“I only fly Qantas so I can earn Qantas Frequent Flyer Points and Status Credits” Said the Gold Frequent Flyer (GFF) over lunch one day.

“But you can earn points when flying Jetstar as well” I remarked, “You just need to add the plus bundle, its a couple of dollars more than the lead in fare, but you’ll get points, status credits and an onboard voucher as well” I added.

The conversation had come about as my brother, AJ and I were about to take a flight from Sydney to Brisbane on Jetstar, he still didn’t believe me, the GFF who is a senior member of my family.  Our fare was $79 with the plus bundle being an extra $22. This gave us free ‘standard’ seat selection, no change fees (although fare difference may apply), 800 Qantas Frequent Flyer points and 10 Status Credits plus a $5 inflight voucher to use towards food and beverage purchases.

I had checked-in online and had my boarding pass sent to my phone, however my AJ still needed to check-in when we met at the airport. The line moved pretty quickly and we had a friendly agent who tagged our bags through to Brisbane. We then made our way through security and onto the gate where our aircraft was waiting.

Our flight was on a Tuesday night, departing Sydney at 7:25 pm and arriving in Brisbane at 8.55 pm, the last Jetstar flight to Brisbane of the day. We were surprised at the number of people at the gate for this midweek evening flight, it looked like it was to be pretty full.  As I had checked-in online, my phone was scanned upon boarding and a receipt like boarding pass given to me before both of us boarded the aircraft.

We found our seats, 7E & 7F which we had chosen online when booking. These seats were standard seats, not the extra leg room nor close to the front for quick disembarkation, although I still thought close enough to the front,

As soon as we took to the air, the cabin crew started the inflight service with a trolly from the front and another from the back meaning everyone was served quick. The nicest thing about the inflight service was not only that it was quick but it came with personalised service, as one of the cabin crew members greeted AJ and I by name and informed us we had $5 each to spend, to put towards inflight purchases. We both chose the wine, cheese and crackers combo each for $10, which is a saving of $1 if bought separately, meaning we had to put $5 each towards the purchase. I also picked a Chicken Caesar Wrap for $8.

The cheese and crackers were tasty, washed down with the Koors white wine. The Caesar Wrap was surprisingly delicious! Huge chunks of white chicken meat with a creamy caesar sauce that was not too overpowering nor did it make the flatbread soggy, with still crisp and fresh cos lettuce. Other light meals such as toasted sandwiches, mini pies and sausage rolls were also available on this flight.

The flight time to Brisbane was a short 1 hour and 6 minutes and we landed early at Brisbane Airport. Disembarkation was made via stairs through both the front and rear doors meaning everybody was off the aircraft and into the terminal quite quickly.

It was a quick and comfortable flight with a friendly crew and a few yummy items worth purchasing – and I still earned 800 points and 10 status credits helping myself to one day become a GFF!

FreakyFlier and AJ purchased their own flights on Jetstar.

*This AJ is not an airline CEO.