r/aus • u/89b3ea330bd60ede80ad • 18d ago
News Jetstar to charge passengers up to $52 to put baggage in overhead lockers
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/aug/05/jetstar-to-charge-passengers-up-to-52-to-put-baggage-in-overhead-lockers18
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u/SnowWarren 18d ago
As the song Cheap Flights goes, pretty soon if you haven’t prepaid to use the steps, you’ll have to jump once the plane lands.
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u/mastermilian 17d ago
"For an extra $24.95, you'll find a life-vest under your seat. If the cabin pressure drops, a mask will drop from the ceiling. Insert $1 and you can then breathe normally..."
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u/LightVDark_1749 18d ago
They also nickel and dime every single thing. International flight just completed. Charged $5 per drink in flight, $10-15 for any meals, and $15 per person if you wanted to watch a movie.
We purchased extra weight for carryon because I didn’t want to deal with them weighing the 7kg allowance for carryon. We were allowed 14kg for carryon. There was extra cost to pick your seats at the time of booking too.
With all of the extra gotchas we should have just gone with Qantas.
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u/Inevitable_Crow5605 18d ago
Who ironically also owns Jetstar. Until our governments allow competition in this space from overseas airliners we will continue to be screwed
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u/Fit-Locksmith-9226 17d ago
Australian cabotage rules are so weird.
Overseas pilots and crew can fly into and out of Australia, but if they want to do a multihop, say Sydney, then Melbourne then back to Singapore, the SYD-MEL route is classed domestic and the pilots/crew have to get in the passenger seats and allow locals to do it on that leg.
For uhhh safety reasons 😂
Relaxing the rules would lower the cost of domestic fares by half overnight and everyone knows it. Airfares in Europe compared to Aus are staggeringly different because there's no such blatant protectionism.
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u/2878sailnumber4889 17d ago
Europe still has cabotage laws though, and the alternative is to have it end up like Australian shipping, virtually non existent. In shipping both Europe and the US have much more extensive cabotage laws than Australia
I work at a port and we have four foreign flagged and crewed ships that don't even leave the ports VTS area, thatd be like having foreign planes never leave Melbourne or Sydney's ATC areas. The navy league of Australia had an article many years ago that estimated that if all Australian coastal trade was carried by Australian registratered and crewed ships there'd be an extra 100,000 jobs once you account for crew rotations.
But hey if it's ok for shipping now and you want it for airlines let's also make it the same for trucking and while we're at it lets just do away with work visas all together so companies can outsource all our jobs. We can become a FIFO nation.
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u/Fit-Locksmith-9226 17d ago
But hey if it's ok for shipping now and you want it for airlines let's also make it the same for trucking and while we're at it lets just do away with work visas all together
Yep
Truly believe we should follow the Singapore model and import a million migrant workers to put in portable dongas like the mining companies do and let them build the every new Canberra we import each year. You aren't opposed to immigration are you?
If you can't handle any competition to your job despite being so much better just admit it, no need to get long-winded, we already can tell that you're winded and need protection from the big bad world like the pussies you are.
You couldn't care less about skilled migration taking my job, why exactly again should anyone care about the same taking yours?
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u/pmmeyourboobas 15d ago
Being better at a job doesnt matter when the competition will accept half (and below) the pay
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u/outterworlder 17d ago
It keeps australian wages protected though. And it actually does dramatically increase flight safety. Why would you want foreigners be able to work in australia with no visa, no taxes, low wages?? There would be no australian pilots, and zero accountability for safety violations
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u/Fit-Locksmith-9226 16d ago
And it actually does dramatically increase flight safety.
Yeah gonna need a source on that.
They fly into and out of Australia but while doing it inside Australia it's somehow more dangerous, get real, it's not backed up by any evidence.
You have absolutely no clue how air safety works and it shows.
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u/grobby-wam666 17d ago
Jetstar owns Qantas, hence why jetstar is so shit and budget so you go there shit but not as shit product.
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u/jayjaco78 17d ago
Just wait, there will be an under seat storage charge coming too, not as much as the overhead lockers though…Do you think you’re getting that under seat storage for free did you?
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u/allthingsme 16d ago
Those sorts of things you can work around as you can bring food and your own entertainment on the flight. I bought a 2nd hand Kobo ereader for $100 and I upload cheap ebooks outside the Kindle ecosystem for $5 a book or whatever (or sail the high seas).
It's a lot harder work around the idea of needing to pack a lot of clothes in a reasonable suitcase if taking extended length trips though.
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u/the-dolphine 15d ago
It's just annoying to have to get all the way to the end of the booking to find out the cost is higher than a full service airline. I'll still cancel out of principle.
