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THE ALVIATOR'S VERDICT
Jetstar's A320s have very comfortable seats and a very good (paid) pre-order meal selection, though no power ports or WiFi, similar to many low-cost airlines in the region |
4.0
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As part of my trip where I flew six airlines to Phuket, one of these airlines was Jetstar Asia. I’d never flown Jetstar or any of their affiliated airlines before, so this was an exciting first for me. Also, in my quest to compare intra-European low-cost carriers, it was nice to get some intra-Asian ones in the mix, as I’m also hoping to review some intra-Asian leisure carriers in the future.
Compared to many European counterparts, I was quite impressed by Jetstar Asia, with comfortable seats, friendly service, and tasty buy-on-board meals. The airline doesn’t have WiFi, though neither do most of their competitors (their rival Scoot only features WiFi on 787s).
Booking My Jetstar Asia Flight
I booked my Jetstar Asia flight as part of an itinerary on Qantas, where I was flying from Phuket to London Heathrow via Singapore. Qantas has far cheaper fares in all classes ex-Thailand and other Southeast Asian destinations, compared to out of Singapore direct to London Heathrow. While a one-way premium economy ticket would’ve cost >£1,500 (HK$15,000) in premium economy one-way from Singapore, this itinerary from Phuket to London Heathrow via Singapore cost me THB 33,920 (HK$7,893/£770).
My itinerary was as follows:
16/02 Jetstar 538 Phuket – Singapore dep. 21:55 arr. 00:50+1 [Standard Class]
17/02 Qantas 1 Singapore – London Heathrow dep. 23:25 arr. 06:15+1 [Premium Economy]
As you can see, the above itinerary left me with just under a full day in Singapore. So really the itinerary cost me THB 33,920 as well as hotel room charges on top in Singapore (which is almost never cheap), though I got a full day in Singapore out of it, which I really enjoyed.
Jetstar Asia Ground Experience in Phuket
Unfortunately my Jetstar Asia experience started on a low note when we posted a 2h 15m delay a day before we were scheduled to depart. I was particularly unenthused about the fact that this was originally a 10 PM flight and I only had a single night in the hotel I’d booked myself, so I was looking at a short night in Singapore. However, there wasn’t much I could do about that, and I ended up spending some of the extra time I had at the Phuket Airport Hotel, where I enjoyed a swim.
By quickly scouring through Jetstar Asia’s departures, the airline doesn’t have a particularly bad operational reliability – it was just our flight that was delayed at the time, and in fairness we were notified quite far in advance.
Despite the delayed departure, check-in still started 2h 30m before our original scheduled departure, at 7:25 PM. I didn’t have much to do around the airport, so decided I might as well check-in, make my way through immigration, and hang out airside.
I hadn’t been to Phuket Airport’s international terminal, which opened in 2016 (my last time at the airport was in 2015). While large and sleek, it was clear that the airport required a further expansion due to the volume of traffic. They’re working on a project due to be completed in 2025.
Phuket Airport Check-in Hall
Even when booking as a Qantas premium economy fare, Jetstar requires your carry-on baggage and personal item to not exceed a total of 7 kg. While they weren’t particularly strict, I didn’t think I would’ve gotten away with around ~16 kg total of carry-on baggage and large backpack.
So I ended up checking my carry-on, which was straight-checked to Heathrow – despite having a night in Singapore on my itinerary, I wasn’t able to short-check my bag there.
Jetstar Asia Check-in at Phuket Airport
Security was slightly chaotic, but didn’t take any more than 10 minutes. Our gate was originally scheduled to be gate 15, which was around the duty free area of the airport. Despite the fact that the terminal was aesthetically quite nice, I couldn’t help but find it impractical how little “seating space” there was by each individual gate, as passengers had to congregate around duty-free stalls while waiting for their turn to board.
Gate 15 Phuket Airport
Then we were moved to bus gate 81, located one level below the main concourse. Wow, what a different vibe. This area had much lower ceilings and was jam-packed with people, and the gates were once again far too close to one another to allow any form of breathing space.
Phuket Airport Gate 81
Then around an hour or two before our revised departure time, our gate was changed back to gate 15.
One thing I noticed at Phuket Airport was the complete lack of tables of any sort for working. There weren’t many power ports either, which was disappointing for such a new terminal.
At 11:35 PM, our boarding passes were scanned and we were welcomed into a holding area. This started with those who had purchased an exit row seat, then followed by those who’d purchased upfront seats.
Booking Qantas premium economy meant that I got complimentary seat selection, including for exit row seats. So I chose seat 13A, an exit row seat around halfway through the plane, which came with priority boarding.
Phuket Airport Gate 15
Obviously having a delay so late at night isn’t pleasant, though some passengers were particularly disgruntled, with one passenger openly stating “never again”. Another passenger in the gate area was a little chirpier – he was travelling from the U.S. throughout Southeast Asia, and was asking a Singaporean fellow passenger what his recommendations were in Singapore.
Our inbound aircraft arrived at 11:42 PM, almost 2h 30m late. This aircraft was 9V-JSI, a 13-year-old A320 that had flown for Jetstar Asia throughout its lifetime.
Jetstar Asia A320
At 12 AM, we were finally allowed to board our flight for Singapore, 2h 5m after our scheduled departure time.
Jetstar Asia Flight 3K538
Friday, February 16, 2024
Origin: Phuket (HKT) Gate: 15 Dep: 21:55 (00:35+1)
Destination: Singapore (SIN) T: 4 Gate: G8 Arr: 00:50+1 (03:15)
Duration: 1 h 55 min (1 h 40 min)
Aircraft: Airbus A320 Reg: 9V-JSI
Seat: 13A (Standard Class)
Jetstar Asia A320 Cabin and Seat
Jetstar Asia’s A320s are configured very similarly to their Australian “mainline” counterparts, with 180 seats in a 3-3 configuration.
