Back home from a spectacular trip from Australia & New Zealand - a phenomenal trip! Now back to the...
Back home from a spectacular trip from Australia & New Zealand - a phenomenal trip! Now back to the daily grind!!
Member since:26.07.2000
Reviews:189
Members who trust:63
I have just come back from Ibiza on a JMC flight into Gatwick Airport and after reading other opinions in this category l must admit my experiences seem to go some what against the grain of popular opinion!! Im from Belfast and there was a severe lack of cheapie holidays so we decided we'll fly from Gatwick and get a connecting flight over (thank god for low cost airlines!). To be honest l had never heard of JMC before this experience so l was a blank sheet so to speak - l had no pre-formed opinions.
CHECK-IN - For us check-in at Gatwick was a somewhat rushed affair, we had a connecting flight in from Dublin and so as a result we actually the last people to
check-in, therefore our choice of seats were extremely limited. We were allocated 2 aisle seats across from one another - to be honest this was fine. The check-in attendant was efficient at his job but l would say not overly friendly - ok it was almost 9pm on a Saturday night he could probably think of a million better places to be! Finding the JMC zone in Gatwick was incredibly easy - there was easily 10 to 15 check-in desks flying to various destinations over the world. Pre-bookable seats were available at a nominal charge.
BOARDING - We rushed to the departure gate - literally ran all the way as we thought we were in danger of missing our flight. FOOLS!! We had plenty of time in the departure lounge. My partner David was very angry as he smokes and could have had 1 last fag before flying! Seats were called in various sets with kids and special assistance passengers going first. It was all very painfree!
SEATING - This is my one area of contention - we were sat between rows 29 and 30 which were sliced in 2 with the toilets. Due to this we could not recline our seats whatsoever - the result was very cramped conditions - especially if the passengers in front reclined their chairs. In saying this we had aisle seats so at least we could stretch a bit. Luckily as the flight was less than 2 hours we did not have to endure the discomfort for very long.
THE FLIGHT
Flight Information - The captain and head steward gave regular updates on arrival time, journey conditions and the weather at our destination. It was all top quality. The safety announcements were very comprehensive and we had a Mr Motivator video shown to in flight exercise due to the recent deep veined thrombosis scares.
Food - Ok perhaps lm strange but l actually enjoy in-flight food (don’t ask me why l don’t know!). We were given menu cards detailing our meal - a hot meal with a white roll, desert and tea/coffee was served. It was served very quickly into the flight even before the drinks trolley did its rounds!
Entertainment - You could by either JMC adapters/ear phones at £1/£2.50 respectively so that you could watch cartoons or comedy programmes. As l read this was not something we bought. JMC also provided passengers with quite a good in-flight magazine with articles on popular culture - catering for all age groups. Some duty/tax free goods were on sale - although this did not include ciggies or alcohol as we were flying to an EU country.
Customer Service - Staff were helpful but obviously very rushed trying to ensure that all activities were carried out in the short flying time. I do not know how they kept their patience thought with kids and adults alike pushing past the trolleys every 2 seconds trying to go to the loos!
At The Other Side - after a minimal wait on board the craft, we were taking by bus to the terminal building for passport control and baggage reclaim. This was the last l saw of JMC until our return journey.
The Return - Again this was a very similar story - the flight was almost identical but in the opposite direction!
OVERALL
Apart from only flying from mainland UK airports (JMC do not fly out of Ireland), l found JMC quite decent. They area a relatively new package company, therefore l expect them to continue growing. They are linked to travel agency Thomas Cook so expect JMC holidays to be push should you visit Cook's.
Find out more about the airline at http://www.JMC.com.
********************UPDATE 26th July 2001*********************
I had previously emailed JMC to ask why they do not fly out of Ireland (more specifically Belfast) heres the rely l received:
Dear Heather
We already do fly from Belfast - albeit not that often. We have just completed a series of four flights on behalf of JMC Holidays from Belfast to Faro.
We are also aware that the cost to base a JMC aircraft in Belfast is just too high and therefore it does not make any business sense to do so.
I hope this helps
Kind Regards
Alexandra Wellard Talk to us JMC Holidays
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Jul 19th, 2001
(Jul 26th, 2001)
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