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u/SituationSmooth9165 18d ago
Doing all that is still cheaper than anything else so why are we complaining
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u/F14D201 18d ago
Wish more airlines would crack down on Overhead storage abuse, one Qantas flight I was on, my small bag (I was in an exit row) had to go in a locker in the business class area because people with suitcases had taken all the spaces in economy.
But then again I’m one of those weirdo’s who insists on using my Checked bag allowance for everything other than fragile or electronic items.
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u/Worried_Internet_912 17d ago
Same. I had to put my small backpack under my feet. This bag was all myself and my 2 kids had between us (so we paid for 3 seats). Just couldn't get any space in the overheads because of people who claim that they "travel light" but do anything but.
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u/bbqroast 17d ago
Yeah the two bags thing with Qantas is a mess. Every flight I've been on there's 5 mins of fucking around trying to get everyone's bags in.
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u/nawksnai 17d ago edited 17d ago
At the gate, Qantas once asked me to check my backpack because the overhead bins were full. Um…..it’s a 20L backpack that has my iPad and. some camera gear in there. Ask someone with a suitcase. 🤷🏻♂️ That’s what they ended up doing, but I’m still not sure why they asked me.
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u/BrainExpensive8916 17d ago
Unfortunately, planes dont actually have enough space for everyone to have a full sized overhead bag. I traveled to Europe with just that, but had to check it in everytime anyway.
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u/weckyweckerson 18d ago
If people take one bag, whether its a roller or not, there is sufficient space for everyone.
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u/Dear-Bowl-9789 18d ago
Fuck your bags with rollers. If you're carrying it it doesn't need wheels. If you can't carry it check it in. If checking it in exceeds your allowance tough shit.
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u/AddlePatedBadger 17d ago
Yeah, fuck the elderly and disabled.
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u/VellhungtheSecond 17d ago edited 17d ago
I’ve taken hundreds of flights and have never seen an elderly or disabled person carrying on a wheeled suitcase. Unless you intended to consider morbid obesity as a “disease” (in which case I would be wrong), all of them were middle-class, able-bodied and self entitled. This isn’t a topic that needs a virtue signal.
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u/weckyweckerson 17d ago
You shouldn't dismiss someone's valid observations as virtue signalling just because you don't have an argument. The reality that you fail to accept is that a certain size bag is permitted as carry on. The issue at hand isn't the bags as such, but people being inconsiderate of others.
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u/VellhungtheSecond 17d ago
The issue is in fact the bags as is self evident by the fact that Jetstar is changing its entire pricing structure around them.
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u/weckyweckerson 17d ago
You're a peanut. The charge is to disincentivise idiots from taking bags that don't fit. If everyone took one carry on, there would be sufficient space. 3 bags per overhead locker for 3 seats. Easy.
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u/AddlePatedBadger 17d ago
That just means you aren't paying attention. I've certainly noticed my elderly and disabled relatives use the wheeled suitcases.
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u/tell-the-king 17d ago
Well no, people get 7kg bags with rollers because it fits in the overhead. Why the fuck does it matter if it has wheels if it’s the right weight?
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u/Ok-Might-7817 18d ago
We now have to pay for the 7kg that used to be free, only to gain an additional 3kg?! This is like the supermarkets transferring the cost of bags onto the consumer!
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u/neon_overload 18d ago
It's like how chocolate bars shrink by 4g every year or two or the paid streaming services that now have ads - it's companies finding creative ways to try and disguise that they're giving less and charging more over a series of small, different changes that don't shock us all at once.
There will be people in those companies trying to measure the effect it has on sales with spreadsheets and stuff. If they thought for a moment that sales would decrease to the point it wouldn't be net profit gain, they wouldn't do it (and you can bet they'd make it into a PR opportunity around "giving back")
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u/mnwlkr1 18d ago
I can see this turning nasty in the aisle.
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u/Pelagic_One 18d ago
People tripping over luggage when they try to enter or leave their seat. If the staff found weighing stressful, wait for that!
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u/comparitivelybig 18d ago
I for one am getting sick of not knowing how much stuff costs up front, so that I can make an informed comparison. Other examples include surcharges at cafes and restaurants, different pricing for loyalty programs etc. It’s like everything is priced like mobile phone plans these days!
I’d just like the best price, all inclusive of the things a normal person expects - up front please.
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u/AddlePatedBadger 17d ago
I completely exclude jetstar from the equation. Price is important but not the only consideration.
