Our next leg was Sydney to the Gold Coast, flying Jetstar.
It was a short flight, but there was one thing I paid a lot of attention to while booking it, and I think this is particularly important if you’re travelling internationally with a family.
Don’t look at the headline ticket price and assume that’s the cost of your flight. With low-cost carriers, the ticket is really just the starting point.
The baggage trap
The basic Jetstar Starter fare does not include checked baggage. You can add baggage while booking, later through Manage Booking, or at the airport, but airport purchases can cost more.
This is where I would strongly recommend doing the calculation before you book.
If you’re travelling as a family of three and you know you’re going to have, say, 20 to 25 kg of luggage per person, buy that allowance upfront.
In our case, we bought enough baggage allowance for all three of us. We had roughly 75 kg of checked baggage capacity across the three tickets, so we had no problems at the airport.
And that made a huge difference.
Because the last thing you want after an international trip is to reach the domestic check-in counter and discover that your bags are over the purchased allowance. You then have to start rearranging bags, moving things around and potentially paying excess-baggage charges.
Jetstar states that excess baggage is charged per kilogram, and airport baggage charges can be higher than purchasing baggage in advance.
My simple rule: if you know you’re going to check bags, buy the capacity before you reach the airport. And don’t rely on being given a few kilos of leeway. Buy the baggage capacity you actually need rather than hoping the airline will overlook it.
Why we chose Flex Plus, and why it was worth it
This is where it gets slightly confusing because Jetstar has several fare and bundle combinations. For the fare structure applicable to our trip, the main options included:
- Starter: The lowest headline fare. Checked baggage and seat selection are extra.
- Starter Plus: Includes 20 kg checked baggage, standard seat selection and a meal, snack or in-flight voucher.
- Flex: Adds more flexibility around changing your flight and includes standard or upfront seat selection, but checked baggage is not automatically included in the current Flex bundle. You can add it separately.
- Flex Plus: Includes 20 kg checked baggage, more seat-selection options and food and drink benefits, along with greater flexibility.
There are also other bundles on selected routes.
We ended up booking Flex Plus, and it turned out to be the right call for a family booking. Two things about it stood out in practice.
The seat selection meant we could actually choose to sit together as a family instead of leaving it to chance and hoping the airline would seat us as a group. With a short domestic flight and a child travelling with us, that mattered more than I expected.
The in-flight credit that came with it was a nice bonus too. We used it to pick up a few juices and quick snacks for the three of us during the flight. Nothing fancy, but for a short flight, it was a small convenience that made the whole booking feel like better value, not just a higher fare.
So when comparing fares, don’t just compare Starter at one price against Flex at another. Instead, compare the full picture: ticket plus baggage plus seats plus food plus flexibility. That’s the number that actually matters.
And because Jetstar changes its fare products and inclusions from time to time, check the exact inclusions shown for your own flight when you book. Jetstar itself says the inclusions can vary by route, aircraft and flight duration.
The flight itself
Once we got through check-in, the experience was actually quite good.
The flight was on time, and for a relatively short domestic flight, there wasn’t much to complain about.
One small thing I did miss was a proper seat-back pouch. There wasn’t really a convenient place to put even a small water bottle, so I ended up keeping mine on the floor between my feet. It’s a tiny thing, but these are exactly the little conveniences you notice when you’re travelling with a family.
And then came the best part of the flight
The approach into the Gold Coast was beautiful.
We had some rain and a stormy sky around the airport, but then the sun started breaking through. From the aircraft window, the combination of the wet runway, clouds, ocean and coastline looked fantastic.
And then we got another little travel experience that my daughter absolutely loved.
We walked off the aircraft directly onto the tarmac. No aerobridge. No airport bus. Just stairs down from the aircraft and a walk across the apron into the terminal.
It had been a very long time since I’d experienced that, and I think it was probably the first time for my daughter. She loved it.
The bigger lesson
Jetstar is a low-cost carrier, and I think the experience makes much more sense when you approach it that way. You get to decide what you actually need.
If you’re travelling light, the basic fare may work. If you’re travelling as a family with checked luggage and you want to sit together, a bundle like Flex Plus can end up being better value than it first appears once you add up what you’d otherwise pay separately for bags, seats and food.
Work out your total baggage and seating requirement before booking, and compare the final price of the different fare and bundle combinations rather than just the headline number.
For our family, having the baggage sorted and seats selected in advance meant we could simply walk into the airport, check in and get on with the trip. And after a long international journey, not having to fight with luggage or seating at the check-in counter is worth a lot.
The Gold Coast was waiting. And judging from the weather outside, it was going to be an interesting few days.
A quick note on carry-on rules: Jetstar’s carry-on policy has changed over time and is due to change again, so I’ve kept this post focused on checked baggage and fare bundles rather than carry-on weight limits, which are worth checking directly on Jetstar’s site closer to your own travel date.
