Jetstar
8,607 reviews
AI reviews summary
The overall sentiment regarding Jetstar is overwhelmingly negative, with recurring descriptions of the airline as "unreliable," "exploitative," and "lacking in basic empathy." While a small minority of passengers praised specific staff members for assistance with medical or disability needs, the vast majority of feedback focuses on a business model perceived to be built on hidden fees and systemic service failures. Significant recurring issues include last-minute cancellations without compensation and aggressive baggage weighing at the boarding gate.
Pros
- Exceptional Individual Staff: Several reviews highlight specific ground and cabin crew members (e.g., in Sydney and Adelaide) who went above and beyond to assist elderly passengers or those with medical emergencies and disabilities.
- Assistance for Reduced Mobility: A few passengers reported positive experiences with wheelchair and scissor-lift assistance, noting that staff were helpful and courteous during these specific processes.
- Newer Aircraft on Specific Routes: Some users noted that the newer A321neo aircraft felt modern and clean, even if the seating configuration remained a point of contention.
- Occasional Operational Efficiency: A small number of reviews mentioned flights departing on time or arriving early, with smooth boarding processes when systems were functioning.
Cons
- Aggressive Baggage Enforcement: Extensive complaints focus on "gate ambushing," where staff weigh carry-on bags and personal items (like handbags or duty-free) at the last second, charging exorbitant fees (frequently $75–$120) for being slightly over the 7kg limit.
- Frequent Cancellations and Delays: Numerous reports describe flights being cancelled via text or email just hours—or even minutes—before departure, often attributed to "engineering" or "operational" issues, leaving passengers stranded without accommodation or food vouchers.
- Inaccessible Customer Support: Users consistently flag the offshore call centres and AI chatbots as useless, reporting long wait times, frequent disconnections, and staff who are unable or unwilling to escalate issues or provide refunds.
- Poor Cabin Comfort and Amenities: Multiple reviews criticise the "cattle class" seating, describing rock-hard, non-reclining seats with no legroom, alongside the fact that basic necessities like water, blankets, and entertainment are only available for a high fee.
Verdict
Jetstar is described by many as a "bait and switch" service where low initial fares are quickly eclipsed by aggressive baggage fees and the high cost of rebooking after frequent cancellations. While it may suffice for short, no-frills domestic hops for those with minimal luggage, the high risk of being stranded or "gouged" at the gate makes it a source of significant stress for families, international travellers, and those on strict schedules.
We paid a staggering $5,270 AUD (including one luggage)for return tickets (2 adults, 1 child) and received shocking service. When we asked for water, the flight attendant claimed her bottle was empty, yet immediately turned around and used it to serve the row behind us. When a fresh bottle arrived, she ignored our second request. After an hour,… Read more
another crew member approached us to buy food. Desperate for a drink, we bought items assuming water would be included, but the attendant ignored our third request to focus on making other sales. It took **two full hours** just to get a single cup of water.
The issues are systemic. On the leg to Bali, the lavatories were terribly managed with massive lines (1 lavatory for larger group) and so congested you couldn't stand up straight. Older reviews prove these issues are constant. Jetstar won't change due to their monopoly, but they have officially lost future business from me, my family, and my friends.
An embarrassment to our nation. This carrier manages to employ the worst staff Australia can offer. It is a total embarrassment to our nation and our tourism. Deceptive marketing and fee structure, flight cancellations with no reimbursements. Gaslighting staff with cero manners or respect to customers. Most people do not realize that is not… Read more
cheaper to use this airline as there are many hidden costs. In my experience premium airlines are actually much better deal. I have banned myself, my family and friends from using Jetstar.
Don't know where to start from, I booked a flight to Sydney from Melbourne, got very sick contacted jetstar immediately and told them. They told me if I could get dr certificate and lodge a refund. I did everything right. Over 20 days later still not received my refund contact multiple times and all what I get your refund on the way. Then contact… Read more
again and one of the jetstar member told me that they can't refund me the money they only can do voucher. Which I don't want it. And I got it in writing that they proceed my refund etc. Anyway Long story short im taking this matter legally and i would never ever fly with jetstar ever again.
