To the money-savvy people our there, here's a post based on my recent experience that will potentially save you some coffee money up to the hundreds when travelling.
Jetstar has a
price beat guarantee and offers 10% lower price to a competitor (think Tiger). Here are 2 key conditions which you need to make sure you can get the discount
1) Flight is within one hour of jetstar flight
2) Booking is one way only. ( i wanted to do a round trip flight, but since my return leg is not at a lower price, i have to book them separately)
Before you go any further to get your lower priced ticket, I must let you know that it is definitely not the easiest process. The first thing that you should give ample thought is - is it worth it to save that tens of dollars for a stressful booking session that you will undergo if you make that call.
My point on the inconvenience of having to book 2 separate one-way itinerary instead of one round trip is but just one of the many ways in which the experience was made very, very bitter. If you have decided that the cost saving is worth it, read on.
How to
1, Identify the flight you want to pursue for the 10% price beat deal. It would be handy to have both the Jetstar booking page as well as the competitor booking page up for easy reference. Important info to take note are the flight date, timings and price
2. Call Jetstar based on your location. Click
here for list of numbers
3. Press 1 for location and 4 for booking enquiry (Might vary according to your location).. Save time and effort by pressing the number quickly and maneuver to talk to a customer service officer.
NOW, here is where the stress begins. The whole phone call experience can get you hard if you are not prepared. Here, I have a noble purpose to pre-empt you such that you would not feel the frustration i felt. And I hope no one would ever go through what I did ever again. The frustration in getting the price beat guarantee stems from a number of factors:
1. Customer service reps with poor command of English that will piss you off. For example, they can repeat what you said and... silence. My experience was.. the rep said, "yes sir, the price is indeed higher and you qualify for the price beat guarantee." and then.. it was silence for one minute. Apparently she had no idea that yes, I would like to book the ticket please.
You need to be very clear in instructing them what you want to do, be prepared.
2. Repetitive clarifying. The reps would repeatedly clarify what you said. You would also encounter efforts to try to cut you off. My experience was that the rep assumed that I have not decided on my itinerary and told me, " Sir, it seems you have not confirmed your itinerary, would you please confirm your flight and call back again? OK bye" Cheap shot.
3. Putting you on hold Don’t be put on hold, you will wait for a few minutes and get cut off. Request to just be left hanging.
Even as I write, I can recall the frustration i felt.
Further tips to save
You would be subjected to the credit card fee of $8.50/pax for your outbound flight. Well, if you are booking for 4 people, its a total of $34 saved.. You could save this amount by paying at 7-11 or the SAM machine.
I would recommend using SAM for payment. It seems to be the easiest method and no possibility of service charge will be incurred. AT the Singpost SAM machine, click on "Shop at SAM" "Travel" and jetstar will appear.
At the end of the day, nothing can beat the low price. But I can never stress again, for the amount of cost saving, is the effort worth it?
