Jetstar B787 Economy Review
Jetstar is a lot better than its reputation
I've said it before, but I quite like flying with Jetstar. For short domestic hops, they're normally a solid contender for me. But a seven hour overnight flight from Singapore to Melbourne in Economy was a different proposition, and I'll admit I boarded with apprehension rather than excitement.
Long-haul budget flying is its own beast, and Jetstar's 787 sits squarely in the middle of that pack. It's nowhere near as bare-bones as some of the long-haul low-cost carriers out of Asia, but it's also not pretending to be anything more than what it is. You pay less, you get less, and almost everything beyond the seat itself comes with a price tag.
Jetstar is currently refreshing its Boeing 787 fleet, and my flight was onboard one of the older aircraft. At the time of writing, two of the Jetstar’s eleven Dreamliners have received the new cabin. Despite its age, the original interior has held up well and is still a comfortable option for long-haul budget flying.
Who Funded This Review?
This flight was paid for by Flight Hacks.
Singapore Ground Experience
Check-in at Singapore wasn't all that smooth. On arrival, I spotted screens above the counters warning passengers of a system outage, while staff handed out bottled water and Oreos to keep everyone going while we waited.
Jetstar had only two counters open, on top of two self-service bag drops that were apparently out of order. After a while of standing around, some passengers got tired of waiting and cut the line, only to find those "broken" self-service machines were actually working fine. I followed suit and was eventually on my way, after what turned out to be a pointless wait.
Qantas Frequent Flyers used to be able to access the Qantas Lounge before their flight, but Qantas recently removed this benefit. Thankfully I was able to visit the Plaza Premium lounge as a perk of my American Express Platinum Card.
Jetstar 787 Cabin & Seat
I was flying on one of Jetstar’s original 787 layouts, as the airline continues its cabin refresh program. For a seat that is more than a decade old, it’s actually quite good. The leather seats are nicely padded and offer a proper headrest and decent recline - all of which you can’t often say about a budget airline.
Jetstar's Boeing 787 features a 3-3-3 Economy layout. These seats compare well for a budget airline, with 30 inches (76.2cm) of pitch, 17.1 inches (43.4cm) of width and 5 inches (12.7cm) of recline.
The orange mood lighting looked great, and I have an irrational soft spot for Jetstar's cheerful boarding music (writing this now I can’t help but hum the tune).
Given these measurements, legroom is good. I’m a pretty average 178cm tall, and had a solid 4-6cm between my knees and the seat in front.
Being one of Jetstar's older-configured Boeing 787s, each seat featured a 9-inch touchscreen. While usable, the display was occasionally unresponsive and lacked sharpness. Below the screen is a USB-A charging port, although its 15W output is fairly slow by today's standards. For faster charging, two universal AC power outlets are located below each row of three seats.
But the real win on this flight had nothing to do with the seat design. With 112 empty seats, or a 66% load factor, I was able to easily secure a row to myself. I still didn't sleep well, but being able to stretch out across three seats was far better than trying to sleep upright.
Plus, from 39A I had a perfect view right on the trailing edge of the wing.
Inflight Entertainment & WiFi
On these older 787s, Jetstar charges $10 to unlock inflight entertainment when booking, or $15 once onboard. The selection is pretty good, with a few new releases. It felt like a trimmed-down version of Qantas’ IFE library.
There is a free inflight map function, but being fixed in place with no option to zoom in or out, it is nearly useless. The upside is that you can check how long is left in the flight from this page.
WiFi is only available on Jetstar’s refreshed 787s, and was not offered on this flight.
Food & Beverage
The bundle I had selected included one meal, and when booking my flight I had chosen the vegetarian noodles. Cabin crew served prebooked meals throughout the cabin, before commencing a general paid inflight service.
I'm not sure what I expected from a budget airline, but it wasn't the splattered brown mess that showed up. It was lukewarm, flavourless, and looked like someone else had already taken a bite and rejected it.
Alongside the meal is a choice of tea, coffee or water – not ideal options for a redeye flight. I topped things up myself with a $15 combo of Pringles and a Samuel Wynn Sauvignon Blanc.
Crew & Service
Most of Jetstar's Boeing 787 flights between Asia and Australia are staffed by overseas cabin crew operating under local labour laws. I have found that these crews almost always provide brilliant service, and work quite hard.
My flight was no exception. The flight attendants I dealt with were super welcoming and seemed to be genuinely enjoying themselves, which can be a challenge on a redeye.
Summing Up: My Take
I enjoyed a surprisingly comfortable overnight hop to Melbourne with Jetstar. This was helped by securing an empty row, but even without extra space, Jetstar’s Boeing 787 Economy seats are pretty reasonable.
Of course, budget airlines include next to nothing in the base ticket price, but you can pay to add items you need later on. While you can pay for more legroom, you can't change the seat's design or comfort, making that the airline's biggest test, and Jetstar delivered.
As we left the aircraft, I overheard a mother and son agree that the Jetstar flight was "better than Scoot". That’s not exactly high praise, but I would have to agree that Jetstar delivered a considerably more pleasant experience than I had anticipated.
