nologic
Jul 16, 03, 11:55 am
We recently flew JM round trip from Boston to Montego Bay. The outbound flight was a morning flight (7:20 scheduled departure) and the return flight was in the evening (5:30 scheduled departure).
7/11: JM 48 BOS-MBJ 7:20A-10:35A (Y)
We arrived at the airport around an hour prior to departure. Check in was at the end of the Delta counter, but I undertstand that they have since moved to new digs in Terminal E. There was one Air Jamaica supervisor for the one JM flight out of BOS per day, and otherwise they use DL employees.
We and one other couple were the only people still trying to check in at that time. We received our boarding passes for our pre-assigned seats (15D&F), got a cup of Starbucks coffee, and went to the gate. We waited a few minutes and boarded and departed on time.
The plane was an OLD A320. It was pretty empty. There were two people in FC (12 person capacity) and it was maybe 20% full in coach. By the way, for those that like LOTS of room in FC, there is a huge amount of space in the FC bulkhead on this plane -- more than most legs could accommodate, if you wanted to put your feet up against the wall.
Before departure, we moved to the exit row (12) for more room. Standard coach is pretty tight, whereas the exit row has MRTC type space, or even a couple of inches more. Later on in the flight, I moved to my own row to lie down and take a nap.
Meal choices were: omelette, pancakes or Special K with yogurt. My wife took the last Special K (there weren't that many of them). I had the pancakes and ham, which were decent. We were supposed to have a movie (movies are free on JM), but the video was broken. Audio consisted of 5-6 channels of bad music (IMO). Sound quality was low. The FAs were reasonably friendly. Free cheap champagne (French) and beer (Red Stripe) is available. I had a mimosa and coffee, then read for a bit and took a nap. Flying time is about 4 hours (note: MBJ is on central time, so only 3 hours elapsed on the clock). We arrived uneventfully a few minutes early. There are no jetways at MBJ, so we went down the stairs into the terminal and into and thru immigration, which took about 5 minutes, and then rec'd our bags pretty quickly and waited about 10 minutes to clear customs.
We went to the waiting area for SuperClubs and waited about 10-15 minutes for a few other couples (8 people in all) to take a group mini-bus to Grand Lido Braco (1 hour). We had a fun 3 nights (email me if you have nay questions -- we can get people about 40% off, if interested).
7/14: JM 49 MBJ-BOS 5:35P-10:30P (F)
Check in for this flight was actually at our hotel in the morning between 8-9AM. You get your boarding passes there and they tag your bags. Around noon, we rec'd a message that the flight would be delayed 40 minutes, so instead of taking the 3 pm bus, we took the 4pm bus -- more sun ( http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif).
We arrived about an hour early (5:10 pm). JM has a separate FC check-in area all the way to the left of the ticket counters. We were told our flight was actually delayed until 7pm, and were invited to wait in the JM First Class lounge.
We proceeded back to the other end of the ticket counter and thru security, and then past the duty free area (limited) and up the stairs to the FC lounge opposite Gate 6.
The lounge is mediocre, but air-conditioned (the rest of the airport is not, and it does get pretty muggy). There are 4 TV's, each turned to a different channel, including CNN HN. They have one free computer with internet access. There is no food besides a few pastries and some banana chips. There is a bar with medium quality spirits (Jamaican vodka, house wine, no champagne), except for the Red Stripe on tap.
The flight was actually delayed until 7:30P. Boarding was immediately across from the lounge entrance at Gate 6. They asked us to wait in the lounge until everyone had boarded, and then let us on. FC had 7 people out of 12 capacity.
The plane was a new 321 and it was pretty spiffy. Seating was 3 rows of seats (2x2). The seats were firm with decent lumbar support and head rests with wings. The bulkhead seemed a little tight, so we moved to row 2. There were drop down foot rests, which were of limited use. The recline is pretty nominal, for first class.
We were offered pre-departure drinks. I ordered a scotch and was served JW Black out of a one liter bottle.
After departure we ordered dinner and drinks. The champagne was Mumm's Cordon Rouge. The red wine was a French burgundy blend and the white was a chardonnay. Dinner choices were fish (salmon) or jerk chicken. We all ordered the chicken which came with rice with vegetables. There was a salad that was served first with honey-mustard sauce, which was decent. I had purchased Walkerswood spicy jerk barbeque sauce for $7 from duty free in the airport which I shared with the cabin, and it was a big hit! The JM employee sitting across from me was very excited about my "special sauce". They also served warmed wheat and white rolls. Desert was pretty wimpy: some sort of sweet rolled sponge cake with fruit filling. After dinner drinks included larges bottles of VS cognac or Tia Maria on top of the meal cart.
The FC FA was very experienced and professional/friendly. Champagne refills were liberal and frequently occurred before my glass was half empty. The video was working from high tech drop down screens above each seat: I watched part of Head of State, until I fell asleep. Flying time was 3:35 and we landed around midnight. Immigration was swift as we were the first people off and the only flight in at the time.
Overall, I would rate JM as decent and I would fly them again. I think AA's Caribbean FC service is slightly better, but comparable to JM, with the exception of the champagne, where JM's Cordon Rouge gets the big nod. The fact that JM had a FC lounge was invaluable -- for the air-conditioning. We were happy we were in FC because the flight was full in back.
