Jetstar... the user pays! Part 2

I haven't received an official reply yet but after I wrote my complaint to Jetstar, I decided that it shouldn't be an issue that just they have to deal with and that their other customers should know about it too. I decided to post the link to my blog on their Facebook page and see what kind of response I would get from them and their customers. 6 People 'liked' my link so it just goes to show their customers do watch what goes on.

Jetstar commented on the link and said:

Hi Madeleine! Thanks for posting a link to your blog. We’ve looked at your booking and read the points you’ve raised, and would like to this opportunity to publically respond to them.


-Customers who have specific needs can make online bookings. We have a whole section entitled “Special Assistance” (on the Payments page) which asks the customer to advise us if any passenger travelling on the booking will be travelling with a wheelchair, requires an upper torso restraint or is vision/hearing impaired. We then ask detailed questions regarding any assistance our customers may require. Customers can then advise us whether they will be travelling with a wheelchair and what level of assistance they require with their wheelchair (if any).

-Booking and service fees are common across websites selling flights. We charge a booking and service fee that is comparable to our competitors, and lower than some. We reward our customers who have Jetstar MasterCard and Jetstar Platinum MasterCard and Jetstar vouchers by waiving this booking and service fee, while at the same time providing a free service to those bookings completed using PoLi and online banking. If you pay by any other method, there will be a fee.

-Additionally, customers who choose to book via our Telephone Reservations team rather than booking online will pay a higher fare than those who choose to book online. However, if a customer is unable to book online due to their specific needs, they can advise us of this and we will provide them the online fare.

We’d like to let you know that we have received your online submission, and will soon respond privately with further information about your individual booking. Thanks for getting contact with us, and we’ll be in touch soon.

Thanks – Jetstar

After reading this I thought, 'Okay, well I should give them the benefit of the doubt and I'll try making a fake booking online and see how far I get.' So off I go to Jetstar.com to try it out, only to find that their website is too busy that I can't even search for a fake flight anyway.

After a few hours of continually trying, I finally got on and went through the process to where I could tell them I was travelling with a wheelchair. The question said something like: Are you travelling with a: wheelchair, service animal or other type of mobility equipment? They then gave you the option to tick whichever box you needed. I ticked wheelchair and then was given 3 different options to tick depending on how much assistance I needed to board the plane etc.

HOWEVER: There was no options where I could write about my wheelchair. When I make bookings over the phone they usually want to know how much the wheelchair weighs, what kind of battery it has for safety purposes etc, and they are also supposed to give me a security authorisation number so that the check in staff know that my wheelchair has been approved to be checked in as luggage.

Underneath all of the previous parts of the online form I just spoke about above was this:

Limited Special Assistance

We do provide limited special assistance services to accommodate customers who need to travel with a service dog and customers who require a wheelchair and customers who require two seats for themselves. If you need to use these special services you must contact Jetstar Reservations. Those who have made special arrangements through Jetstar Reservations will be boarded first. Other animals will not be carried unless required by law.

CONCLUSION: I cannot successfully book a flight online! I was speaking with my Mum on the phone about it and she was asking me what would happen if I did book online and just didn't give them the information they usually want about my wheelchair. I said though, that when I get to check in, they'd make it my problem for not ringing up the call centre.


There you have it! Jetstar (or as I like to call it Jetfail), really don't have a clear policy of how they deal with customers who require extra assistance or need to travel with mobility aids.

I'll wait to 'officially' hear from them again and see what happens from there, but rest assured, I'll be telling them that I tried to book online and couldn't and I will quote that paragraph above about calling Jetstar Reservations.

Jetstar... the user pays!

I recently booked my return flights from Melbourne to Newcastle so I can go home for my uni break. As Jetstar don't allow wheelchair users to book online, I went through the process of ringing the call centre.

After making the booking and receiving the itinerary, I was shocked to find that they had charged me an extra $2o per flight just for making the booking through the call centre! They also charge anyone who doesn't use their new Jetstar Mastercard, a fee of $14 to make the booking on any other credit card!

