Affordable Luxury

A year after reading about Jetstar Asia's Jetsaver flights (a.k.a. budget fares), I had the chance to fly to Singapore at an insanely low price. The insane part came from the fact that my sister paid for it. Let me clarify the low price. I say "low" in comparison to full service carriers such as Singapore Airlines and Philippine Airlines. Normally, a lowly employee needs to squeeze out at least $350 from his/her salary to enjoy a trip to Singapore. With the emergence of carriers like Jetstar Asia and Tiger Airways, traveling now becomes more affordable, starting at $98*.

Given the low price and hassle-free booking, I had to keep my expectations down. After all, it's low-cost travel, there's nothing much to expect. No in-flight entertainment, no food, no overly friendly crew, none of those you would expect from a full service carrier.

Upon entering the plane (an Airbus A320-200), I was greeted by a smiling flight attendant. Standard operating procedure, I thought. Then another flight attendant ushered me to my seat. The first thing I noticed was the leather seating. One can tell that it's new because of the feel and the smell. I knew I was in for a comfortable 3 1/2-hour flight. The only thing that made things a little less cozy is the fact that my knees touch the back of the seat in front of me. There is little room to move on the knee-level, but below that, everything is fine. I wouldn't blame it entirely on the plane. I'm big-boned.

I was forewarned by a friend that there's no in-flight entertainment, so I brought my mp3 player. About 20 minutes after take-off, the flight attendants offered in-flight entertainment for a fee. I couldn't remember how much it was, but I'm sure it was expensive. The in-flight entertainment comes in the form of small movie player similar to a laptop, but smaller in size. You just need to plug in a headset. For those who can't sleep during the flight, the in-flight entertainment isn't such a bad idea. I would have tried it had I not brought my own entertainment.

Food is not a problem either. They offer fish/pasta/rice meals for S$10 and cup noodles (yes, the just-pour-hot-water-noodles) for S$3. Coffee is S$3 too. Sandwich is S$5. I overheard that Coke is S$8. The price may be little expensive, but when you think about it, when you're 20,000 ft. above sea level, you don't have much choice.

The flight was on time...no wait..it wasn't on time. It was ahead of schedule! We were scheduled to arrive at 12.50 but we landed 12.40. It was no fluke because it happened when I arrived back home 10 minutes earlier. I don't care if the scheduled time was a very conservative estimate, the fact that we got to our destination earlier than what was in the itinerary is enough to amaze me. The airline that I frequently use does not give me that satisfaction.

I am impressed at how Jetstar Asia operates and I recommend it to people who want to travel but don't want to spend too much on airfare. The savings you get on these no-frills flights means more cash to spend on shopping. And to travelers, that makes a lot of difference.