Jet Star or ANZ for 2 short flights?

[Bowie MeMe]

Flying from Auckland to Wellington Feb. 5, 2014 and from Christchurch to Wellington on Feb. 19, 2014. Feb 6 late afternoon to board Oceanic Discoverer in Wellington. Feb. 19 picking up car to tour North Island for 10 days.

 

I have never flown ANZ or Jet Star but I have flown regularly some of our discount airlines in US (Southwest and Jet Blue and AirTran). What I want to know is if I can trust Jet Star for the hour long flight AKL to Wellington and 50 min. flight from Christchurch to Wellington. Jet Star comes in almost half the price of ANZ ($167US/$72NZ) and I did take 25 KG of baggage to make sure.

 

Please help me decide which would be a good chance for a good flight. Too experienced a flyer to not factor in that "it happens".

 

Can't wait to see NZ. Any other tips appreciated.

[NancyIL]

After reading some pretty negative reviews of Jetstar, but not liking the prices on Air New Zealand's web site - someone here mentioned ANZ's grabaseat web site: http://grabaseat.co.nz/flights. That site offers more restricted fares on ANZ than what I found available on ANZ's regular site for my Auckland to Queenstown flight in February. You don't have to wait for the specials; just scroll down to low fare finder.

[AussieVisi2r]

my actual flight with jetstar was fine (but nothing included) but getting on, gate changes and many delays was a nightmare. If you go with them make sure that there are long connection times or thay they guarantee to get you there if you miss the connection. (some of our other cheap carriers like Tiger - will not honour a connection if they make you miss it).

 

R

[Rencruzr]

Op if you are American and just want to take a cheap flight then theres absolutely nothing wrong with Jestar Ive flown it many times with no drama. Its wholly owned by Qantas so there is nothing wrong with the quality or service and they are new planes, you just have to pay for snacks and drinks, so what?

 

Of course you will hear complaints for the rare times people are delayed or flights cancelled but you don't hear from the many thousands that arrive just fine. If your going to save dosh just fly Jetstar

[kuldalai]

Caveat Emptor . You get what you pay for .

 

Air New Zealand - reliability and leg room .

 

Jetstar - Cheap, not always reliable, everything is EXTRA . Mitsubishi squeazy . You are jammed in like battery hens.

 

If I were connecting with a cruise or International departure I would be using Air New Zealand.

[Rassa]

There is nothing wrong with Jetstar but I had one leg of a flight cancelled by Jetstar and they offered nothing extra for the accommodation I needed to arrive a day earlier. I was fortunate enough to find a Qantas flight on sale and so I cancelled the Jetstar flight.

 

My daughter had the same thing happen to her for both flights and again no accommodation was offered.

 

Makes you wonder if it is worth booking a cheap flight if you are forced to also pay for extra accommodation due to Jetstar cancelling flights.

 

This has happened in the last 4 months and it makes you wonder if Jetstar is cancelling flights that are not fully booked to save money.

[Bowie MeMe]

Thanks for your help. We have about 30 hours (or more) before we must board the boat in Wellington and 2 weeks before we go home on the other flight -- plenty of time to make other changes but it would still be upsetting. But for 3 the savings would be about $800 so that is a pretty nice meal or experience! Oh me oh my! With as much as this trip is costing maybe nickel and diming on the two little flights is just silly:p

 

How much in advance do we need to book these flights? We are traveling Feb. 5 (and I believe there is a big sports event that weekend in Wellington 8's or something I don't know about) and Feb 19 seems busy also (Do you celebrate President's Holiday like we have in Feb in US?:D)

 

Just trying to spread the costs around as we head to Hawaii for 3 weeks in Oct. and yeah they want money for those adventures too. When I can no longer travel because of health, I want to make sure I have lots and lots of memories of fabulous trips to entertain myself. Just added a trip to New York City for weekend after our Thanksgiving (big parade and fancy store windows decorated for Christmas) with daughter's family. It's really a good life when you can travel.:)

[NancyIL]

Thanks for your help. We have about 30 hours (or more) before we must board the boat in Wellington and 2 weeks before we go home on the other flight -- plenty of time to make other changes but it would still be upsetting. But for 3 the savings would be about $800 so that is a pretty nice meal or experience! Oh me oh my! With as much as this trip is costing maybe nickel and diming on the two little flights is just silly:p

 

How much in advance do we need to book these flights? We are traveling Feb. 5 (and I believe there is a big sports event that weekend in Wellington 8's or something I don't know about) and Feb 19 seems busy also (Do you celebrate President's Holiday like we have in Feb in US?:D)

 

Just trying to spread the costs around as we head to Hawaii for 3 weeks in Oct. and yeah they want money for those adventures too. When I can no longer travel because of health, I want to make sure I have lots and lots of memories of fabulous trips to entertain myself. Just added a trip to New York City for weekend after our Thanksgiving (big parade and fancy store windows decorated for Christmas) with daughter's family. It's really a good life when you can travel.:)

 

I just checked ANZ's fares on the grabaseat web site. On Feb. 5 - you can fly from Auckland to Wellington at 9:30 a.m. for $79 NZ pp, and that fare includes 1 checked bag. Christchurch to Wellington on Feb. 19 at 1:30 p.m. is $69 NZ pp - including 1 checked bag. The grabaseat fares sell out, so I would book ASAP.

[Rassa]

I see what you mean, there is a big difference in price but don't forget that ANZ would probably include baggage whereas Jetstar does not include baggage. February is not far off so I would be booking now. Do a dummy booking to see what the total costs would be, especially if you are taking 2 bags with a total of over 25k or is that 52 lbs.

 

All the very best.

[NancyIL]

I see what you mean, there is a big difference in price but don't forget that ANZ would probably include baggage whereas Jetstar does not include baggage. February is not far off so I would be booking now. Do a dummy booking to see what the total costs would be, especially if you are taking 2 bags with a total of over 25k or is that 52 lbs.

 

All the very best.

 

I must be wearing my invisibility cloak! Air New Zealand's fares aren't much more than Jetstar's if you book one of their more restricted fares.

[mr walker]

.... it makes you wonder if Jetstar is cancelling flights that are not fully booked to save money.

 

Virgin & QANTAS do the same - it has happened to me a number of times. Just grin and bear it .... and have a beer :D

I travel a fair amount with my work. If I have to be somewhere at a set time, I normally use Qantas. If the time is a bit more flexible I will use Qantas, Virgin or Jetstar, depending on price and flight schedule. Often I will fly different operators on the inward and outward leg.

 

I always enjoy domestic AirNZ flights, particularly the smaller planes. A coffee, a cookie and a hard-boiled lolly - life is good :)