Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > World Forums > Australia and New Zealand
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 03-29-2009, 09:56 AM
 
9,912 posts, read 13,873,770 times
Reputation: 7330

Advertisements

I'm currently hunting for some cheap airfares to the Gold Coast and have been looking at all the different domestic airlines.

I've found some great prices with Jetstar and Tiger but I've never flown them and don't know what to expect.

I have flown with Qantas and VirginBlue and in recent years have found the experience not entirely worthy of the extra price tag (I'm still missing Ansett ) so I'm wondering if I shouldn't just get the cattle class ticket and suck it up for a couple of hours for the flight.

Does anybody have any experience with flying domestic and some of the cheaper airlines? I'd really appreciate the feedback.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 03-29-2009, 11:34 AM
 
9,327 posts, read 21,964,410 times
Reputation: 4571
My experience with Tiger Air:
1. crowds at airport.. get there early.. though this could be because Darwin airport is smaller and they had less staff available?
2. be sure you weight your luggage correctly going, and estimate coming back (when on holiday on tends to buy things) as you pay a higher fee for excess luggage at the counter versus the internet
3. my 2 flights were delayed, not sure if this is par for the course
4. its worth the extra money to buy a premium seat (exit row or first row).

Other than that once on board its no different from say Jetstar. Tiger is owned by Singapore Air so I had no fear of safety on board, and they have to meet Aussie standards.

I've never flown Jetstar domestic (only international) as I fly Qantas or Virgin Blue domestic. So perhaps someone else can chime in about Jetstar.
And if anyone has experience with Tiger Air.. I'd love to hear it and see if they have changed. I last flew Tiger over a year ago.

Last edited by minibrings; 03-29-2009 at 12:28 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-30-2009, 12:59 AM
 
9,912 posts, read 13,873,770 times
Reputation: 7330
Thanks mini!

This is all great info and much appreciated.

Were the crowds specific to Tiger? I've not been to Darwin airport so not sure what the set up is.
I guess I'm wondering if there were queues and delays for all airlines or if it was just a Tiger thing. They claim on their website that they're on time 90% of the time.

I've not flown Jetstar yet either but I've seen some of those poor sods stuck out at Avalon when things have gone pear shaped and I'm not sure I would want to play that game.

It's really hard to know. I mean I suppose as a consumer with most things I'm brand loyal but we're not really encouraged to be that way anymore I don't think AND I think I'm just a little bit nervous about branching out and trying new things when it comes to airlines. It's a little more serious than discovering that Mighty Mite doesn't even come close to Vegemite, if you know what I mean.

The only VirginBlue I've had was Melb to Syd so not really long enough to pose to many serious issues anyway and it was a great flight. I was most impressed.

My last interstater was Bris to Melb with QANTAS and to say I as underwhelmed would be an understatement. I actually informed them then that I would be seriously reconsidering my airline choices in the future based on their efforts that day. I've always been a huge Qantas fan both Domestic and International but I'm starting to feel like they're running it into the ground so it can be sold off. That said, the airbus trip from Melb to LA last year was AWESOME!

Other than those two, most of my other domestic flights have been with TAA or Ansett! So I'm a little behind with my domestic airlines.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-30-2009, 01:13 AM
 
9,327 posts, read 21,964,410 times
Reputation: 4571
the line was for the Tiger flight! they did not have enough staff at the check in counter, both instances!

Quote:
Originally Posted by moonshadow View Post
Thanks mini!

This is all great info and much appreciated.

Were the crowds specific to Tiger? I've not been to Darwin airport so not sure what the set up is.
I guess I'm wondering if there were queues and delays for all airlines or if it was just a Tiger thing. They claim on their website that they're on time 90% of the time.

I've not flown Jetstar yet either but I've seen some of those poor sods stuck out at Avalon when things have gone pear shaped and I'm not sure I would want to play that game.

