I had to go to Sydney last week and because Qantas has seen fit to dump Jetstar on passengers who live on the Gold Coast I had to fly with them.
I was unaware of their stupid system until it was too late! Who thought up the idea that it is a good idea to have a free -for - all in seating arrangements?
I was actually bringing back a relative who needed me near her and when waiting to board in Sydney I was unaware of the utmost importance of having to tell the staff of said relative's problems ( so much for privacy ). We sat until everyone had boarded, or just about, and got on the plane only to find out that there are no seat allocations and it's first in, best dressed and so we were not seated together. I had attempted to get us to the front when the call for people who needed assistance was announced but there were too many people standing around for us to get through and one man said " in a f... hurry are ya lady" so I went and sat down with my relly but not until I had told this person what an uncouth yob I thought he was, of course it did no good but it made me feel a whole lot better.
Does it not occur to these yuppy head honchos of these organisations that there are people who need assistance but may not physically look like they do?
What is the point of no seat allocation? Does it save money? NO, it does not - so why then have it? It was years ago when I had three small children and hubby and I boarded a plane in Amsterdam with them in tow only to find that we were all over the plane. This meant that the little one of 3 yrs was by himself as were we all. Not good even if the flight is only 3/4 hour.
Anyway back to Jetstar.....
In case any of the brains of the organisation read these pages, I for one will not take a flight with you again unless this situation is rectified. I am fortunate in that I can just as easily get to Brisbane and get some other aircraft so it does not really matter but if you are going to be a low cost airline why not just get rid of something else and save money ..... your management for one!

I think they make a terrible mistake in misreading the market with this sort of stupidity. The vast majority of the travelling public are looking for good value airline travel, not "cheap and crap".
The ridiculous hard-line they have taken on "cut off times" at check-in counters is also a cause for annoyance for many former Jetstar travellers.

To add to this for those thinking of flying Jetstar is their policy of not allowing you to get on the flight if you have not checked in 30 minutes prior to departure, regardless if you are in the check-in line for ages. They simply will not let you on. This occured to a lady and her family at Newcastle, NSW. They were stuck in a slow moving check-in line and when they got to the front they were 5 minutes past the deadline so they were refused the flight that they had tickets for. What is worse is the flight was delayed and all the other passengers were just sitting around waiting. The flight was 20 minutes delayed but still this family was not allowed to board.

I don't think I will be travelling Jetstar anytime soon.

Cheers

Paul_S

Easy Jet operate a similar policy in UK.Although those that check in first are given a number and those first 30 or so passengers have the first choice of seats. If you check in last you get whats left.
I was within the first batch last time I flew with them and it was chaos as everyone dived for the gate. They were then told to sit back down if they didn't have the first batch of numbers.
Why that wasn't announced first I will never know. Anyway I understand the jetstar issue, its quite pathetic and you are quite right to wonder how much does it save...nothing. I guess in the long run they lose because the more customers they p**s off the less they will have left to worry about.

Unfortunately common sense is something that these companies seriously lack.
Ok its no frills but there must be a minimum standard of service.
I doubt very much if any of the head honchos would lower themselves to discover what their customers really want so liz please don't hold your breath waiting.
And if all else fails, you could always set Alan and MargoOz on them. ;-)

Muck

Liz, I read your post with interest, then turned on the TV and saw tonight's item about the Jetstar plane taking off from Hamilton Island which had a "near miss" with another Qantas plane coming in. This, apparently, was REALLY a near miss, as in taking avoiding action, Jetstar managed to hurl passengers around quite a bit, and one of them interviewed commented that suddenly they were on their side and looking at the ocean, which was coming up... fast. No one hurt, but a lot of people quite shaken, not the least because the captain and crew made NO explanation, no announcement, nothing; they acted as though the incident had never taken place. Consider your resolution (never to fly with them again) a good precaution for ensuring that you're still around (and feisty) a decade from now!

Sounds like an interesting airline.

Southwest here in the U.S. has had a free seating policy for a long time. Despite requests from business travelers asking them to have assigned seating, they have stuck by their philosophy. While I personally hate it because I fly so much on business, some customers swear by it, and of course Southwest is quite succesful.

In fact, there was a recent article that people are finding "love" on Southwest Airlines by scanning the gate area for potential partners, following the person onboard, then plopping down next to them. The plane takes off, trapping the person next to you, and voila...love is in the air.

Sounds like an interesting way to pick up men/women, but I'll just be boring and stick with assigned seating.

Oddly, Southwest here in the US has been doing that for ages. They're one of the few airlines to be still comfortably profitable, and many people swear by them. They don't fly out of my local airport, and I've only used them for short hops. I guess it's OK if you know what is going on and are used to it.

crazymina,
Your post made me laugh! I've just watched a show on Aussie TV(last Saturday night, actually) that discussed a lot of the nostalgia about the Aussie flight industry.
In the last segment of the show, they interviewed a couple of current female flight attendants and asked them about a "secret code" that they seemed to share.
"Is BOB on board?" seemed to be the question. The answer was really funny.

Apparently, the female flight attendants DO have a code that they use. The "BOB" they were referring to, was "Best On Board" ie. the best-looking male passenger! Bet "old BOB" got good in-flight attention!

