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-   -   Primera transatlantic (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/other-european-airlines/1907232-primera-transatlantic.html)

williamn78 May 2, 2018 9:47 am

Primera transatlantic
 
I believe these flights have now started from STN to EWR, with more routes to follow. Any feedback on them? Some fairly grim reports on Tripadvisor.

lehovec May 2, 2018 4:19 pm

They have started but at the moment they are operated by National 757. For crew training purposes it was operated on ALC and AGP over the last few days. I think on 05/05 they are deploying it permanently onto EWR service.
I flew on it to ALC on the 29th and aircraft is quiet and comfortable, good legroom and I was right at the back of the aircraft. USB charging points, no entertainment, 3 toilets on board. Apparently it will only be 4 crew as 198 passengers on board. On our journey crew were not very good. Not friendly or polite, from crew perspective it was very much Ryanair experience. Preordered meal was disgusting, delivered 1:30 hrs into the flight (2:20 flt time).
No OLCI but luckily flight quite empty so no queue. No priority boarding called (although sold)... I will not fly with them again.

Ldnn1 May 4, 2018 1:36 pm

A friend was due to be on the EWR-STN on Monday night. Spent hours waiting at EWR for the 'delayed' departure (they could see the outbound hadn't left STN) until it was eventually cancelled. Ground staff provided a hotel but didn't offer rebooking options, so they self-rebooked onto Norwegian next day - only £250ish so very reasonable in the circumstances.

I told her about the 600eur comp today. She had no idea about it, despite the fact she'd been given a letter by Primera setting out EU261 rights, which was sitting on her desk! This is the thing - pax just take crap and don't even read the info when given it!

Anyway I advised to put in her claim asap - because I don't know how long Primera will be around to pay it...

jra3 Jun 4, 2018 11:10 am

Recounting my Primera experience this weekend:
  • Wednesday May 30 EWR - BHX was...well, what I expected from a no-frills airline.
    • Check-in: Arrived at Newark around 9:25 for my 11:30PM flight, stood in a winding line for 65 minutes until I was able to check in. PF only has a couple check in desks, and the layout on the first floor of Terminal B isn't great for long and winding lines. BHX is the last Primera departure from EWR, so STN passengers were called to the front of the line during my wait. I checked in right around 10:30, which is technically the cut-off for check-in prior to the flight, but about 30 people were in line behind me, and all of them seemed to be in the boarding line with me regardless of the delayed check-in. In retrospect, I probably could have arrived an hour later and waited much less, but I would have been nervous to check in after the minimum check in time. OLCI or Kiosks would be a big help to reduce check in demand.
    • Flight: Boarded about 20 minutes late, and pulled away from the gate around 12:15AM. Standard economy, reasonable leg room; no entertainment. We landed around 12:20PM GMT. Got through Passport control around 1:20PM. I was connecting to BHM train station, which was an easy walk through the terminal following passport control.
  • Return Sunday June 3
    • Check in: Smoother than EWR, but I arrived relatively earlier for check in, around 3:45PM. Only waited 15 minutes to check in (no kiosks, same as EWR). Security line took maybe 30-45 minutes to reach the terminal. I'm a Priority Pass member, and was able to use the No 1. Club at BHX, which was remarkably nice - full bar, meals available from the kitchen, various seating areas.
    • Flight: Same plane as the EWR - BHX, but much less full, maybe 50% full vs. the full EWR - BHX I had on the way out. Left 40 minutes late, but landed a half hour early. Zipped right through customs with Global Entry.
Overall, Primera delivered what I expected - a flight from EWR to BHX at a steal of a price. The plane itself was nothing special, the new A321 should be a nice change. The Newark check-in process took longer than I expected, and I would have been nervous had I arrived closer to the minimum check in time, though it might have been more efficient to just show up later and wait less. I lucked out and avoided delays out of Newark that seem to have occurred on several flights in the past two weeks - hopefully those happen less often as the kinks get worked out.

irishguy28 Jun 5, 2018 1:40 pm


Originally Posted by jra3 (Post 29827637)
  • Check-in: Arrived at Newark around 9:25 for my 11:30PM flight, .
  • Flight: Boarded about 20 minutes late, and pulled away from the gate around 12:15PM.

Whoah....so you were onboard at the gate all night, before pulling away just after noon?

:D :D :D


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