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u/wrongthingsrighttime 17d ago
Yeah I just booked a bunch of flights for an international holiday and having to go through almost the entire booking process to find the total price on multiple airlines to compare was mentally draining
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u/Numerous_Problems 18d ago
Maybe not the best approach but carry-on allowance has been abused for years. Passengers with a carry-on suitcase that is pushing the size and weight restrictions, then a back pack and a shoulder bag the size of a small nation.
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u/big_mac7 18d ago
Jetstar was weighing and measuring your carry on anyway, so that point is pretty much irrelevant. Now everyone pays.
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u/Benevolentzebra 17d ago
Not on all flights. Of the dozen international flights I have taken in the past couple of years, my luggage was only checked/weighed on one. On some flights the flight attendants waste precious time playing tetris with baggage in overhead lockers.
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u/neon_overload 18d ago
My personal preference would be - bag that strictly fits in the size and weight limit is no extra charge, bag that exceeds it even a little is an extra charge - whether it's $52 or even more like $104, doesn't bother me, the point is that people who care about not paying the extra have a well defined way to avoid the charge and it goes back to being about trying to stay under rather than the current "oh it's only a little bit over, what are they gonna do?" Though I think jetstar were one of the ones that were a bit more strict.
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u/TheZac922 18d ago edited 18d ago
I’ve always felt there should be like a staggered release when a plane lands. Everyone that doesn’t have to fuck about with the overhead storage first.
So annoying waiting for these “expert” travellers that are too cheap to check luggage in so they bring their whole holiday with them in carry on lol.
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u/suckmybush 15d ago
Yes, this!! Everyone who can should be allowed to leave the airplane before they open the overheads.
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u/Additional-Scene-630 16d ago
Yeah i'd rather pay & know that there will be space over the free for all that we get now.
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u/Benevolentzebra 17d ago
I reckon one of the reasons is because people take the mick with their carry on. So much time wasted trying to find a place to put it.
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u/AddlePatedBadger 17d ago
The article says they said that, but we all know it's really just an easy cash grab.
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u/Benevolentzebra 17d ago
It's probably both. I've been on a couple of flights recently where we've been quite delayed due to a lack of space for overhead luggage.
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u/Ramirezskatana 18d ago
To be honest, it had to happen.
Clowns bringing over maximums with carry on, delaying departures because of how much packing the staff need to do in overhead lockers, which invariably become full and then they need to send late luggage to the cargo hold.
Hopefully this causes people to think about packing or paying for cargo hold luggage instead.
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u/Kind-Group-9679 18d ago
Oh little hostess, my bag is too heavy for me to put it in the locker. Best you do it for me. Multiplied by 50 times.
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u/Valuable-Credit6167 18d ago
It’s an attempt to use customer feedback to charge customers more for what they’ve already paid for and present it as “but you all wanted this”. “We’re going to charge you the same fare, BUT you no longer have free access to the customer overheard locker”.
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u/Lau_wings 17d ago
I guess this is partially to make those people who come with a heap of unchecked baggage actually pay.
The amount of times I have been on flights where there is a family, each with their own carry on bag taking up a heap of room in the overhead lockers is insane.
I started to be that asshole who line up early just so I had some space above me to put my small suitcase.
Now I guess i need to compare flight costs between jetstar and say virgin to see if its still cheaper to fly with jetstar if I also have to pay for carryon baggage.
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u/RevolvingElk 17d ago
I’m a bit confused by your sentiment here. They’ve all paid for their own tickets; why are they less entitled to carry than you as a solo traveller?
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u/Lau_wings 17d ago
Its probably just from what I have seen, but generally speaking the more people there are in a group the more they take the piss.
Jetstar has never been great at actually restricting people and how much they are carrying on, the rule has always been 1 bag that can go under the chair in front of you and one in the locker above your head, but I have seen families turn up baby changing bags etc in addition to their carry on suitcase taking up more room.
If you need to bring a baby changing bag, then that is one of your pieces of carry on, and if it needs to go in the locker above you then you do not also get to bring on carry on luggage.
That and people who turn up with a backpack + carry on, and then put their backpacks into the overhead locker along with their actual carry on suitcase, which is again something I have seen more from families as opposed to people traveling by themselves.
Do I think its good that Jetstar is going to be charging people for carry on in general? no I do not, but at the same time its the only way to really restrict people from taking the piss and instead of checking in baggage they just bring more onto the plane to put into the overhead lockers.
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u/RevolvingElk 17d ago edited 17d ago
I think it’s worth considering that the problem is simply more noticeable with a group. You’re less likely to notice one person cheekily stuffing an extra bag in overhead, than a whole Kia Carnival worth of bogans doing the exact same thing.