Re: Jetstar. Don't think I'll ever 'go there'. Mechanical devices that propel you 30+ thousand feet into the air just shouldn't be operated by organisations that run them like buses,I reckon.
Just MHO.
The Qantas/Jetstar incident over Hamilton Island is definitely an ATC or pilot problem. Nothing to do with the airline itself.
Possum

Both Hawaiian and Aloha have open seating for their Hawaii interisland flights. Passengers queue up about an hour in advance. So you get to the airport, stand in a long line to check in, then another long line for security, walk to your gate and have to immediately go to the line for boarding.

I think SouthWest's reasoning is that the plane boards faster.

I believe that in WW2 people had to queue for food, petrol and everything else but I see no reason to do that now and I cannot see how having a free for all makes boarding any faster.
As for the incident at Hamilton, I presume that they have an air traffic control person somewhere around the place and therefore I would suppose that the blame will be put in their lap for the near miss. The worst of it was though that no explanation was made to passengers and that, I think, is a serious error on the part of the airline. Having been a flight phobic for years ( now in remission ) caused by two nasty incidents which were not dealt with at the time by the airlines concerned 1/ fire in one engine of a 2 engine aircraft and 2/ taking off with Air NZ in a force 9 hurrican from Hong Kong when no other plane was coming in or going out - my conclusion being that the pilots had a suicide pact on - and watching while the plane taking off starts to go down halfway in the climb. I too feel somewhat apprehensive about an aircraft being run like a bus as I would only need another little problem to set the whole nasty flight phobia thing off again. It is very embarrassing to have to have 2 Hosties sitting either side of you with their arms crossed over your body to keep you from getting up and running to the door, although I assume that some of the males on this forum would dream of something like that happening but their luck could be that it was 2 male stewards!

Yes, and supposedly saves Southwest money too. They usually board families and anyone who needs assistance first, so you don't often run into the issue that Liz had. Plus I've noticed that you can always find a passenger who will move to accommodate if it helps someone in need.

Still, I hate the cattle call...but it is worth the savings on short flights.

Possum, that doesn't surprise me at all about the "BOB"

About Southwest in the US...I fly them a great deal on business, and one thing I can say is that, in MY experience, the staff has been overall nice and fun. This makes a huge difference (no yobs that I've met) . Also, they don't have a 30 minute departure rule, and the don't just open the doors and let you in. They have an A B or C designation based upon check in time. Honestly I don't mind them one bit but they are definately budget.

You're right Thyra...Southwest's staff is more upbeat than United's any day. Although with United in the shape that it's in, I can't say it surprises me to get surly flight attendants from time to time (although lately it seems it is everytime.)

Well, I won't be flyin Jetstar - does Virgin Blue have a better reputation (I hope)?

Virgin Blue are okay but make sure that you buy your snacks and drinks before boarding the plane cause Virgins charges for everything once your onboard.

The incidences mentioned here do not surprise me for much of it exists in Canada (not Air Canada but their budget offspring). If you read the fine print (pages of it) carefully you will find in most cases these situations are dealt with. I found this out when I started to read the fine print AFTER 50 years of air travel.

For example, at least one budget airline in Canada charges $10 for a prebooked seat and another airline I think charges $25 (does that answer your question?). Since no amount of complaining is going to change this right away, better read your fine print. Also for check in times (you do get warned) and get to know how to use the robot check in computers to avoid long lineups.

My moto is "never, never leave home without it." That is, if you want a preconfirmed seat (you know, what you used to get for free) then pay for it until things change. And on regular airlines never, never conclude your reservation without having an assigned seat. And if it's not printed on your ticket, call back and ask for a seat number. If they won't give you one ask why.

Meals, forget it if you are on most budget airlines here. Read the fine print and take a sandwich.

Isn't SOUTHWEST (US) featured on a tv program called AIRLINE?

PS. My daughter, husband and child did not bother to pay for confirmed seats on vacation to Cuba. Since the plane left about 5 am, they had to check in 2hrs. early (international flight) and were warned to arrive 3 hrs. early because of unconfirmed seats. In the end they decided to stay at a hotel close by the airport with a shuttle, arriving at the airport three hours before takeoff! $75 saved on a $4000 vacation? Pity. But they learned.

JetStar's strict late check-in policy didn't win the heart of one passenger who reported in a letter to the press last weekend that she'd been 5 minutes late due to a slow-moving JetStar check-in queue, and forfeited her ticket. Then all the passengers sat around twiddling their thumbs because the flight's departure was delayed 20 minutes.

Regardomg Virgin Blue flights, ours from Sydney to Launceston, Tasmania, and from Hobart to Cairns, and Cairns to Sydney were exce;;emt flights with friendly attendants. I liked the leather seats. We were more than satisfied.

Now I'm thoroughly depressed!Have booked four places to Tasmania for next January on Jetstar especially as , although two of us are mobile, two of us aren't. Also one of them is afraid of flying! I forsee disaster! The price was reasonable so I guess you get what you pays for!Oh dear!

Peteralan, it's probably premature to get depressed. One general observation I'd make is that I'm constantly running into people who'll "never fly (airline X) again" on the basis of one lousy experience. But you can have lousy experiences on every airline in the world.

The other point worth making is that many more people will complain about a bad experience than take the trouble to praise a good one.

I'd have to agree, though, that JetStar hasn't got off to a great start. Virgin Blue seems to have the advantage of a strong customer service ethic and unique identity instilled by Richard Branson. JetStar is a response by the Qantas monolith to a competitive threat and this could colour their corporate identity and attitudes. One thing they won't want to do is to improve their customers' experience to the point that it begins to cannibalise the parent company's business. I would think that that will tend to put a ceiling on their service ambitions.