Reviews with attachments
Bad experience face while travelling to Perth from Melbourne airport. Show details
Jetstar lost my bag 6 weeks ago and is weaponising a fake police loophole to avoid paying." Show details
I really just dont like the turbulance as it is on a plane its normal and it can be so scarey, at that tuesday flight was, That the lady next to me was holding onto me, very tight which i really didnt mind as she was screaming a little and i helped calm her down But what i really dont like is when the pilot and flight attendents dont warn you or… Read more
apoligise for this happening.. its the 4th plan in 12 months no one says anything why is that ???
The other thing is when 20mins into the flight i was really sick when i saw the dirty lights above me,,, it looked like blood over them.. It really alarmed me and totally made me sick in the dunny ( frightened me ) i know its extreme yes but it wasnt nice to look at it as it was all red like blood They should be all cleaned also
Rescheduled or bumped off the list! Could this be the case??? Am I assuming yno? Here goes: Flight rescheduled (01,10) by 10 minutes via email notification for flight at Xmas Airline declined to put me on a early flight citing policy 1hr policy Rescheduling and changes to my flight often happens to me as I am a regular flyer with airline this… Read more
is a issue
Due to fly out (24,11) Xmas eve asked I be compensated for this dollar value
I am making a current claim dollar value as I made successful claim and won against the airline in the past once for almost $699
Where a flight was cancelled but airline did not acknowledge the travel insurance I had talken out
This airline needs to reflect and show accountability to customers and honour their customers tickets and schedules
I planned months in advance for this and am organised so why is the airline not organised
I am after some money via a claim Disappointing particularly round Christmas
Give customers a fair go
- +1
Don’t fly Jetstar – We flew Jetstar flight 57 to Bali in December 2024. The flight was supposed to take off at 7:20am AEST and was delayed until 8:30am. Then they boarded everyone and we sat on the plane in the airport until about 9am instead took off at around 9:05am. They did not tell anyone why it was delayed. There was no inflight entertainment and they turned… Read more
off the WiFi, and also the meals were expensive. Since the flight was delayed, we missed our ferry over to Nusa lembongan and had to wait another 3hrs. We definitely don’t recommend flying Jetstar, even though they’re cheap it’s probably not worth it. Also the baggage reclamation was slow.
On 2 Jul 2026 I travelled on JetStar JQ654 flight from Melbourne to Canberra. While keeping my suitcase on the overhead locker, my left little finger got scratched and blood started coming out. Cabin Crew (Airhostess) was close by and suggested that she get band aid. Very nice of her. However, in spite of repeated reminders, she got it after 10 to… Read more
15 minutes; all this while I was pressing the wound with the thumb of right hand to stop the blood.
Such inefficient and callous attitude specially during medical emergency is not acceptable.
