My first Jetstar flight was from Melbourne to Cairns on a Saturday afternoon. I noticed flying with Jetstar is a little different from our other domestic airlines.
The first difference was the check-in. Rather than having one long queue at the check-in counters there was a separate check-in queue for each flight destination. Of the 3 queues on Saturday, of course mine was the longest. The check-in staff was very efficient and friendly, oh and very strict on baggage allowances.
The second difference is your boarding pass. Jetstar has a "free seating policy". Which means rather than being given a boarding pass with a seat number on it, the boarding pass is color-coded orange, blue or silver. Orange passes are given to the first to check-in as well as families, the elderly and anyone needing assistance. Blue passes are for those who check-in early, and everyone else gets silver. I checked-in 1 hour before the flight and was given a silver boarding pass.
The third difference is the actual boarding of the aircraft. You board the aircraft based on the color of your boarding pass. Everyone with orange passes board the aircraft first and choose where they want to sit. Followed by blue and finally silver pass holder’s get whichever seats are left. As I was travelling by myself this seating system was fine. If you are travelling with someone else I'd recommend you check-in extra early to get a blue boarding pass that way you've got a better chance of sitting together.
The Jetstar aircraft was very comfortable and the cabin crew was very friendly. Food and drinks can be purchase during the flight. Headsets for the in-flight audio could also be purchased. I’m not sure if it was just because it was the week before the school holidays, or that Jetstar is a popular choice for families. Either way there were a lot of small children on my flight, and the personal "digEplayer’s" were all snapped up quickly. A “digEplayer” can be hired for $10 and plays a variety of TV shows, movies and music videos on demand.
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The third difference is the actual boarding of the aircraft.