‘Goodbye Jetstar’: Reactions to the airline’s new fee are in as hopes it will backflip fade
Exclusive: Jetstar’s plan to charge customers for overhead baggage has proven unpopular with Australians, but hopes that the airline would backflip on its Wednesday announcement following the public outcry appear to be dwindling.
The majority of nine.com.au readers oppose the new fee and believe airlines shouldn’t be allowed to charge for services that used to be free, according to an exclusive survey.
It revealed that 69 per cent of readers are against Jetstar’s overhead baggage fee, and 19 per cent feel neutral about it.
The charge would see customers pay up to $52 for a Priority Carry-on spot on a one-way flight and is set to kick in next February.
“I think it is disgusting that Jetstar would even contemplate charging for putting anything into the overhead baggage bins,” one reader told nine.com.au.
“If Jetstar goes ahead with this, I will not travel with them, end of story. Goodbye, Jetstar.”
Others called the charge “pure greed” and said it would only serve to alienate Jetstar customers, with one respondent predicting the airline will “lose millions” as travellers flock to Virgin or Qantas instead.
Several readers were adamant that Jetstar will see the backlash and scrap the unpopular fee to prevent a mass exodus of customers.
“Airfares are very high at the moment, and this will make things worse. There will be a backflip,” one claimed.
Industry experts aren’t so sure.
Flying without baggage may be the only option for some travellers unwilling to fork out for an overhead spot. iStock
Many international low-cost carriers in Europe and the Americas already charge customers for overhead baggage, and Australia’s domestic airline duopoly means Jetstar doesn’t exactly have a lot of competition.
So while its overhead baggage fee might not be popular now, Aussie travellers will likely come to accept it over time.
“Internationally, we’ve seen that while these types of baggage fees are often unpopular at first, consumers eventually adapt to these sorts of pricing changes,” travel commentator Adele Eliseo previously told nine.com.au.
“Commercially, this move creates another opportunity for Jetstar to grow revenue from a service that passengers previously received as part of the ticket price.”
Only 12 per cent of nine.com.au readers are currently in favour of the new fee.
“Good on Jetstar for clamping down on the overhead lockers, the amount of stuff people bring into the cabin so they don’t have to pay checked bag fees was ridiculous,” one said.
Another speculated that Jetstar must have grown tired of “selfish passengers” trying to bring too much hand luggage on flights and crowding the overhead bins.
“Actual charges might be a way of alleviating this problem,” they said.
But even the readers who are on board with Jetstar’s new fee don’t seem keen on paying more than the price of a Maccas small cheeseburger meal for overhead baggage.
Nearly one in five said they’d only be willing to pay up to $10 for overhead baggage on a one-way flight, while 11 per cent said they would pay between $11 and $25.
Less than five per cent of respondents are willing to pay more than $25, and the rest aren’t willing to pay at all.
In fact, 71 per cent of nine.com.au readers were so incensed by Jetstar’s announcement this week that they feel airlines should be banned from introducing new charges for services that used to be free.
That includes ‘extras’ like overhead baggage and seat selection, which were previously included in the price of most airfares.
“Airlines need to simply include all fees in the ticket fare, all these different add-ons is getting ridiculous,” one said.
“Just be transparent with the actual fare instead of luring people in with lower fares just to add on and inflate the actual travel cost.”
But Eliseo confirmed airlines are well within their right to charge new fees for these sorts of services, and will likely continue to do so.
“We’ve already seen airlines monetise seat selection, extra legroom and fare bundles,” she said.
“Over the next few years, we can expect airlines to continue to identify more services that were once included in the airfare and repositioning them as optional extras that customers will need to pay for.”
The nine.com.au poll, which runs once a fortnight, canvases the views of the Nine audience on Idea Xchange, which is an online community of our readers and viewers. Learn more and sign up here.