It's really hard to know. I mean I suppose as a consumer with most things I'm brand loyal but we're not really encouraged to be that way anymore I don't think AND I think I'm just a little bit nervous about branching out and trying new things when it comes to airlines. It's a little more serious than discovering that Mighty Mite doesn't even come close to Vegemite, if you know what I mean.

The only VirginBlue I've had was Melb to Syd so not really long enough to pose to many serious issues anyway and it was a great flight. I was most impressed.

My last interstater was Bris to Melb with QANTAS and to say I as underwhelmed would be an understatement. I actually informed them then that I would be seriously reconsidering my airline choices in the future based on their efforts that day. I've always been a huge Qantas fan both Domestic and International but I'm starting to feel like they're running it into the ground so it can be sold off. That said, the airbus trip from Melb to LA last year was AWESOME!

Other than those two, most of my other domestic flights have been with TAA or Ansett! So I'm a little behind with my domestic airlines.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-30-2009, 01:23 AM
 
9,912 posts, read 13,873,770 times
Reputation: 7330
Quote:
Originally Posted by minibrings View Post
the line was for the Tiger flight! they did not have enough staff at the check in counter, both instances!
UGG!!!

Ok, well that doesn't sound like much fun. STILL they are VERY cheap AND it's not a long flight to the Gold Coast.

Was there entertainment on the flight?

Refreshments?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-30-2009, 01:58 AM
 
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
24,606 posts, read 55,868,160 times
Reputation: 11862
Yeah I've flown all the domestic airlines, and have to say apart from Qantas they're all on par. Virgin is maybe a little better than Tiger and Jetstar, but still decidedly budget.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-30-2009, 06:40 AM
 
Location: Sunshine Coast, BC
10,781 posts, read 8,706,300 times
Reputation: 17780
I've only flown Jetstar once, it was fine. My dad's flown with them often. Half the time it's fine, the other half, not so fine. Delayed flights with no indication/warning. Useless websites that aren't updated, same with the recorded phone messages. A pain for people getting to the airport on time to pick you up only to find you're not due for hours.

I still tend to lean towards Qantas for most of my flights, especially internally. Whenever I've flown within Australia lately, the fare difference wasn't that much between Qantas and Jetstar, and I always have this "you get what you pay for" thing that scares me off of real super cheap deals. When we lived in Vancouver we flew to San Diego on a new discount airline. We got to SD fine, but the airline went out of business 3 hours before our flight home (we had two very young kids at the time). It's made me paranoid since.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-30-2009, 07:01 AM
 
9,327 posts, read 21,964,410 times
Reputation: 4571
Quote:
Originally Posted by moonshadow View Post
UGG!!!

Ok, well that doesn't sound like much fun. STILL they are VERY cheap AND it's not a long flight to the Gold Coast.

Was there entertainment on the flight?

Refreshments?
you paid for food but soda and water and juice was no charge. Don't remember if there was a charge for alcohol.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-30-2009, 08:52 PM
 
9,912 posts, read 13,873,770 times
Reputation: 7330
This is all great info folks, thank you!

I think we're going to dive in and give Tiger a go just because it's a shortish flight and really cheap.

I feel nervous!

I'm like you Vichel, very much leaning to Qantas, they just seem to be getting more and more expensive and the service worse and worse.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-30-2009, 11:20 PM
 
Location: Sunshine Coast, BC
10,781 posts, read 8,706,300 times
Reputation: 17780
Quote:
Originally Posted by moonshadow View Post
...I think we're going to dive in and give Tiger a go just because it's a shortish flight and really cheap. ...

I'm like you Vichel, very much leaning to Qantas, they just seem to be getting more and more expensive and the service worse and worse.
Yeah, it's a short flight and if there's no connecting flight to worry about, then all the better. You'll be fine.

I think it's just a sign of the times, great airline service & reliability falling by the wayside, and becoming the exception rather than the rule.

Departing and arriving on time, with my luggage, while not being treated rudely is about the highest I expect traveling cattle-class. Any more and I reckon I'm just setting myself up for disappointment and misery.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > World Forums > Australia and New Zealand
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 05:39 AM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top