Thought as there may be a few people here that flew JQ today, it might be worthwhile everyone sharing their experiences.

Well, my first JQ flight started nice and early, getting sequence number 3 for the 6am MEL-LST. Boarding started late, with the FA doing the boarding announcements, having to check with one of the pax as to what the flight number was. On boarding, your sequence number was taken and crossed off the sheet, all manually done. Original load was meant to be around 50, but with 28 paxs showing for the flight, we were delayed while the load sheet was redone, and everyone was asked to move to the front of the aircraft. Once airborne, service was acceptable, but nothing flash. Biggest problem seemed to be the FA's trying to figure out the little electronic point of sale thing. Not a bad flight, and made more personal by the small load. Myself and a couple of others did a quick interview for ABC tassie, about why we took the flight.

The flight back was a fairly full. Boarding was a bit of a mess with everyone charging at the gate, and the guys at the gate struggling to keep up. Flight back was also OK. Service with two carts this time, and as the crew had done the sector down, they had some idea of what the were doing.

Given the events of today, i would probably fly JQ again (i am next week) but would try to get QF just for the SC. Im sure after a few weeks, service standards will improve as everyone gets used to the new brand. One thing f note was that the orange jackets that turned most people off, were not worn during the flight, only at the beginning and end, so yes you can sleep without the need for wearing sunnies.

Cheers

Cheers for that view on the flying sardine can, I Imagine the FA's were quite happy to get off the Orange asap

From the last line of a Jet* article in today's Sydney Morning Herald:

"But at Melbourne Airport today the red and white Jetstar 717s were arriving full and on time"

red and white?

Selective colour blindness

Jq802 BNE to ROK
Boarding began on time but there was a bit of a scrum at first, nothing an ex rugby lad like me could not handle though.
The TV cameras caught the moment for posterity.....maybe me and Ray will be sharing space on Channel nine tonight. (Again...)
As we went through boarding we were given a lovely hat by a F/a. The bloody thing is white with "JET*" on the front.
(How does Dave Noble get his star?)
I was boarded in first 20 passengers as my sequence number was 15, ie I was number 15 to check in.
Of course I was stuck behind mr and mrs slow...Mr commented that it was there first time on a plane....
Got seat 16 f exit row on the right side, 2 x 3 seating
Only 5 passengers were seated in the the two exit rows, with passengers scattered over the length of the plane, Interestingly, noone sat in the first two rows.
We took off 7 mins late and had the obligatory shower under the fire trucks as we taxied out.
The F/a's were selling breakfast, but could not work the palm pilot style device for credit card payments, so each person who offered a C/C got their breakie for nothing. Keep this in mind if you are flying in the next day or so.
The rest of the flight was uneventful, as I had my trusty Ipod, Ben Elton book and no neighbour.

There you go. I was on a virgin flight of J*.

Cheers
Iain

Some changes down the QP end of T2 yesterday afternoon - there were actually some people about now that J* are using that area. A "Starchucks" open since last week too. Noted they announced boarding for J* flights in the QP which is nice. I was still happy to be with flying QF though.

Just spoke to staff at T2 QP, who advised that they will make one - and one only - announcement 30 minutes before the flight is due to depart - note, NOT 30 minutes before anticipated departure time. So if your DeathStar flight is delayed by 30 minutes, then the boarding call in the QP will be 60 minutes prior to actual departure.

Dave

(From SYD T2 QP)

Curious to know if you can buy tea or coffee on Jet*.

If you can, it actually puts them ahead of many QF flights in WHY where it is no longer offered or available. On a recent SYD-MEL evening flight I asked for a cup of tea and was given a can of beer to shut me up. If the cup isn't in the snack box then you can't even buy tea or coffee on QF!

The FAs actually said they thought it was stupid too but they couldn't do anything about it.

Maybe we should start a new thread titled "What QF flights actually serve Tea & Coffee in WHY these days?" I know I've been on 3 flights in the last month that don't.

Apparently, you CAN buy tea or coffee on DeathStar - although why any true QF FT'er would prefer tea or coffee over a free beer is beyond me.

From what I hear (NOT from personal experience) is that you get a cup of water and either a tea-bag or a sachet of coffee, and you get to make it yourself.

Dave

That is entirely true Dave, the lady in the row in front of me ordered coffee and recieved a paper cup of hot water and one of those coffee bag thingumies, that kinda looks like a big tea bag.
Why can't someone invent an onboard expresso machine?
4 short blacks and I am flying faster than a 717!!!

Cheers
Iain

I've flown on maybe 20 SYD-MEL sectors this year and always had the cup either on the half tray of death or the box of death. I can't imagine a flight without one or the other. What annoys me though is that SOME snack flights on cityflyer get a box and tea/coffee service, while others get a full drink service (ie: yes, I can have a coke..). I mean at 1500 I might want a cold coke. Just because QF calls it "afternoon tea" does that mean I can't have my coke?

FYI, a cup of coffee on J* will set you back $2.50. I was a bit disappointed in the soft drinks selection though, with J* going for the Pepsi range over the Coca Cola range of drinks. And $3 for a pepsi!!! I dont think so.

Cheers

"If you can, it actually puts them ahead of many QF flights in WHY where it is no longer offered or available. On a recent SYD-MEL evening flight I asked for a cup of tea and was given a can of beer to shut me up. If the cup isn't in the snack box then you can't even buy tea or coffee on QF!"

There must have been a sound business decision to drop the tea / coffee run. That's fine by me because I reckon there would have been a large (huge) number of unused plastic cups that would be thrown out with the food scraps. The volume of waste material and associated costs must have risen sharply with the "enhancement" to plastic cutlery in the misguided guise of security.

You are assuming that all the used plastic cutlery is being discarded and not repackaged for reuse on another flight .

I'd love to hear what really happens, but I reckon the boxes with food scraps and unopened cutlery bags just get chucked. Too hard to spend time ensuring the bags are not contaminated by fingers, food, grot etc. I would love to hear that the process is for each used plastic weapon to be cleaned, dried and repackaged. Alas, a dream me thinks.