A Review of Flights: Jetstar, AirAsia, and Thai Airways

We have taken many flights on this nearly three month adventure to the Asia-Pacific region. Nine flights to be exact. Our international flights were done on three carriers: Jetstar, AirAsia, and Thai Airways. How did they all stack up? 

Jetstar: 

Jetstar was our primary budget international airline. We flew Jetstar on the following journeys, which were all direct flights: 

• Honolulu to Melbourne
• Melbourne to Phuket
• Bangkok to Melbourne
• Melbourne to Sydney
• Sydney to Honolulu 

As a budget airline there is a base ticket price with extra services requiring additional fees. Picking a seat, provision of a pillow or blanket, in-flight entertainment, all food and drink, and any baggage over 7 kilograms (about 15 lbs) would cost you more. 

We paid extra to be sure we would sit next to each other on the longest flights. On some shorter flights we did not pay extra and we were still seated together. We made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and brought granola bars and a Nalgene bottle of water, so we never paid for food or drink. However, some of the food looked quality and was not as exorbitantly priced as we expected, competing with airport food prices. It looked as though Jetstar was developing relationships with healthy food providers, such Sumosalad. We paid for in-flight entertainment on our long flight from Melbourne to Phuket, which at $10 AUD ($7 USD) was well worth it with several new release movies. Other times we attempted to sleep or listed to audiobooks/music on our phone. 

We pre-paid for either 20 or 25 kg of checked luggage each time we flew on Jetstar. The amount was still low enough to make the budget flight price well worth it. Jetstar was vastly cheaper than any other airline flying in/out of Australia to the regions we were looking at. However, it is important to book your luggage amount before arriving at the airport to avoid a hefty fee; this is typically done during the online ticket booking.  

We were not sure what to expect of Jetstar with it being a budget airline. As it turns out, we were impressed. The check-in process at the Jetstar desk was very efficient, moving quickly with even long lines of people. All representatives were polite. 

Check-in at the Melbourne Airport was the fanciest. We did not interact with a customer service agent once. We printed our own boarding passes and luggage sticker at an electronic kiosk. Then we used an electronic system to weigh and send our checked luggage off on our own. Pretty slick. 

In the air, we had kind of expected the flight attendants to pester us with trying to buy stuff. This seems like a thing some budget airlines do. Luckily this was not the case. We did not interact much with the flight attendants, because we did not pay for in-flight extras. However, on the few occasions we asked for assistance the flight attendants were kind and responsive. For some reason, Bangkok airport security forced every passenger to dump their liquids for a second time, even those bought or filled in the airport, before entering a secured gate for boarding. This was outrageous, because the gate area did not have access to clean water. Thankfully, the flight attendants gave out free water without complaint when asked. 

If you cannot tell from the information above, we would definitely fly with Jetstar again. Unfortunately the only location Jetstar services in the United States is Honolulu. We wish they would expand their United States network more. 

AirAsia: 

AirAsia is the budget airline of, well, Asia. Go figure. We flew AirAsia once direct from Krabi to Chiang Mai. Like Jetstar picking a seat, provision of a pillow or blanket, in-flight entertainment, all food and drink (even water), and any baggage over 7 kilograms (about 15 lbs) would cost you more. 

Since our flight was short we did not pay to select seats, but we were still seated next to each other. We brought our own food or drink, which was good because the offerings were pretty slim and unappetizing. As usual, we paid for 20 kilograms of checked baggage. 

It is hard to know if we were dismayed by AirAsia or by the strange set up of Asian airports or both. In the Krabi airport we went through checked bag security, then got our boarding passes and dropped our checked bag, then went thru carry on bag security, and then reached a waiting area for our gate. You could not go to the actual gate until the flight was called. It was an odd, highly inefficient system. Also, in Krabi and Chiang Mai we respectively entered and exited the airplane on the tarmac. Passengers were jammed into a shuttle bus between the airplane and the gate. This seemed to be done only for AirAsia flights. 

As a budget airline, AirAsia also flew to the smaller domestic airport rather than the large international airport in Bangkok. We needed to leave from the large international airport in Bangkok to Melbourne with Jetstar. As free shuttle service is provided between the two Bangkok airports, but we were not in the mood to test it out. In looking at other carriers in Thailand we were surprised to find many options that did not claim to be budget airlines, but had lower costs. In fact, Thai Airways and Bangkok Airways were only a little more expensive than AirAsia. When factoring in that they had free baggage allowances up to 30 kilograms, they became nearly the same price. The tipping point was that Thai and Bangkok Airways flew into the large international Bangkok airport and provided free meals. Goodbye AirAsia, hello Thai Airways. 

The moral of the story is still check AirAsia prices to see if they are far lower than other carriers. Be sure the budget airline really is budget. Carriers with more amenities can be more competitive in Asia. 

Thai Airways: 

We flew Thai Airways direct from Chiang Mai to Bangkok. As mentioned above, we discovered that Thai Airways and Bangkok Airways were competitively priced with AirAsia. Free baggage! Woot! The only reason we chose Thai over Bangkok Airways was that the flight time was better for us. 

Our Thai Airways was only an hour long. Maybe less. Service was impeccable. A meal was provided throughout the whole plane immediately and efficiently. Yes, a meal. On an hour flight. Let me re-iterate. A meal! This is so shocking for us Americans who are used to peanuts and a drink on a multiple hour flight if we're lucky. The meal consisted of a chicken sandwich bun, juice, and dessert pastry. Hot coffee or tea followed. Another round of beverages was offered afterward. All in just one hour. We felt like royalty, and we were just in economy. FYI there are actual "royal" classes on Thai Airways, called Royal Orchid and Royal Silk. I wonder what kind of treatment they get! 

Yes, we would fly Thai Airways again provided it fit into the budget price bracket we desire. 

American domestic flights: 

Of the nine flights over this three month journey two take us to and from Honolulu and home. These flights are not direct, because that would cost us a fortune. From Detroit to Phoenix to Honolulu we flew US Airways. In a little over a week we will fly Honolulu to Seattle to Chicago on Alaskan Airways. There is not much to say about these flights. Most, if not all, of you readers should know about American domestic flights routines. Enough said. 

All of our airfares combined: 

We are not home yet. We have that one final flight ahead. But, we have paid for all of our flights. All of our painstaking hours upon hours upon hours of searching for budget flights paid off. The grand total was under $4000 for Brandon and I combined. Not too shabby for three months of travel in Hawaii, Australia, and Thailand. It helped to have exchange rates in our favor as well; the American dollar is currently strong. Throughout the good and bad flight experiences we are thankful for the capacity to do these travel.