We have to admit we were a little surprised to learn that the trip from Sydney to Melbourne ranks as the third-busiest travel route in the world, but if that's true, then it sure makes sense that low-cost carrier Tiger Airways has just thrown its two cents in the ring.

Since last Friday, Tiger has been running multiple flights between Sydney and Melbourne each day, with all-inclusive one-way fares starting from A$39 ($31) for the 90-minute flight. There's heavy competition from Jetstar, Virgin Blue and Qantas, but at the moment Tiger's prices are definitely amongst the lowest. If nothing else, this means that if you get Down Under, you will definitely be able to take in both Sydney and Melbourne without adding too much strain to the budget.

Related Stories:
· New Melbourne to Sydney Flight Route Takes Off [The Age]
· Tiger Airways Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: 713 Avenue] ]]> amandak 2009-07-09T11:29:19-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/2/16/232512/841

Obviously it wasn't just a rumor that Qantas low-cost spin-off Jetstar was thinking of crashing into the New Zealand domestic flight market.

Now it's official. Starting from June 10, Jetstar will be making domestic flights between Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Queenstown, while big bro Qantas will completely pull out of the market.

To kick off their Kiwi entry, Jetstar offered NZ$1 fares for two hours earlier this week; but regular flights will start from NZ$29 ($15). This means more competition for Pacific Blue and Air New Zealand; it looks like Jetstar will work out to be cheaper for flights most of the time, but without any comfortable extras.

Looks like Australia really does want to reach out to the Kiwis, contrary to what Bret and Jemaine think.

Related Stories:
· Jetstar Launches New Zealand Flights For $1 [The Age]
· New Zealand Travel: Jetstar Wants Its Piece of the Pie [Jaunted]
· Jetstar Coverage [Jaunted]]]> amandak 2009-02-20T09:21:07-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/2/6/1852/04916

Making overweight passengers pay more sure is a thorny issue, but Australian low-cost carrier Jetstar is taking it to the people, by making a 350-pound (160kg) passenger pay for two seats.

Whether you agree with this practice or not, Jetstar's made it worse for themselves by doing practically everything else wrong along the way. When passenger Samantha Scafe made the booking Jetstar told her she wouldn't have to pay for an extra seat but that suddenly changed when the flight departure time got closer.

Even worse, Jetstar managed to allocate Scafe two seats that were separated by the aisle--and they made the same error on her return trip. All that doesn't make Jetstar sound like the most customer-friendly airline. And Scafe's fighting them in the anti-discrimination court. We probably would be too.

Related Stories:
· Jetstar Charges Overweight Passenger Two Seats [news.com.au]
· Jetstar Gives Overweight Passenger Seats Either Side of Aisle [news.com.au]
· Fat Passengers Weighing Down Airlines [Jaunted]]]> amandak 2009-02-06T09:20:59-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/10/6/64816/9952

Aussie low-cost carrier Jetstar had a bad weekend: A power surge at a telecommunications exchange meant that the airline's check-in system went down and delays were all around.

Worse, at some airports where there are strict night curfews, like Sydney, flights had to be canceled--about 10 departures in all.

Delays and cancellations are bad, but they're common enough that we're able to ignore them. But what we can't ignore is another Jetstar flight that had to turn back to Darwin after take-off because one of the passengers was bleeding. The cause of the bleeding? He'd attacked himself with a toothbrush.

We're not sure if turning his toothbrush into a weapon to use on himself was simply a demonstration against the Jetstarve flight quality but we should mention that mental health authorities are now taking care of him.

Related Stories:
· Jetstar Computer Glitch, Flights Canceled [news.com.au]
· Passenger Stabs Himself with Toothbrush [Northern Territory News]
· First Person Flight Review: Jetstar Melbourne to Perth [Jaunted]

[Photo: This Year's Love]]]> amandak 2008-10-06T09:30:40-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/9/28/84354/1758

Qantas low-cost spin-off Jetstar has caught our attention again. Although we were quite distracted by its online rugby game, Jetstar has been busy elsewhere, starting rumors that they're going to gatecrash New Zealand and start up domestic flights across the country.

Locally-based airlines Air New Zealand and Pacific Blue aren't too keen on the idea. They're pretty sure there's only room for the two of them in the Kiwi domestic market and haven't enjoyed sharing a few routes with Qantas already.

When you stop to think about it, most tourists don't even need to fly around New Zealand anyway: Driving or camping are much more in. But since we still love that virtual rugby from Jetstar, we'll give them the benefit of the doubt for now.

Related Stories:
· Jetstar Could Enter (NZ) Domestic Market [Stuff.co.nz]
· Sports Travel: Rugby League, Virtual Style [Jaunted]
· Jetstar coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: monkeyc.net]]]> amandak 2008-09-29T09:30:36-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/9/26/42226/9995

Rugby fans would already know that the 2008 Rugby League World Cup will be held up and down the east coast of Australia between October 25 and November 22. It turns out that Qantas offshoot Jetstar is the official airline for the championships--which apparently aren't important enough to be sponsored by a non-budget airline)

The reason we're excited is nothing to do with the rugby itself, but with Jetstar's competition to win a holiday package to the grand final of the cup. They've put their Jetstar Rugby League Game online for us all to play, and yes, we just wasted some precious minutes getting slightly addicted.

In the game you have to use your arrow keys to help your little guy make a try. Starting in Sydney and (if successful) moving on to Melbourne, Rockhampton, Gold Coast and Brisbane, your job is to navigate past other rugby players, referees, sea gulls, ice cream sales people and in true Aussie style, a few (naked) streakers running across the field. After the game you can fill in a form to win the Jetstar contest, but to be perfectly honest we're more into this virtual rugby than the real life game.

Related Stories:
· Play Jetstar Rugby League [Official Site]
· Bruno the Bear Online Game [Jaunted]]]> amandak 2008-09-26T10:00:34-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/7/29/65738/2145

Jaunted's Amanda Kendle just got back from Melbourne. This week: Read all about it.

I've always patriotically loved Qantas, so I was expecting more than I got when I decided to fly on their budget offshoot Jetstar. I should've known there was a reason my friends call it Jetstarve.]]> amandak 2008-07-29T11:05:25-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/