Jetstar Pacific

DaNang to HCMC. On arrival in Da Nang and checking in was not reassured by the staff's statement that the baggage handlers often steal from the bags. Good start. Flight was delayed for over an hour with no explanation. No attempt made by staff to direct people to form an orderly queue. Onboard cheap meals could be purchased. Plane wasn't overly clean which wasn't helped by passengers choosing to throw rubbish on the floor. The fare was cheap but I'd probably go with Vietnam Airlines next time. I agree with the comment about Da Nang - avoid spending time here. There was one shop to buy from all the toilets were broken (ie one didn't flush the other door didn't close others didn't have seats) and it was in general a miserable place.

Danang-HCMC. Flight on time B737-400 was clean. Bought a small meal for $2 quality acceptable. The only minor snag was that luggage too forever to arrive (40 min and SGN is a small airport) but that may not be under Jetstar's control. Not checking in luggage would have made the trip twice as quick. Better than 24hrs on a Vietnamese bus.

SGN-HAN RETURN. Was delayed in HCMC for 5 hours due to operational reasons - little or no communication in terms of when we were leaving. One good thing was a cheap bus to and from Hanoi Airport.

HCMC - Da Nang then Da Nang - Ha Noi a week later. Passengers wandered around the cabin changing seats as the plane taxied to the runway and walked in front of the engine on the tarmac as there was no roped off area under the wings talking on their mobile phones. Safety demonstrations could not be heard in English due to the heavy accent and muffled PA. When the captain asked the cabin crew to 'prepare the cabin for landing' they simply dropped what they were doing and sat down. The second the plane landed passengers were up and opening overhead lockers despite the plane still hurtling down the runway. The fares are very cheap and most flights are barely an hour so its a great choice for these short domestic hops. Warning - Da Nang airport is not the type of airport you would wish to be delayed in - it has the atmosphere of an immigration detention centre.

SGN-DAD on B737-400. Flight delayed 2 hours (advised in advance) but the airport departure board didn't display revised details - the flight simply disappeared from the board after the original departure time which was disconcerting. Aircraft in good condition but seat pitch tight - 29 inches old style bulky seats re-upholstered in grey leather wouldn't be any fun on a longer flight. Hot food ran out after 6 rows not very good considering this was now a lunchtime flight. We got from A to B in one piece but there is room for improvement.

HCMC - Da Nang and return on ageing B737s. Pleasant Vietnamese crew. First flight was delayed 30 mins return flight was cancelled and we were bumped onto another flight departing 4.5hours later. Got to the airport and realised that our new flight had been "rescheduled" to depart 5 hours later (which of course was eventually delayed for 20 min) so we were delayed 10 hours in total! There were quite a few people at the airport affected and Jetstar didn't even offer us a meal/drink. At least Virgin Blue offers a meal voucher for a flight delay. To be fair they did offer us a refund if we didn't get on the flight. We'll fly with Vietnam Airlines in future - they've got more flights and they seem to depart mostly on time.

We booked return flights between Ho Chi Minh and Da Nang in Sep 2009 which were late in both directions. 4 hours one way 1.5 hours the other. No announcement was even made until more than 2 hours past the scheduled time. On the return the check in supervisor promised the flight would definitely be on time! We missed our connection to Phnom Penh! Jetstar staff were utterly useless and unhelpful surprising as Vietnam is such a great place to travel largely due to the friendly and helpful Vietnamese. Most flights seem to leave late in Vietnam allow plenty of extra time.

We were supposed on a return flight from Hanoi to Cantho. The flight was first announced to be delayed for 1 hour due to technical reasons. An hour later it was delayed again for the same reason. An hour later (now 2 hours past its departure time) they decided to let customers walk down the stairs to board the bus heading for the aircraft. The bus never went more than 100 m past the concourse and it turned around and parked. Meanwhile customers were made waiting on the bus for about 45 minutes with no official explanation from the airlines. Some customer became agitated at the delay the lack of information and just the overall unprofessional way of handling a seemingly routine matter by Jetstar Management. There was loud and angry exchanges between Jetstar and some customers and airport security personnel had to be called in to keep the peace. Finally they came up with an explanation that one of the landing lights was out and they can't land with a broken bulb. The replacement had to be flown in from abroad and that can take 1 day or 2. Jetstar had only 1 daily flight from Hanoi to Cantho so it's not possible to put us on the next flight. They did have flights to Sai Gon (about 160 km from Cantho though) but not until later in the evening. After much frustration we decided to opt for the next available flight to Sai Gon and then take the coach bus to Cantho on our own. After elbowing other Vietnamese for about 45 minutes moving from counter to another with absolutely no sense of what's going on we got on the 7:00 pm flight to Sai Gon. We were in luck because around 6:00 pm they announced that our flight would be delayed for 1 hour. Then it was delayed again and again. Finally when the A320 lifted off on Runway 26L at Noi Bai Airport the clock showed 11:30 pm. Now we were supposed to leave at 1:00 pm so it was a 10-hour delay. We never heard a word of apology from the airlines not an offer for something to drink or a meal. And we didn't even get to our original destination as stipulated on the confirmed ticket. We got home at 3:30 in the morning angry frustrated and vowed never be on Jetstar Pacific again. We heard unconfirmed stories from other travellers that the airline cancelled the flight on purpose because there were not enough passengers on either flight (to Cantho and from Cantho back to HN). It is purely a business decision to save money. They thought it was still much cheaper to scrap the flight and make a few people angry than flying a half-empty plane both ways. We were so surprised that this airline with zero sense of customer service responsibility to the traveling public no care for its brand is still allowed to operate in Vietnam.

Due to space between rows the leg space is very cramped. Onboard service is just okay. If you cancel your flight you will be lucky to get your refundas JetStar HCM City (so called Customer Relations) will make it very difficult for you to get your money back.

HCMC - Hanoi and Hanoi to Nha Trang. Good crew and pilots. All flights on time and arrived early. The main problem with this airline is the age if the planes. The 737-400's look old and tired with missing paint over the fuselage. I hear they are replacing all of their aircraft over the course of 2009 if this were the case I would happily fly with them again.