is like Jetstar is playing catch up when rest of the world already back to pre covid levels on flight costs
Visitors to Japan have exceeded pre-covid levels in some months since last year (October, for instance) and there's no sign of it slowing down despite the natural disaster or a single plane crash.
The sales periods also include dates for some of the most popular times of the year including cherry blossom season and autumn.
you can literally google this stuff and find its not true what you doing
People are shitting on Jetstar but I've only had positive experiences with them to Japan, both with and without a stopover in Cairns. Very comfortable, good food, staff were friendly. They even helped me change a flight to a different one free of charge on the way back as I had some personal issues come up.
Jetstar? Nah. No Deal!
I wonder how many people are bashing Jetstar without actually having a bad experience
Good point. I feel like people like to bash Jetstar. Yes they are shit, but so are Qantas.
It kind of ignores that most airlines are crap
they saw a reddit post and flocking to that one opinion
right? - Virgin had more cancellations last month than Jetstar
https://www.bitre.gov.au/statistics/aviation/otp_month#anc_s…
lol people will never learn. Flying international with Jetstar, you may have better luck playing roulette.
Edit: if direct flight maybe ok. Gluck with stopover flights
Also, be aware going in June and July prob worst weather humid and gross
I flew from Melbourne to Japan in June via Gold Coast and returned with a stop over in Cairns in July. Amazing holiday. Great country. Couldn’t fault Jetstar at all. Weather was hot and sticky and coming from Melbourne doubly so. But was nice to be away from the Melbourne winter.
Went last year in July/Aug and it's fine. Just buy yourself a cool towel to wet, airy clothing and you're g
The experience was worth the weather (me saying this as we experienced 3 typhoons HA. HA)
I flew with Jetstar last year to Narita and back. Missed the second flight home…
Cairns airport staff were the worst, we got stopped for luggage check, with people in a wheelchair, 70 year old pensioners. We were furious, as it took over 1 hour and half of our time. Target those who actually bring in illegal stuff..
Two of us with our 8 month old child…
Cheaper to fly a full service flight with bags, meals etc. included via Air China .
e.g. $530 Return Melbourne to Tokyo Flights on Air China vs. $571 on Jetstar + Bag Fees + Meals.