Pros and Cons of Flying With JetSMART, a South American Low-Cost Carrier

My wife and I recently took 2 short flights with JetSMART during a visit to South America. As this was a low-cost carrier, we knew some of what to expect, like fees for extras we wanted during the trip.

However, we were also surprised by elements like the complete lack of entertainment and the ability to earn AAdvantage miles on our flights.

Here are the positives and negatives of flying with JetSMART, based on our experiences.

What Is JetSMART?

JetSMART Airlines SpA, commonly known as JetSMART, is a low-cost carrier in South America. The airline’s network runs as far north as San Andrés (ADZ), a Colombian island near Nicaragua, and as far south as Ushuaia (USH) in Argentinian Patagonia.

However, the airline doesn’t fly to French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, or Venezuela. Destinations in Brazil are fewer than you’d expect for a country so large and populous, but you’ll find numerous destinations in other countries.

JetSMART is headquartered in Chile and was created by the U.S. investment group Indigo Partner, which controls other low-cost airlines like Frontier, Volaris, and Wizz Air. Moreover, JetSMART has a unique livery, with each plane’s tail including an animal from South America.

Pros of Flying With JetSMART

While many people disparage low-cost airlines, they provide flights at … well, a low cost. And if you know what you’re purchasing — along with the rules of your fare — they can be a great way to get from A to B. Here were the positives of our travel experience.

Earning AAdvantage Miles

The biggest surprise — and biggest positive — was the fact we could earn American Airlines AAdvantage miles on our flights. Earnings are based on your ticket price, and you earn miles at a higher rate by purchasing a higher fare category. You earn 2 miles per $1 spent on Light fares but 5 miles per $1 on Smart and Full fares. You also earn Loyalty Points on JetSMART flights.

If you have elite status with AAdvantage, you also qualify for your elite bonus earning rate, which could provide up to 120% bonus miles.

American Airlines says you should also be able to redeem miles for JetSMART flights at some point in the future. It’s not clear yet when, though.

Decent Seats

I won’t call these seats great, but they were decent, and that’s much better than the description I’ve used for seats on other low-cost airlines.

JetSMART’s entire fleet is composed of Airbus A320 aircraft, and the cabins feature a 3-3 layout. Padding on the seats wasn’t overly generous, but it was well maintained on both planes we flew. And that makes sense with an airline that’s committed to using new aircraft: “Always new aircraft, that’s our premise.”

Solid Legroom in the Exit Row

We wound up in the exit row on the flight from Buenos Aires (AEP) to Mendoza (MDZ) in Argentina. Spacing in this row was fantastic, offering plenty of pitch, which is the space between rows of seats. My knees were nowhere close to the seat in front of me.

Easy, Early Online Check-In

This was a big surprise: We could check in for our flights up to 72 hours in advance using the website or mobile app. And the process was rather simple and communicated to users in multiple languages.

JetSMART emailed us 72 hours before takeoff for both of our flights, letting us know online check-in was open. And there was a space to add our AAdvantage account numbers to earn miles.

Simple Bag Drop

Purchasing the cheapest Light fare doesn’t include a large carry-on bag, such as a roller bag, so we needed to pay. Bringing a large carry-on bag or checking luggage has a cost unless you purchase a more expensive ticket. When we evaluated the cost for adding a large cabin bag or checked suitcase, the difference was about $2. Thus, we went with a checked bag to free up our hands.

For both flights, dropping off our suitcase at the airport was incredibly efficient — efficient to the point that other airlines could learn something about bag drop. We waited less than a minute in line both times, spoke with a friendly employee, and showed our IDs before wrapping things up in seconds, not minutes.

For those bringing carry-on luggage, bins were abundant and clean, and flight attendants did a good job keeping them organized to maximize space.

Transparency About Fees

Speaking of checking bags, JetSMART clearly lists its fees for this and other ancillaries online before and during the ticket purchase process. I’ll talk about the fees themselves below, but the fact they were clear was a positive. We knew exactly what the seat selection, checked luggage, and other fees would be.

Efficient Boarding and Deplaning

We got on and off these planes in a hurry. Flight attendants organized passengers by groups before boarding started and then inspected boarding passes while people were waiting in line, ensuring passengers were in the right group to keep the process moving smoothly.

Once we reached the plane door, the flight crew made regular announcements about stepping out of the aisle to let other passengers go by. Meanwhile, flight attendants organized the overhead bins to maximize space, reducing the amount of time passengers spent hunting for bin space — and thus slowing down the passengers behind them.

Both of our flights pushed back from the gate a few minutes ahead of schedule, which was shockingly impressive. But we also deplaned quickly, as flight attendants stepped in to help passengers struggling with luggage or retrieving items from the bins. There was a pervasive attitude of helping people move forward to stop blocking those behind them. It was a refreshing change.

Cons of Flying With JetSMART

We liked much of the experience when flying with JetSMART, but it wasn’t perfect. Let’s look at the negative aspects now.

Random Seat Assignments and Cramped Spacing

The airline provides random seat assignments at check-in, and you can’t change unless you pay to choose a different seat — or if you purchase a fare type that includes choosing your seat. Spacing in standard seats was minimal. During our second flight, from Mendoza to Santiago (SCL) in Chile, my knees touched the seat in front of me. I’m 5 feet, 10 inches tall, so anyone taller may find JetSMART’s pitch uncomfortable.

Website Booking Problems

JetSMART’s website left a lot to be desired. It took over a dozen tries to book our 2 flights. Eventually, we gave up on the second reservation and booked through Expedia because we kept getting errors at various stages of the booking process. We couldn’t get past the errors even when we changed the language on the website, switched currencies, used a VPN, tried an incognito browser, cleared our cookies, or used other forms of troubleshooting.

No Inflight Entertainment or Wi-Fi

I wasn’t surprised that JetSMART didn’t have inflight Wi-Fi. However, I was surprised that the airline didn’t offer any type of inflight entertainment. Aside from not having personal entertainment screens, there was no onboard network to connect to, meaning there was no streaming content for passengers.

Since there wasn’t any onboard entertainment, at least the views from the window were fantastic on our second flight, taking us over the Andes Mountains.

Tiny Tray Tables

The tray tables on JetSMART’s planes were really small. Look at how my 13-inch laptop smothered them.

That said, the seatback pockets were generous.

Fees for Everything

We’ve discussed how clear JetSMART was with its fees, which was the right thing to do. However, having a fee for basically everything is rough.

Choosing a seat starts at $10 for standard seats on short flights. The price goes up from there for better seats, seats at the front of the plane, or on longer routes.

But the fees aren’t limited just to choosing your seat or checking a bag. JetSMART charges you for pretty much everything. You pay for drinks and snacks on board, for printing your boarding pass at the airport, or for showing up with baggage that wasn’t added to your reservation in advance.

Haphazard Cleaning

When we arrived at our seats, we found crumbs by our feet on both flights. It felt like the cleaning crews had moved too quickly and missed a few spots.

Final Thoughts

Every flight has positives and negatives. And if you fly with a low-cost airline, you know some of what you’re getting into: paying to choose a seat or check a bag, no snacks included, etc.

That said, there were still elements of our JetSMART flights that surprised us — both positively and negatively. We loved earning AAdvantage miles and the efficiency of getting on and off the planes. However, we didn’t like the glitchy website, abundant fees, or lack of onboard entertainment.