JetStar must review their medical assistance policy. Thanks
My little brother that is on the spectrum called up for the first time and the jetstar lady made fun of him laughing, muting herself and ending up hanging up on him. They sent us this email and that was it. Thanks Jetstar
I have always fly with Jet star all the time, from Perth, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne. From Check In to Arrival at the destination with effortless Travel. I even made friends with cabin crews and pilots for that matter of how the flight was superb. However, Today, i had o drop off my sister and brother in Law from Sydney airport … Read more
arrival in to Nadi Int Airport this afternoon.. To be Honest Arrival into Sydney Terminal excited when greeted by the lovely Lady who was at the front of the entrance into the checking In line. And when we reached the counter we were served by a lady and i believed who was a Muslim and her name was Raima or Naima and was a very tentative Listener but not very helpful at all. I had prepared the luggage to suit the 3 suit cases totalling up to 47 kg per passengers. Eventually upon calling on line to ask the previous day, the lady that Served me was Chin ron the call Centre i believed, said that it was okay to combine the weights of both passenger into three luggage as she said it was okay to do so. We arrived at sydney airport this morning with the same arrangement that was approved bu Chin on the phone the previous day which was on Monday the the 25/05/2026. Cut the story short, the lady that served us kept aying that we were over the weight and had to pay or buy two plastic bags and take out 1 kilos and pack it in this two plastic bags... which we did not intend o do. As first we cant buy anything else and secondly, why when they both have a total of 94 kilos in total was what i purchased on their behalf through the phone. They arrives into Nadi only to find out that the three suit cases did not arrive at all his afternoon on their flight... and whats worst was, my brother in law was on a wheel chair with Dialysis, heart problem, asthmatic and stomach cramps when he is stressed out and also missed his medication. One of those suitcases has all his prescriptions and medicine and pills and his sickness depends those suitcases thats did not arrive into Nadi Airport in Fiji this afternoon. I made another call as they called me from fiji stating that none of the suitcases arrived and. He needs his medicine (pill) upon arrival.. which did not happened as expected. So i made calls and only to be told that it will take a whole day for the investigation. I am totalling against this procedure, especially when you fully paid for the services and it was not executed and delivered as expected. My Brother in Law life is in The Jetstar's Jurisdictions as you know that the suitcases was not uploaded into the aircraft and you should be transparent with us and tell us openly rather awe realised it upon arrival nothing was uploaded from sydney. SO I LETTING YOU KNOW THAT BECAUSE OF THIS SERIOUS CASE, I HAD LODGE THIS INCIDENT WITH MY Lawyers and THEY WILL BE Contacting THE JETSTAR LEGAL REPRESENTATIVE...REGARDING This issue.
INTERNATIONAL area at Perth Airport with almost no staff around to help? Around 10 of us were waiting at T2 from 10:45am with nobody at the booth, no proper info on domestic boards, and we only found out after running between terminals ourselves. Then your staff acted like it was our fault and support wasted 2 hours just to “open a case.” Absolute mess of an experience. Do better. Also who da phuc have domestic flight on international rows? Show details
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We had purchased extra legroom seats; however, these were not provided. While I understand that operational changes can sometimes occur, such changes should be communicated to passengers in advance. However, instead: 1. There was no notification regarding the seat change. Considering that Jetstar can send 100 emails regarding constant change of… Read more
flight time, they should be able to send one extra message regarding seating changes. The lack of communication resulted in unnecessary confusion when attempting to locate seats that did not exist.
2. The staff was rude. When approached a female flight attendant to kindly clarify the seats, the interaction was not handed in a nicest way.
3. I believe it would be appropriate for refunds to be processed automatically when a paid service is not delivered. Instead, customers are required to initiate the refund themselves. The customer service representative on live chat who assisted with my refund was extremely kind and helpful, and I appreciate their support. However, the last thing one wants to do after returning from holidays is wasting the time on live chats, chasing the refund.
Overall, this experience resulted in a waste of time and avoidable frustration, which could have been prevented with clearer communication and more proactive service. The lady sitting in the seat next to us told us, that she not only did not get extra room seat but also had been separated from her husband. At least, I could still sit next to my partner. We booked extra leg room for a reason, as my partner is very tall and does not fit in a ridiculously small room Jetstar basic seats have. Imagine sharing the seat with a stranger...