Jetstar Asia A320 Interior
I’ve gotta say, these were some of the most well-padded seats I’d ever experienced in a low-cost airline. I got to try out one of the standard economy class seats, and while legroom wasn’t generous, I didn’t have an issue with it, especially considering these planes fly fairly short routes (there was no seatback pocket, however, so you’d have to use the smaller literature pocket above the tray table to store anything).
Jetstar Asia A320 Seat Legroom
However, rows 12 and 13 were exit row seats, which had a ton of extra legroom. Without bringing a tape measure onboard, I’d estimate that legroom was at least equivalent to 35″-36″ seat pitch.
Jetstar Asia A320 Exit Row Legroom
Each seat also featured a small amount of recline.
Jetstar Asia A320 Seat Recline
Despite being an exit row seat, the tray table still folded out of the seat in front, and merely extended further out than you’d expect in a normal seat.
Jetstar Asia A320 Tray Table
The cabin crew came over to brief all exit row passengers on what to do in an emergency. They didn’t mention anything about the seatback pockets, and also seemed happy for me to place my laptop in the literature pocket in the seat in front, which I appreciated. Obviously all bags in the exit row have to go in the overhead bins, though that wasn’t an issue for me.
Jetstar Asia A320 Seatback Pocket
While these planes are comfortable, they don’t have power ports or WiFi.
Jetstar Asia A320 Lavatory
While I’ve seen Jetstar planes with bright orange lavatory walls, unfortunately this aircraft featured a boring, bog-standard A320 lavatory.
Jetstar Asia A320 Lavatory
Taking Off from Phuket Airport
I won’t dedicate a section to crew on this post, though Jetstar shared some of the qualities I’ve appreciated about Qantas – everyone was friendly and eager to please. Despite the late departure time and the fact that the crew were doing a direct turn back to Singapore, they were happy to chat to passengers about their travels, and were courteous upon all interactions.
The flight went out full, and all seats around me were occupied, with a mother and son seated next to me. Boarding was completed at around 12:25 AM, and at 12:35 AM we pushed back from gate 15, 2h 40m after our scheduled departure time.
A safety demonstration was completed, followed by the captain coming onto the PA. He apologised for our delay due to “fleet constraint management”, and said that he’d get us to Singapore “efficiently and safely”, with a flight time of 1h 5m.
Pushing back from Phuket Airport
The cabin lights were dimmed before takeoff.
Jetstar A320 Cabin during Takeoff
At 12:40 AM, 2h 45m after our scheduled departure, we finally took off from runway 09, turning right shortly to head southbound to Singapore.
Taking Off from Phuket Airport
The cabin lights stayed down for most of the flight. In this case I felt I’d made the right choice choosing row 13 (or row 12) ahead of row 1, as the bright orange Jetstar-branded screen stayed on throughout the flight.
Jetstar Asia A320 Cabin
Jetstar Asia A320 Buy-On-Board Meal
On this late-night flight, Jetstar first served all pre-order options, then went down the cabin with a buy-on-board cart, which not many people indulged in (as they were asleep).
Jetstar Asia provided lots of pre-order meal options on their “Manage My Booking” page. The options available on my flight were as follows:
I decided to pre-purchase a meal on this Jetstar flight, which set me back 484 THB (£10.91/HK$112). I chose the beef rendang with nasi putih (white rice), which was absolutely delicious – the flavour packed a punch, and the beef itself was quite tender as well. I don’t think that the meal was worth shelling out for, though I was very happy to be receiving it. The meal came with a complimentary bottle of water, which came in handy, as the meal itself was spicier than I was expecting.
Jetstar Asia A320 Meal
There’s a small selection of hot onboard meals available for selection:
Jetstar Asia A320 Food Selection
The rest of the onboard café menu read as follows:
Jetstar Asia A320 Menu
Meals onboard many Southeast Asian low-cost carriers match what I’d call a “very good” economy class meal, and in this case it also provided some great local flair. However, if you’d want to eat on your Jetstar flight, I’d highly recommend pre-ordering, where the options are significantly better (and more varied) than they are onboard.
Landing into Changi Airport
Due to the lack of WiFi or streaming entertainment, I just opened my laptop and did some light work for the remainder of the 1h 5m flight time. Near the end of the flight, the crew came back to collect rubbish, including my meal box.
I’ve never appreciated the over-water landing into Changi Airport enough, though had my eyes glued to the window on this approach this time, as it was a clear evening. You could really see the city skyline in the distance.
Landing into Changi Airport
We touched down onto runway 02L at 3:05 AM, before doing a 10-minute taxi to Terminal 4 and parking next to another Jetstar Asia A320.
Jetstar Asia A320 at Changi Airport
I’ve been through Changi Terminal 4 a couple of times since, though this trip marked my first time ever into the airport. I made it through the arrivals hall in no time, especially since I’d filled out the MyICA form earlier.
Changi Airport Terminal 4 Arrivals
I even had a chance to quickly check out the departures hall prior to my Grab to my hotel for the evening.
Changi Airport Terminal 4 Departures Hall
Conclusion: Jetstar Asia A320
Jetstar Asia’s A320s are good to fly on short flights. The seats are among the most comfortable I’ve had on a low-cost airline, though there’s no WiFi or streaming entertainment of any sort. This flight was also my intro to buy-on-board meals on southeast Asian low-cost airlines; I found the meal I ordered very tasty, and the full menu had lots of local flair.
I’d say Jetstar Asia can be good value if you’re just flying it point-to-point intra-Asia, though it certainly was good value for driving down the total itinerary cost from southeast Asia to London Heathrow.
