Jetstar offers baggage-free discount
Steve Creedy, Aviation writer | February 12, 2008
JETSTAR will offer a discount on its fares to passengers who travel with carry-on baggage only.
The airline announced today that it was introducing a new Jetsaver Light product that would offer a $10 discount on domestic routes and charge $20 less on international flights to passengers who did not have checked baggage.
It supported the launch with a 1 cent one-way sale on six routes, including Sydney-Melbourne-Avalon, Melbourne-Hobart and Brisbane-Newcastle. The fare is the lowest ever offered by an Australian carrier but just 5000 are available and only to the airline's e-mail subscribers.
Jetstar chief executive Alan Joyce said the new fare product would provide a fresh incentive to take a short leisure break or business trip on the carrier's expanding network.
"Many of our customers want the choice to travel for leisure or work with no checked-in baggage, and as our airline achieves real cost savings through this decision, we believe a lower air fare should be passed back as the trade-off,'' Mr Joyce said
"JetSaver Light gives our customers for the first time the choice to travel with carry on luggage only at even lower prices. Offering more choice to customers, allowing them to pay for only the services they value when flying Jetstar will, we believe, stimulate even greater demand for travel on our network."
The carry-on discounts are not available on fares to Japan or the US.
What they are really doing is charging for checked baggage! Talk about spin? This is start from the text written by Aer Lingus - nothing original from Jetstar. Next move will be to offer, just like Aer Lingus, a discounted baggage rate if purchased on-line two hours prior to departure. Why the 'no baggage discount' does not applky for travelk to the US and Japan?
Clearly, one cent fares inclusive of taxes and surcharges are being peddled at significantly less than the cost of production. Is this predatory pricing and an offence under the Trade Pratices Act?
Lastly, how could anyone possibly put a value on any of the 'services' offered by Jetstar as 'service' seems to be an oxymoron when applied to this mob.