Both of these realisations made me rather angry. I decided to tell Jetstar just how angry I was and how unacceptable these costs were.

This is the complaint I sent to them via their website:



I am a wheelchair user who has no choice but to book my flights through the Jetstar call centre. I find it very unacceptable that just because I have no choice but to book through the call centre, that I am forced to pay the $20 Call Centre Offset on each flight booked. I would prefer to book online as it is much easier to do so than via telephone, however, this is NOT my choice.

I also find it unacceptable that anyone no using the Jetstar Mastercard, has to pay a $14 fee to use another card. Personally, I do not have a credit card, I have a debit card. I am on the Disability Support Pension, I am unemployed and therefore, I cannot afford to have a credit card. I have a debit card for instances where I need to pay for things over the phone or online, but I don't see why those who are not able to have a credit card because of financial circumstances, should have to pay the $14 fee.

With these two costs added to my booking, I ended up paying an extra $54. This is unnecessary and unacceptable.

Jetstar needs to implement a no fee policy into any booking where the passenger is traveling with a wheelchair or other type of mobility equipment. Just because you have not set up a system for us to be able to book online, does not mean we should have to pay for it.



SO: What are you experiences with air travel? Have you been charged ridiculous amounts? Or have you had other issues with airlines non related to fees? Leave me some comments, I'd love to hear your experiences.

Victoria's Taxi Inquiry

I've recently been in contact with the people who are conducting the inquiry into the current Victorian Taxi service via twitter. They asked me to forward them my experiences with wheelchair accessible taxis in Victoria. I'd like to create some discussion about it, so below is what I have sent them. Tell me what you think and if you have anything else you'd like to say or suggest, please do, and I'll forward it onto them.

My I sent to them:

I have been following you via twitter as @tinymads. Here are my experiences, opinions and suggestions.

I have found that my experience with WATS have been generally good.I have heard experiences of others after speaking with them.

When making bookings, some passengers may not be able to speak effectively enough on the phone to make themselves understood and therefore this may complicate their booking. A mobile version of the current online booking service for WATS vehicles needs to be made available. The iphone application is not suitable for everyone because not everyone has an iphone. A mobile site which any user can access no matter what device they have needs to be implemented.

People with communication barriers or slurred speech have difficulty speaking with drivers who do not understand English. WATS Drivers really do need to be able to speak excellent English as this makes the situation stressful for the passenger and driver.

Some parts of the different disabilities that passengers may have, may involve them not being able to tell the driver where to go and give directions. It needs to be policy that every WATS vehicle has a GPS and the driver has training on how to use them properly.

Eftpos machines in WATS vehicles generally don't have long enough cords and therefore passengers sometimes have no choice but to reveal their pin number so the driver can process their payment.This is an invasion of privacy, and needs to be addressed.

Wait times are too long. Some people I have spoken to have had to wait up to 1 hour for a WATS vehicle.

If the pick up address is the passengers home, and the passenger is not out the front when the driver arrives, they need to knock on the door to let the passenger know they are there. Just because they are not out the front, does not mean they are not there. There may be a number of reasons why the passenger cannot wait outside. When the driver knocks on the door, the driver needs to be patient, due to our disability it may take us a little longer to answer the door, so don't assume we aren't there because we don't answer straight away.

I have had other passengers tell me that drivers switch on the meter before they begin the journey while the driver is strapping the wheelchair in. That can sometimes add at least $10 or more onto the fare. This is unacceptable.

Drivers need specific training in the safest way to strap in the wheelchair. Their vehicle should also not be allowed to accept wheelchair jobs unless they have all four restraining straps and seat belt. If a passengers wheelchair is not strapped in properly, this puts the passengers life at risk.

When traveling interstate, passengers should not have to explain to drivers what the 'interstate docket' is. I have had many incidences where drivers have refused to take the docket because I am not from their state or territory and they have had no training in what to do with interstate dockets. Passengers should also be able to request as many dockets as they require. 10 dockets per 7 days is not acceptable.

GO: I know you've all got something to say, so tell me your experiences!