disappointed service .. at hobart international airport ..australia.. They charge $85 just for 2kg.. if i ask them to take my stuff back.. she just argued and says just 30 seconds left for your flight.. lady name [Name Removed] .. worked at hobart airport Show details
Unprofessional and unreliable. Flight cancelled on morning of leaving. ‘Operational issues’ - during a busy school holiday period. This is a poor business model. Such a disappointing company. Is this the best Australia can do? Show details
An absolute disgrace for their customer service. Price gouging all the way. My original booking cost $518 for 2 adults return flights in total, not for just 1 person and not just one way. Tried to add my child to my flight and was quoted over $1k to change the flight booking in addition to what has already been paid. I am totally disgusted by Jetstar. Show details
Latest follow-ups
Became a member, booked a flight. Tried to add 20kg to the flight booking (not flying for another 3 days). 1.5 hrs online with a AI and a human - they luggage payment wouldn’t show up on the cart. The old to use diff browser - tried 3! Sent to call… Read more
‘customer service’, 4 attempts to pay with credit card. Was told by 4 different ‘customer service’ people 4 diff reasons it want to working. Did everything they said. Told to cache browsers, did that! Told to download App - no thanks. Automated payment on their phone customer line wouldn’t take my cried card but apparently I was “lying” after 2 hours I said delete the luggage - forget it!!! They were awful! They were rude, they weren’t consistent, and didn’t listen, put me on silent I’m pretty sure bc after answering another “what’s your flight number” it would go silent and I’d have to ask “are you there?”. It’s cheap and NASTY! And they couldn’t even be bothered to offer anything like an upgrade, free 20kgs or something ven a cuppa tea for the wasted 2 hours!
Follow-up · Unfortunately, it didn't get any better. Three flight attendants chewing gum, was awful to watch the safety brief with that going on the whole time. Landed, waited to get off, went to the back of the airplane down the flight of stairs, as instructed, then another flight of stairs UP to get into the airport, was told off by the Jetstar grew on the… Read more
On arriving at the hobart airport i checked in only to find my boyfriend had booked my ticket using my name i go by, rather than my legal first name (eg; lizzy, instead of elizabeth) Whilst i appreciate it was his mistake, it cost us 176 dollars on… Read more
top of the fare we already paid , in order to change the name on the ticket. It took less than 5 minutes for them to do it but gouged us anyway. As a disability pensioner who saved for years to afford this holiday to come home and it cost almost two hundred dollars extra over an administrative mistake is so upsetting, thats months of saving to make it up on my income. They screw you every way they can .
Follow-up · The service was terrible. They made us wait over half an hour " checking" if they could change the name on the ticket. It was cheaper to just cancel the ticket( no refund) and buy a new one. If there was actually competition , id choose to not fly with them ever again. Probably wont ever afford a holiday ever again anyway.
Well I booked flights from Melbourne to Brisbane and I call up got told I don’t have flight from Melbourne then they made me buy another flight then I got 2 different text messages and I call back they told me is my fault after told I got not flight… Read more
and I won’t be getting a refund and they try to twist my words and simply told me I lost the money . I take them to consumer affairs. I never flight with them never again I heard they trash but I said I only fligh to Brisbane. Well I haven’t even got on flight . Can’t wait see how [Content Removed] will be
Follow-up · Is Not follow up I have to take father so I ring up to check my tickets and this id*ot tells me as the call is recorded I only have one way ticket and makes me after sped $380 to buy another ticket $252 and they only want refund part because I took different flight at they advice and he also said to me he will find me a good deal to find out b4 I… Read more
Positive reviews
I would just like to say a big thank you to the lady on the enquiry counter who went out of her way to help me with my booking very impressed with service as well as the other staff who helped with my luggage Show details
Thank you so much to Ana at check in Sydney domestic Wednesday 6th May Ana was so professional so polite Thank you so much again for all your help. Thank you staff for having such a wonderful team member. Kind regards, Michelle. Show details
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I recently travelled from Adelaide to Melbourne and back, and due to a knee injury I was required to request priority treatment with regards to wheelchairs and scissor-lift access to the plane. I can't speak highly enough about how helpful and courteous the Jetstar staff were in regards to this, bot h at the terminals, and on the flights… Read more
themselves. Thanks guys for making what could have been an uncomfortable journey, into an enjoyable experience! Will be flying with you again for sure....
