Everything You Need to Know About Booking Online Domestic Flight With Jetstar Japan

Point 1: Be sure to check the special campaign sales on Jetstar’s e-mail newsletter

Jetstar offers several campaign sales per month. Until March 2014 the sales were announced every Friday at 12 am, but since then they’ve become irregular.

There are some sales only for online booking, therefore be sure to subscribe to the newsletter and check the information you receive. The newsletter is sent about once per week, or 6 times per month at most. The mail subject gives enough information about the type of the sale, so you can quickly decide whether to read it or not. No other type of information is sent with the newsletter, so there’s no worry about reading any unrelated corporate data.


In order to subscribe, you need to sign in for a “My Jetstar” account and then choose to receive JetMail. Be sure to fill in your passenger information as well, because there is a fierce competition between the users right after a very cheap sale is announced.

Point 2: There are three types of fares. What to do with the additional-cost options?

When you try to book online you will be asked to choose one of the three main passenger fares: Starter: it doesn’t have additional options Plus bundle: it costs 1480 JPY Max bundle: it costs 8890 JPY

For an ordinary trip you wouldn’t consider the most expensive Max bundle option. It would be more realistic to pay less than 10 000 JPY more and switch to a regular, non- LCC company.

What you’d be tossing between are the Starter and the quite attractive Plus bundle options. Let’s consider the latter’s merits objectively:



1. You can change the flight date and the name of the passenger (for a fee). Changing the dates of your trip means also changing hotel bookings. Usually this necessitates cancelling your existing bookings. Changing the name of the passenger isn’t so easy and involves paying the difference between the flight prices (for example, if you’ve bought a ticket for 5000 JPY, but it has gone up to 8000 JPY when you change the name, you have to pay the difference of 3000 JPY). Conclusion: This option makes sense for business trips and returning home. 



2. You can get a 400 JPY voucher for JAL and Qantas miles. It can be used for your next flight within 6 months. But is it likely that you will do another trip within half a year? Not many people pay money just to buy miles. Conclusion: This option makes sense if you’re having business trips frequently. 



3. You can select a standard seat (which you’d otherwise pay 460 JPY for). You can do that for free 48 hours before the web check-in as long as there are seats available to choose from. Conclusion: This option makes sense if you want to sit next to someone (especially kids).

4. You get a 500 JPY voucher that you can use inside the plane. Jetstar allows you to take drinks and snacks in the plane, except alcohol. The prices of the products sold during the flight are quite inflated. Conclusion: This option makes sense if you want to drink alcohol during your flight.



5. You receive 10 000 JPY if the flight is over 6 hours late or cancelled. This doesn’t apply to flights whose cancellation is decided 12 hours before their due time. Also you can use alternative transportation with the help that Jetstar provides. Conclusion: These requirements are not likely to happen often especially when the flight operation rate is 89%.



In other words, the Plus bundle fare is useful in the following cases: - when you want to have flexible dates for your homecoming trip - when you often have business trips - when you travel together with someone or want to drink alcohol in the plane

But buying alcohol drinks and selecting a seat as standalone options would cost less than 1000 JPY. So if you don’t know what to choose, it might be easier just to go for the cheapest Starter fare.

Note: These are prices at the time when the article was written. Check Jetstar’s website for latest information.

Point 3: You have to pay for baggage with LCC! Be careful when you book!

After you pick your flight and continue to the next page, the fare has increased (see note). Automatically the website adds 20kg checked baggage per person. This is a very important feature of LCC companies, so make sure you understand it. 



Scroll down under the passenger data and you will find a drop-menu where you can change the weight of the baggage. If you don’t plan to carry heavy stuff, you’d be fine with 15kg (1030 JPY).



If you want to book only one piece of baggage for several passengers, then click the link saying “Change the settings per passenger” and select the individual options.



Also, consider the comparison with delivery service companies. Instead of paying 1000 JPY and carrying your baggage yourself, you can choose to pay 2000 JPY and have it delivered at your hotel or home which would be more efficient.

Note: For example if you use Central Japan Airport (near Nagoya), airport taxes are added to the fare.

Point 4: Which is better – paying with a credit card or through Wellnet?

Continuing further with the booking you’ll be asked if you want to sign in for paid membership or buy insurance. Usually you wouldn’t, but the decision is up to you. Skip the seat selection option if you don’t want to do it. The link is small at the bottom of the page, so don’t miss it.


Finally, you will reach the payment page and you can choose among 3 options: - credit card - Wellnet (paying through a convenience store or a bank transfer – see the link in the memo below for more details) - voucher



The real choice is between paying through credit card or Wellnet. As of August 2014 the service fee for paying with a credit card is 430 JPY, while for Wellnet is 550 JPY (only Jetstar’s Mastercard is free of service charge). If you want to book right away, credit card is the easiest option, but if you want to have more time to consider, you can pay through Wellnet until 11:59 pm the following day.


However, Jetstar often changes its service fees so be sure to check what it is on the payment page. When you enter the first 4 digits of your credit card, the service fee will be displayed for your flights (a round trip for one person would be 430 JPY x 2 = 860 JPY).

Point 5: Do a web check-in and have everything going smoothly on the day of the flight

And it’s time to take off!… But before that:



You can do web check-in (see note) from 48 hours before the flight up to 60 minutes before boarding. The seats will be randomly distributed but you can change that even after the web check-in. As I mentioned in Point 2, you can do that without paying additional fees under one of the fares.

If you want to sit next to someone, choose the seat when you do your web check-in. Many people don’t select, so it’s good to be quick. 



But these aren’t all the merits of the web check-in. If you don’t have checked baggage, on the day of the flight you can go straight to the gate. LCC companies cut on personnel expenses so there are few people at the check-in counters. Especially during weekends and holidays there is a great haste at the counters even if you arrive early enough. Therefore if you do web check-in, you can use your time quite efficiently. Even if you have checked baggage one person can line up while the others will be free to walk around.

Note: You can’t do web check-in if you’re accompanying babies under 2 years. You’ll be asked for age verification and additional documents at the counter.