It’s not too often that I cover news about Jetstar but I thought I would as this change is one that’s surprisingly not negative, it’s actually quite positive and I’m sure it’ll benefit some readers. Low-cost carriers are renowned for charging passengers for pretty much everything and when they do, they’re usually very strict in doing so and aren’t always very lenient, especially with baggage allowances.
On basic Jetstar tickets, you’re given a 7kg carry on allowance free of charge, on flex tickets, you’re given an allowance of 14kgs but those tickets obviously do cost more. This is pretty good considering airlines in the United States like Spirit, Frontier and even United on basic economy tickets will charge you just for that bag alone.
In 2018, the Qantas owned LCC gave passengers the ability to purchase an extra 3kgs which meant you could take up to 10 kilograms onboard with you but the in the past few days, they’ve actually increased that allowance by double.
You’re now able to purchase an extra 7 kilograms of baggage which can start at $19 but that price does change depending on the route you’ll be taking.
To purchase the extra baggage you require, you’re able to do so when you first make a booking on the Jetstar website but also entering your details in for your flights on this page.
Of course with most things, there are a few restrictions as to which routes will NOT allow the extra carry on baggage to be purchased, here are the following routes:
New Zealand
- Auckland – Raratonga
- Auckland – Melbourne
- Auckland – Queenstown
- Christchurch – Melbourne
- Melbourne – Queenstown
- Auckland – Gold Coast
- Christchurch – Gold Coast
- Gold Coast – Wellington
- Gold Coast – Queenstown
- Auckland – Sydney
- Christchurch – Sydney
- Sydney – Queenstown
- Auckland – Napier
- Auckland – Nelson
- Auckland – New Plymouth
- Auckland – Palmerston North
- Nelson – Wellington
Indonesia
- Adelaide – Denpasar
- Cairns – Denpasar
- Darwin – Denpasar
- Perth – Denpasar
- Melbourne – Denpasar
- Singapore – Denpasar
Fiji
Sydney – Nadi
Jetstar operates 3 different types of aircraft, the A320, A321 and 787-8. To find out all of the routes Jetstar operate with their 787, check out Finder’s article here.
Overall this is I’m sure going to be beneficial to a lot of passengers but I can imagine this will make finding overhead space even more scarce than it can be on flights during peak times and especially ones that are full. I can also say that the airline will probably be a lot more observant and wanting to weigh bags now even more than before.