Negative reviews
I would never ever recommend any1 yhis Airlines due to poor service about refund its cancelled flights. This Airline tries to force coupon on customer instead of giving their money back which is not acceptable at all because noone would travel with Jetstar after first terrible experience then what is the usage of coupon at all. Oneside, this… Read more
Airline wastes customer time for 6 hours at Airport then the it also forces customers to accept the vouchors. The customers should complaint about this behaviour to Airline consumer complaint department and Fairtrading aswel
Before we flew to our destination, we wanted to add baggage online. Anytime we tried to add the baggage it would come back as $0 and wouldn't add the baggage. So, when we went to the airport we explained this. They didn't care and told us we had to pay $89 for 7kgs more. We did this. Before we flew back home, we called Jetstar to ask why it… Read more
wouldn't let us add the baggage online. They didn't know how to fix it. They transferred us through to the specialist team who also couldn't help us. All they did was try to charge us more than what it said it would be online. We thought maybe out of good will and all the troubles we went through they would discount our baggage or provide it for free. But they were useless. Will not be flying Jetstar anymore, you get what you pay for.
Ripped off at the gate. 1kg over between 4 bags/2people and got charged 85 AUD. I travel everywhere and I find this ridiculous. I will try to avoid flying Jetstar in the future. Show details
Recent reviews
Inflexible, unhelpful staff at check in. My family was already at the counter to check in from AKL domestic to ZQN but because i missed the carpark shuttle and i was 5mins late, she refused to check me in even though it was before the closing time that my family was checking in because she needed me to be physically infront of her. She could have… Read more
told my mum to tell me to check in online when i still had time and not tell her to tell me i had two mins to make it to the counter. Online checkin wouldnt need my face either. Could she not have process the check in and give me a couple mins more when there isnt much a difference from doing an online check in or using the self-check in machine?! Spoiled my family’s mood. And the aircraft even arrived late. 1030H was the TAKEOFF time but the boarding only opened at 1045H. Never ever booking jetstar again.
I recently returned from South Korea . I was genuinely disappointed with the airline experience. I was travelling on a group tour with TripADeal. If I had known in advance that the flights would be with Jetstar, I honestly would have reconsidered booking this particular package. My first concern was the onboard customer service and meal… Read more
arrangements. Throughout the flight, I felt that passengers who had not pre-booked meals received very little attention from the cabin crew. Each time I wanted to purchase food, I had to wave someone down and ask to order. After quoting me the price, I had to explain that I was travelling with TripADeal and believed meals were included. Only then did the crew check their system and confirm that I had a $15 meal voucher.
This raised two questions for me:
Shouldn't the cabin crew already know which passengers have meal vouchers or meals included before the flight begins, rather than requiring passengers to explain this themselves?
Why is the meal allowance only $15 on an international flight of more than 10 hours?
What surprised me even more was that the onboard menu appeared to be exactly the same as the menu offered on Jetstar's short domestic flights. For my $15 voucher, I received a small beef lasagne, approximately 6 inches by 4 inches. That was the entire meal. There was no dessert, no complimentary soft drink, tea or coffee, and nothing else included. If I wanted anything additional, I had to purchase it separately.
For a long-haul international flight of over 10 hours, I found this to be extremely disappointing. Over the past 15 years I have travelled internationally with many different airlines, and in my experience, full-service international carriers generally provide two complete meals, together with complimentary tea, coffee, soft drinks and, in many cases, alcoholic beverages. By comparison, Jetstar's meal offering and overall onboard service fell well below what I would reasonably expect on an international journey of this length.
My second concern was the repeated flight delays. Our flight from Incheon to Sydney was delayed, and the connecting flight from Sydney to Melbourne was also delayed. In total, the delays added up to approximately six hours. From speaking with other passengers, I understand that those travelling onward to Brisbane experienced similar delays as well. While I appreciate that delays can sometimes be unavoidable, the overall experience was frustrating and added unnecessary stress to the journey home.
Jetstar is the most incompetent company when it comes to dealing with handicapped people I will never fly with these crap again the caused me so much drama mentally and with my disabled spine as soon as you are out of the plane smiles and care is gone Show details
Worst staff experience I’ve ever had today at Melbourne airport Check in desk around 11:45am. The staff member did not know how to speak to customers respectfully, and the interaction was very disappointing and unprofessional. Show details
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Why is Jester doing this to me? I paid my money for my luggage to be safe and delivered to where… Read more (+1 reply)