QANTAS & JETSTAR: $19 airfares & triple points [UPDATED]

ALL the Jetstar AU$19 fares were sold within 4 hours of them becoming available. There are still fares on Jetstar available at reduced prices, but nothing at the AU$19 fare level.

Qantas appears to have hiked most of the fares on which it is offering tripple points. An example is a fare Sydney to Adelaide on 27 July. A week and a day ago, this was available for AU$156. A week ago it was AU$180, and yesterday it was AU$214. So in short, you are paying for those extra points.

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200,000 seats are being discounted by Qantas and Jetstar to kick-start their domestic recovery. Qantas is also offering triple points on all domestic flights from 27 June to 31 October 2020.

But wait, there’s more

As well, you get these without change fees, should you need to ammend your flying dates. But you will have to cover any change in actual airfare price.

Jetstar mid-year EOFY sale?

You will need to book these Jetstar fares from 9am on 19 June and 22 June 2020. Cue a website frenzy!

“We know that these low fares will encourage even more people to get on a flight to take a short holiday or visit family and friends. We’ve already seen our flights from Sydney to Cairns fill up on the days after the proposed Queensland border opening date of 10 July 2020, so we’re adding more.”

Alan Joyce, Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce

Qantas will give you triple points

If you book a Qantas domestic fare between today (19 June) and 24 June, then you will also earn triple points for travel between 27 June and 31 October

“As the national carrier, we have an important role to play in driving tourism and reviving the industry that has been devastated by COVID-19. There are one million people who work in tourism across Australia. The entire industry, from hotel providers to small tourism operators, are struggling to make a post-pandemic comeback.”

Alan Joyce, Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce

This is astute marketing that should help the Qantas finances return to a semblance of normal.

COVID-19 arrangements

Expect a different check-in and flight experience, with no lounges open, contactless check-in and boarding, and limited inflight service, whether in economy or business.

But unlike some USA airlines, Qantas will not be attempting social distancing on aircraft, like leaving the middle seat free, or only selling 60% of seats.

Passengers already doubling

Qantas is reporting that passenger numbers have doubled over the past week – from 32,000 to 64,000. Qantas sees this trend continuing, especially once these incentives come into play. Qantas plans to hit 15% of pre-pandemic capacity or about 300 return flights per week by the end of June. To give you an idea of the scale of that increase, they are expecting flights between Melbourne and Sydney to increase from 12 to 67 return flights per week.

$19 fares on Jetstar [all sold out]

The headline offer from Qantas/Jetstar is these $19 fares. They will fly off the shelves! Here is a list of the fares:

Sydney

• Sydney – Gold Coast July 21 – Sept 14; Oct 13 – 31
• Sydney – Ballina July 21 – Sept 17; Oct 6 – 31
• Sydney – Cairns July 21 – Sept 17; Oct 6 – 31
• Sydney – Sunshine Coast July 16 – Sept 24; Oct 13 – 31

That’s all at the moment, but Jetstar is promising to add Western Australia and Tasmania to this list of AU$19 fares once borders to those two states re-open.

2PAXfly Takeout

This is another timely reminder to wear your seatbelt when seated. Holding you close to your seat will protect you from the sort of injuries sustained on this flight, when unsecured passengers flew to the ceiling of the aircraft, and then came crashing down once the ‘drop’ ceased.

The hope will be that this is an anomaly – a ‘freak accident’ in casual parlance. If it is a systemic error either mechanical or electronic, then this is a larger concern for the airlines that fly Boeing Dreamliner 787 aircraft. Let’s hope it isn’t. If it is, it will pile on the woes to Boeing’s existing stack.

Damn! I booked my Adelaide trip in July a few days ago. I should have waited and got triple points. I wonder if I can cancel (without penalty) and re-book to get those points? If it’s like the usual Qantas promotion, the fares will have already increased!

Still, a long weekend in Byron sounds even more appealing.