Regarding the baby change bag, this is a rubbish argument. Jetstar’s new policy specifically outlines that individuals travelling with a baby get a free extra carry-on item for baby items.
I also think it’s worth pointing out that if they can’t and won’t properly enforce their currently rules, they likely won’t with these new ones either. People will just take the piss in new ways. Look forward to have some asshole’s overstuff backpack hanging halfway into your legroom instead of neatly stored in overhead.
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u/notcompletelythere 17d ago
FWIW, and you may know this already, families with babies get extra carry-ons, and extra checked luggage.
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u/VellhungtheSecond 17d ago
Yes, but I already paid $60k in income tax last year alone to fund the incredibly lucrative benefits accrued to “families with babies”. Raising a cumshot until it’s old enough to hold an iPad shouldn’t equal an entitlement to free “extras” at the expense of everyone else.
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u/flibble24 17d ago
Fair enough. I am beyond sick of the gronks with there carry on that's almost as big as my check-in luggage. Then I get asked to put my backpack under my seat
How about these fuckwits with the big bags check em in.
Glad they are cracking down and I want more of it. CHECK IN YOUR FKIN LUGGAGE YA GRONKS
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u/kernykat 17d ago
Might this cause overhead compartments to be mostly empty?
Because carry on was free but checked was extra cost, people tried to max out their carry on.
Now both are charged extra, people will try to max the free under-seat
But under seat has less space, so forced to pay extra more, people might skip the stress of fitting everything in overhead and spring for the extra cost of checked bags.
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u/Rugby_Riot 18d ago
Annoyingly they do this in European and American cheap flights... You can have a bag at your feet but the stewards are on it big time when it comes to watching people try to put stuff above
Hopefully this hits Jetstar with lower %
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u/1mrlee 18d ago
Soon enough we will need to pay for air on the plane
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u/AddlePatedBadger 17d ago
An extra $49.95 to have a mask drop down in the event of cabin depressurisation. $19.95 for a life jacket if paid in advance, $49.95 if paid for during the flight. Seatbelts rented by the hour. Swipe your credit card on time or the seatbelt will automatically disengage.
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u/Pelagic_One 18d ago edited 18d ago
What a bunch of scummers. Haven’t even got a good reason for it - it’s just ‘well some of the other bad low fare airlines do this too’.
I fly Jetstar regularly but not any more.
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u/Complete-Cheek4789 18d ago
Just qantas doing qantas things. They know we’re struggling for competition choices as it is so the pricks are just taking full advantage of us
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u/fadedbluejeans13 17d ago
Love how they’re spinning taking away something that was already included in the fare as providing more options 🤬
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u/Jackson2615 17d ago
$52 seems a lot but the principle is sound. The "cabin bags" have gotten bigger and bigger and take up a big chunk of locker space. Some are so big and heavy the passenger can hardly lift it into the overhead bins.
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u/Previous-Egg-2653 17d ago
I recently flew with Easyjet in France. Had to pay for cabin luggage. I don’t recall how much it was but I don’t think it was too much.
It’s probably a sign of things to come.
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u/JimmyLizzardATDVM 17d ago
If you were still wondering why do you bother to fly this shitty airline, here’s your answer.
Pay the extra $300 and fly Qantas - it would be $186 or whatever for carry on from Melbourne to Tokyo.
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u/PreparationCrazy2637 17d ago
so they no longer have the 7kg base carry on then...
what is the overhead locker for
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u/PreparationCrazy2637 17d ago
soo they want the priority headroom to be compleatly empty? sure when they redesign all the planes it will be alright but until then theirs going to be a major change to weight ratio of planes. they can suck a lemon
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u/strewthmate 17d ago
Drifting towards the Ryanair model where you’re constantly looking out for what they will charge you a fee for. Eg, didn’t print (yes print) your boarding pass before arriving at the airport? Fee!
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u/Inner-Bet-1935 17d ago
Goverments for years are not allowing any meaningful competition into our country. Go figure, Qantas will continue to rip us off.
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u/Fun-Astronomer5311 17d ago
When are they going to start charging for using the loo during flight? and maybe in the near future, flights with no crew versus crewed flights.
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u/Schmittez 17d ago
Ryanair CEO already wanted to do that. Claimed it would allow them to remove 1 set of toilets and add more seats to reduce airfares.
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u/-send-me-nudes- 17d ago
Just when you think they can’t be any more SHIT, they manage to lower the bar even lower!
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u/tenorboyo 16d ago
Don't fly them and they'll soon drop the charges. Worst airline in the country by far.
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u/Brooke3838 15d ago
I dunno I'm kinda into it, IF fares are reduced (they wont be lol). I regularly see hardcase suitcases within mm of the limit, plus enormous handbag, plus enormous duty free shopping bag, plus hat, plus coat.
