FHST

Qantas owned Jetstar strands me in Darwin without even a call or email. Qantas then tries to charge me an extra $1000 to fly home today. So I book with Virgin on principle
Today Qantas refuses me access to the empty lounge at Darwin airport.
Gold member treatment from Qantas!

Seat 2A

Um... I think you'll want to post this over at the Qantas forum, mate.
Better luck with your future flights!

Mwenenzi

FHST Welcome to FT

If you have QF gold status, you must fly QF/JQ or Oneworld airlines a reasonable amount.

Far more details are needed.
Why/how did JQ strand you in Darwin?
https://www.darwinairport.com.au/#

You only get departure access to QF lounges if flying QF/JQ and have status or in business class. QF Plat/Plat 1 get arrival access.
A VA flight will not get you QF lounge access.
A QF flight will not get you VA lounge access.

JQ & QF operate as separate airlines (when is suits QF, which is most if the time)

Ocn Vw 1K

FHST, welcome to FlyerTalk! Please follow the thread as it moves to the Qantas forum. Ocn Vw 1K, Senior Moderator

luftaom

I assume that you were on the cancelled JQ671 in the early hours of this morning.

The fact that there are so few flights into Darwin means that when there is a cancellation it's often very hard to get out - particularly on JQ where they have at most 1 flight a day to Sydney. If you need to get back to Sydney you often get stuck as you did needing to buy another ticket on the early afternoon QF/VA departures and wearing the difference between your JQ fare and whatever the last minute fare on QF/VA was.

My experience of living in Darwin for 4 years and doing the Friday night DRW-SYD redeye ~40 times a year was that it was always a good idea to have a look to make sure that the late evening departure from the East Coast had departed on time and had not been cancelled. If there was a cancellation getting on the phone to QF/JQ to see if something could be sorted before everyone else on your flight found out was the way to go. I managed to convince JQ to put me on the morning DRW-ADL service with a connection to SYD.

Sorry that you got unlucky.

moa999

And this is the problem with LCCs.

It's a cheap flight when it all works.
You understand why it was a cheap flight when it doesn't.

JamesBigglesworth

There's a reason one nickname for them is OneStar. I've had a couple of experiences with them that has left me simply refusing to fly them anywhere, whether in Australia or anywhere else they operate.

Dave Noble

I do not know what happened with the Jetstar flight ; I would be surprised if it refused to book you on a later flight if the flight was cancelled

Did you have travel insurance that would protect in this situation?

You chose on principle to book on Virgin ; when doing this you should have known that benefits associated with Qantas Gold status would not apply when travelling on VA

The treatment that you received is exactly what any Qantas gold member travelling on virgin should get

og

QF is a totally separate entity to JQ - inspite of the "Qantas Group" displayed on the JQ aircraft (or used to display). No chance that QF will take the initiative and take JQ pax incase of IRROPS. QF or VA etc will only accept pax if JQ does a deal with them and pays (most unlikely). If JQ cancels, they will put you on the "next available" JQ aircraft. AFAIK JQ also provide accommodation if the delay is overnight. A "rescue" flight may take a long time to get to DRW - to go on another carrier (QF, VA, TT) means you (or your insurance) pays. Otherwise sit back and have a relaxing time in DRW airport ...

OT: Does the Aviation Club bar still exist? It used to be a haven

AustralianPoochie

Just have to read a website called Don'tFlyJetstar to get an understanding of the whys it gets people mad, the airline is the bane of a lot of people on there.
I am not surprised at what the OP got, as its happened to me, at least in my case, they did sms to my Au mobile the flight I was on booked on (JQ Au Dom) was cancelled, in 3.5 hours in MEL.
I couldn't do OLCI 24 hours prior so I had an inkling something was off.

og

On one occasion I haven’t achieved OLCI, but I was in an exit row.

The later in the day that you choose to fly JQ the greater the chance of problems.