Notably, JM flights are eligible for DL Skymiles.
7/11: JM 48 BOS-MBJ 7:20A-10:35A (Y)
We arrived at the airport around an hour prior to departure. Check in was at the end of the Delta counter, but I undertstand that they have since moved to new digs in Terminal E. There was one Air Jamaica supervisor for the one JM flight out of BOS per day, and otherwise they use DL employees.
We and one other couple were the only people still trying to check in at that time. We received our boarding passes for our pre-assigned seats (15D&F), got a cup of Starbucks coffee, and went to the gate. We waited a few minutes and boarded and departed on time.
The plane was an OLD A320. It was pretty empty. There were two people in FC (12 person capacity) and it was maybe 20% full in coach. By the way, for those that like LOTS of room in FC, there is a huge amount of space in the FC bulkhead on this plane -- more than most legs could accommodate, if you wanted to put your feet up against the wall.
Before departure, we moved to the exit row (12) for more room. Standard coach is pretty tight, whereas the exit row has MRTC type space, or even a couple of inches more. Later on in the flight, I moved to my own row to lie down and take a nap.
Meal choices were: omelette, pancakes or Special K with yogurt. My wife took the last Special K (there weren't that many of them). I had the pancakes and ham, which were decent. We were supposed to have a movie (movies are free on JM), but the video was broken. Audio consisted of 5-6 channels of bad music (IMO). Sound quality was low. The FAs were reasonably friendly. Free cheap champagne (French) and beer (Red Stripe) is available. I had a mimosa and coffee, then read for a bit and took a nap. Flying time is about 4 hours (note: MBJ is on central time, so only 3 hours elapsed on the clock). We arrived uneventfully a few minutes early. There are no jetways at MBJ, so we went down the stairs into the terminal and into and thru immigration, which took about 5 minutes, and then rec'd our bags pretty quickly and waited about 10 minutes to clear customs.
We went to the waiting area for SuperClubs and waited about 10-15 minutes for a few other couples (8 people in all) to take a group mini-bus to Grand Lido Braco (1 hour). We had a fun 3 nights (email me if you have nay questions -- we can get people about 40% off, if interested).
7/14: JM 49 MBJ-BOS 5:35P-10:30P (F)
Check in for this flight was actually at our hotel in the morning between 8-9AM. You get your boarding passes there and they tag your bags. Around noon, we rec'd a message that the flight would be delayed 40 minutes, so instead of taking the 3 pm bus, we took the 4pm bus -- more sun ( http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif).
We arrived about an hour early (5:10 pm). JM has a separate FC check-in area all the way to the left of the ticket counters. We were told our flight was actually delayed until 7pm, and were invited to wait in the JM First Class lounge.
We proceeded back to the other end of the ticket counter and thru security, and then past the duty free area (limited) and up the stairs to the FC lounge opposite Gate 6.
The lounge is mediocre, but air-conditioned (the rest of the airport is not, and it does get pretty muggy). There are 4 TV's, each turned to a different channel, including CNN HN. They have one free computer with internet access. There is no food besides a few pastries and some banana chips. There is a bar with medium quality spirits (Jamaican vodka, house wine, no champagne), except for the Red Stripe on tap.
The flight was actually delayed until 7:30P. Boarding was immediately across from the lounge entrance at Gate 6. They asked us to wait in the lounge until everyone had boarded, and then let us on. FC had 7 people out of 12 capacity.
The plane was a new 321 and it was pretty spiffy. Seating was 3 rows of seats (2x2). The seats were firm with decent lumbar support and head rests with wings. The bulkhead seemed a little tight, so we moved to row 2. There were drop down foot rests, which were of limited use. The recline is pretty nominal, for first class.
We were offered pre-departure drinks. I ordered a scotch and was served JW Black out of a one liter bottle.
After departure we ordered dinner and drinks. The champagne was Mumm's Cordon Rouge. The red wine was a French burgundy blend and the white was a chardonnay. Dinner choices were fish (salmon) or jerk chicken. We all ordered the chicken which came with rice with vegetables. There was a salad that was served first with honey-mustard sauce, which was decent. I had purchased Walkerswood spicy jerk barbeque sauce for $7 from duty free in the airport which I shared with the cabin, and it was a big hit! The JM employee sitting across from me was very excited about my "special sauce". They also served warmed wheat and white rolls. Desert was pretty wimpy: some sort of sweet rolled sponge cake with fruit filling. After dinner drinks included larges bottles of VS cognac or Tia Maria on top of the meal cart.
The FC FA was very experienced and professional/friendly. Champagne refills were liberal and frequently occurred before my glass was half empty. The video was working from high tech drop down screens above each seat: I watched part of Head of State, until I fell asleep. Flying time was 3:35 and we landed around midnight. Immigration was swift as we were the first people off and the only flight in at the time.
Overall, I would rate JM as decent and I would fly them again. I think AA's Caribbean FC service is slightly better, but comparable to JM, with the exception of the champagne, where JM's Cordon Rouge gets the big nod. The fact that JM had a FC lounge was invaluable -- for the air-conditioning. We were happy we were in FC because the flight was full in back.
Notably, JM flights are eligible for DL Skymiles.