Flight Review: how is it like to fly JetSmart A320?
Flight#: G3 9182
From: Cataratas of Iguazú (IGR)
To: Buenos Aires Ezeiza (EZE)
Flight time: 2h
Aircraft: Airbus A320-200
After reviewing GOL, we continue our tour of Latin American low-cost carriers with this flight review of JetSmart, a carrier which is part of the Indigo Partners portfolio, just like Wizz Air in Europe, Frontier Airlines in the US and Volaris in Mexico.
In fact, the JetSmart approach is not unlike that of its European counterpart in trying to build a continent-wide network, regardless of national borders. So, from its initial base in Chile, JetSmart has been expanding its operations to Argentina, Peru, Colombia and Paraguay and wouldn’t be surprised if more countries follow suit.
And like all other airlines of the Indigo Partners family, JetSmart operates an all-Airbus A320-family fleet.
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The JetSmart experience
First of all, let’s comment on the pre-flight experience. The first thing to take into consideration is that JetSmart has several different country sites, so make sure you get the one relevant to your flight selected since prices will show in that country’s currency!
JetSmart offers two tiers of fares, for those that are members of its discount club (which requires a one-off annual payment) and another for those that are not. And within these fare tiers, there are still three more fare bundles giving access to different levels of service.
In this regard, the bundled services differ a bit from what I had experienced in my preceding flight with Brazilian low-cost carrier GOL. JetSmart follows a more traditional ancillary-heavy approach with the most basic fare not including practically anything.
One thing that I found interesting is that you can get American Airlines AAdvantage® miles on JetSmart, even on relatively simple bundles!
When it comes to the check-in experience, I did everything online this time and it was pretty straightforward. Unfortunately, the flight was delayed for almost three hours. On the positive side, Cataratas de Iguazú (IGR) is a really modern and comfortable airport, with state of the art facilities and very fast wifi, so the wait was kind of bearable. It was good that I didn’t have any connecting flight!
The boarding was also pretty efficient and, surprisingly, managed to be one of the first onboard, despite having booked a fare that was next to the most basic.
The cabin is typical of a low cost carrier: single cabin, slim seats, non-reclinable (although if you are on the aisle seat, you can raise the armrest, which can provide a sensation of a bit more space during the flight.
As you can see in these images, the cabin was pretty tidy and clean. The seat pitch is the typical of European low-cost carriers, 29”, although the first row has more spacious seats (couldn’t take a pic because they were already occupied when I boarded.
Now, what JetSmart does NOT have onboard: internet connectivity and in-seat power outlets (and, of course, seatback screens, but I guess this was already 100% expected!).
As a passenger you will find a QR code on the back of the seat which asks you to scan it in order to access the inflight menu and the airline’s magazine. It is important to do so while you are still on the ground (assuming you have a data plan on your mobile phone) as it is remarked in the text “Before taking off!”, since, of course, there is no internet during the flight and therefore you won’t be able to access all this info.
And what do you get when you scan that QR code and go online to the airline’s portal?
You can see it here below: the first step is to confirm which country you are in, because the offerings may vary from country to the next.
Once you have done that, there are basically two types of content you can check, or download to your phone to check when connectivity is gone: the inflight menu and the inflight magazine, which JetSmart seems to have outsourced to a media company which tries to lure you to their Instagram page. Content is mostly about travel and destinations across Latin America.
When it comes to food and drink, I must say the choice is pretty limited and quite basic. There are several combos involving a sweet or savoury snack, or a sandwich, paired with a soft drink. In this regard, I found it more limited than, for example, Wizz Air in Europe, a similar and somewhat comparable carrier.
To be clear, the digital menu does not allow in-app ordering or payments, it is just for consultation, replacing the plastic physical menus that some carriers still carry. You would still have to order and pay in person (you can pay in cash, btw, and prices are quoted in US$ or in local currency).
I ordered the cookie ("alfajor") and coffee combo to try it out. To my surprise, it turned out to be instant coffee. Well, I guess it's better than nothing! But, altogether, hardly a gourmet experience.
I was also suprised that the crew passed with the food trolleys quite late into the flight, when we were more than halfway our journey (in Europe it tends to be much earlier, although perhaps this was due to turbulence, since there were several episodes of it during the flight). Likewise, they didn’t pick up the garbage before the landing approach, but, again, this may have been due to turbulence compressing the times in which this task could be performed.
Last but not least, a couple of positive comments about the interaction between the crew and the passengers:
1) The captain congratulated publicly a couple that was on a celebratory trip for its 40th wedding anniversary, so it prompted a big applause in the cabin when he announced it. Anecdotal, but helps create good mood.
2) There were a number of passengers on our flight that had a connection to another domestic destination in Argentina. Since the flight was considerably delayed, they had very short connecting flights, so upon landing the crew requested that everyone stays seated for a few more minutes so that the connecting passengers could leave the plane first and run to their next flight. That was a nice detail, we’ve all been there!
(Interestingly, unlike European low-cost airlines which are mostly point-to-point, JetSmart offers connecting flights through its own booking system in one single itinerary)
Our Take:
JetSmart offers the typical low-cost experience and it delivers what it promises. This, I guess, may feel a bit basic if used to other low-cost carriers in the region which offer a “softer”, more cushioned version of the low-cost experience, but ultimately it delivers value through the unbundling (and rebundling) of services and segmentation.