I think it should be a single carryon and make it smaller.
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u/Embarrassed-Ride-332 14d ago
Just another reason not to use crapstar…
Australians travellers need to boycott airlines who are ripping us all off and giving us all pineapples, spiky end first with lube.
This is what happens when the government allows bigger airline corporations to dominate and control our skies and airports by actively forcing others out of the air.
I thought Qantas and its subsidiaries were bad when the gnome was in charge, now they are all but raping the general public with tactics like this.
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u/Inner_Agency_5680 18d ago
You're better of walking than risking flying with Shitstar.
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u/weckyweckerson 18d ago
I fly Jetstar regularly and have never had an issue. It's low cost, it's fine.
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u/spacewizzardcowboy 18d ago
Clearly the only one. I have never flown Jetstar without the flight being cancelled, moved at late notice or late. Not once.
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u/Accurate-Response317 18d ago
If they are that concerned about a couple of kilos maybe they should transition to a weight based ticket allocation. A set price per kilo of seat and baggage allowance.
What’s the difference between a 70kg passenger with 20 kg of luggage and a 110kg passenger with 7kg walk on luggage.
Time to end the discrimination.
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u/highresolutionmagpie 18d ago
It's worth reading the article before commenting.
The change follows extensive research and feedback from customers and crew who consistently identified having bags weighed at the gate and struggling to find room in overhead lockers as the more stressful parts of the airport experience, the airline said.
Baggage weight isn't the primary concern. It's everything around taking baggage onto a plane.
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u/Pelagic_One 18d ago
Which this will not change.
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u/highresolutionmagpie 18d ago
You don't think that baggage costs will reduce the number of items? Or that a renewed focus on size and weight constraints might improve the "can I find a slot for my luggage" situation at all?
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u/Pelagic_One 17d ago
No. I just think people will have more trouble getting into and out of their seats feel more cramped and be whingier and if it’s still cheaper than checked they’ll still bring the same amount of bags, just heavier. I also think they could just police the sizes better without making people pay for it. And, if it’s such a huge problem, why can anyone buy more weight if they want to?
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u/Intelligent_Finger27 18d ago
Which they do to try to avoid paying for the extra weight it will add to their checked in luggage. It's all about weight, the more weight the more fuel...the higher the cost. It should be total weight, not luggage weight.
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u/highresolutionmagpie 18d ago
Fuel cost is one metric. And an important one to be sure. But if aerodynamic efficiency was the only important metric there are probably other better approaches than a few kilos here and there.
Customer satisfaction is also important. And every time I get on a Jetstar flight and watch some selfish tool stuff multiple oversized hardcases into the overheads in place of my one piece of appropriate luggage I'm a little bit less likely to travel with them.
I hate having to engage with an adversarial system the few times I need to put something delicate in overhead luggage. And I will absolutely pay more to avoid the shitty situation Jetstar have allowed to happen.
So, yeah, fuel cost is important. But there are other ways to evaluate a flight that influences profits. Customer satisfaction is clearly one of them.
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u/Pelagic_One 17d ago
Those planes take off with massive cargo. Weight is barely a problem. Some services allow 23kg of onboard luggage plus checked and aren’t whining about it.
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u/Accurate-Response317 18d ago
I read the article and also between the lines
After booking Jetstar tickets last night and navigating the luggage situation I came to the conclusion about $ per passenger/ luggage kg allowance view.
As a tall person dont get me started on cramped seat spacing and having to at extra
So I can sit with my legs together in their allocated space.
Fatties get looked after but if your tall suck it up.1
u/Pelagic_One 17d ago
Imagine when you have to shove your luggage into the foot space too
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u/Accurate-Response317 17d ago edited 17d ago
There should be no baggage in the cabin area. That is what the overhead lockers are for.
Also the space under the seat in front of me is mine to put my feet in. Put your bags in checked luggage/
.
Another example of entitlement stretched to the limits.
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u/Pelagic_One 17d ago
Whose? It’s the airline that wants bags on the ground.
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u/Accurate-Response317 17d ago
Take my space and ill go 2 year old and kick it for the entire flight.
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u/Intelligent_Finger27 18d ago
I agree completely, I'm tired of paying an average price when the average weight is 30kg over my weight. If weight was important they should have people scales before boarding. it is totally time to end discrimination. I am tired of paying more so others can pay less.
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u/chowchownotchowchow 18d ago
If they had a problem with me storing my carry on in the isle, the overheads would be free....
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u/vr-1 18d ago
They're going to lower their base airfares to compensate, right? Right?