Jetstar flight cancellations - is this normal?

It still astounds me that people who pay half the price of a full service carrier expect the same service and punctuality

I had Jetstar cancel a Melbourne-Newcastle flight after I had gone to the airport and checked in - about half an hour before boarding time, from memory. It was late in the evening and my only choice was to rebook on QF's last flight of the day to Sydney and get a rental car from there (I snared the last available one). Despite having let me down, Jetstar still baulked at refunding the return portion of my fare! Learnt my lesson -- have never again used Jetstar or Tiger for any flight where I need even a smidgen of reliability.

If Jetstar was half the price of Qantas then it might have a value proposition. The reality is that once you start adding in all the "extras" you end up about three quarters the price for about a third of the value.

I had this happen to me once with JQ on a flight from Syd to Mel. They let me know 24 hours beforehand and let me choose any flights that day to be rebooked on. They also gave me a $10 voucher for the hassle (better than nothing).

My JQ CHC-MLB flight last Saturday morning (5:50am departure) was cancelled for engineering reasons. I only found out at the airport, after getting up at 3am to be at the airport on time. However I have no complaint with the way JQ handled it. Firstly, they rebooked me on the next morning's flight to MLB (another 3am start!); they gave me a $10 food voucher so I could have breakfast at Christchurch airport; they booked me into one of the more salubrious hotels in Christchurch; and they paid return transportation to and from the hotel. The hotel booking was effectively for two nights so that I and other affected passengers could get a room (and sleep) immediately on arrival at the hotel instead of having to wait until the normal earliest check-in time of 11am. They also re-booked my connecting JQ flight from MLB-LST. In the event, the next day's CHC-MLB flight was also cancelled so they put me on their CHC-SYD flight (similar departure time). The only thing JQ didn't cover was the $6.10 it cost me on the train between Sydney International Terminal and Sydney Domestic Terminal. Fortunately I did not have any commitments to keep, so while all this was an inconvenience yet I felt JQ's response was highly commendable and made the situation not only bearable, but almost enjoyable.

It's perfectly normal! I'd never risk JQ for any travel at all. I learnt that lesson 10 years ago.

Originally Posted by Doubleplatinum

I don't think he expects that at all, he just expects to get what he paid for. We all do.

Forget travel insurance, it won't get you there on time. The responsibility is with the airline