Top Flight! (JMC Air)

Member Name: KathrynPenguin

Product:	JMC Air
Date:	19/05/01 (473 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: see op

Disadvantages: see op

My recent holiday in Spain was the first time I have flown with JMC and having read other opinions before going I was surprised at the quality of service I received. I didn't have high expectations, after all JMC airlines are only a package operator not a real commercial airline, but in comparison to other package flights I've had they were excellent.

~~~ Check In ~~~
I was very impressed with the JMC check in service at Gatwick, to be honest I've never seen a better system in operation even with the commercial airlines. There were a number of JMC check in desks which were situated together in a cordoned off area. Before queuing for a desk a JMC staff member looks at your tickets and tells you which desk to go to. The desks are all checking people in from different flights so queuing is minimised.

When we booked the holiday the travel agent asked if we wanted to pre-book our seats, as there was a charge for this I declined. The travel agent advised me that without pre-booking we may end up sitting separately, as there are just the two of us and it's only a short flight this didn't worry me. On arrival at check in we were asked if we wanted two aisle seats or a window seat and one next to it. There was no question of us being sat separately.

~~~ Boarding ~~~
Boarding was called nearly an hour before our take off time so we didn't hurry down to the gate. When we did get to the gate I was pleased to see that although the plane hadn't started boarding there were not a lot of people waiting, a good omen for spare seats! Boarding commenced about 30 minutes before take off and we were asked to board according to our seat numbers rather than one mad dash for the plane. We were fully boarded in good time and our plane had no problem making its take off slot.

~~~ Seating ~~~
The seating on our flight was, as usual, cramped. I think there is little you can say about this after all these
flights are extremely cheap (the whole holiday cost only £340 for two of us). Fortunately it was a short flight of only about 1 hour 40 minutes so the cramped conditions were bearable. Also we had young children sitting in front of us who didn't recline their seats, had they done so I would have found the table jammed into my ribs.

~~~ Information ~~~
Information was given throughout the flight regarding flight duration, height, speed etc. We were also given the standard reminder to change the time on our watches and the weather report that we had left behind sunshine in England and it was raining in Spain. Before take off the captain introduced himself and informed us that as there were a number of empty seats we would be able to use them once the seat belt light had been switched off. This was great as the person sitting with us moved up the plane giving my hubby and I three seats between us to stretch out on.

~~~ Food ~~~
Although our flight was short we still received a hot meal. Being a vegetarian I have had some extremely unpleasant experiences of unidentifiable airline food. With JMC my hot meal did at least have the contents written on the lid, it was a bean casserole which was edible. The food is nothing special but then in economy class it never is, I also noticed they were serving children's meals to the kids in front.

~~~ In Flight Entertainment ~~~
Due to the short duration of our flight there was no film shown, in the time we were on board we wouldn't have seen the end. The entertainment consisted of a few comedy shows, some old favorites like Friends and others I've never heard of (they were probably too trendy for me). Unfortunately JMC charge £2.50 for headphones which isn't worth it for a few comedy shows. If you have your own headphones you are welcome to use them, but there is a double socket for which you need to purchase and adaptor for £1. Still these are things you can ke
ep for the next time you fly with this airline.

~~~ Service ~~~
The on board service had both good and bad points. On the negative side drinks were not the first thing to be served, in fact everyone started buzzing the staff to order drinks with their meals, the drinks trolley was brought round after the food. The positive side of the on-board service was the lack of it! This may sound strange but on my last flight with Britannia (see opinion!) we were constantly harassed by stewardesses who seemed to have been trained by used car salesmen. JMC offered no such hassles, as cigarettes and drink are not sold on EEC flights anyone wishing to purchase gifts was invited to press the call button and the rest of us were left alone. Also although the in-flight magazine showed charity scratch cards for sale these weren't pushed under our noses for the usual guilt trip.


~~~ Arrival ~~~
On arrival at Reus airport the airline staff were very helpful with the families on board. Children were helped down the stairs and wished a happy holiday by the smiling stewardesses. Our JMC flight had ended and it would be a week before we flew with them again.

~~~ The Return Journey ~~~
The return flight with JMC unfortunately didn't contain myself. The day of our return there was a strike in Greece which left JMC (and undoubtedly other airlines) with some problems. To minimise these problems a different plane was sent for our flight. Unfortunately this was a smaller plane which was unable to take 7 of the passengers and we were among the "unlucky" seven. I say unlucky because we were routed on a flight from Barcelona to Heathrow and then given a limo home or in our case to the car at Gatwick. This meant we arrived home about 3 hours later than we should have. JMC as a company did do their best though and our homeward flight was Business Class with Iberia – watch this category for an opinion!

~~~ The B
ottom Line ~~~
I feel that our JMC flight was one of the better package flights I have had in recent years. The service was prompt, courteous and above all well organised, I will not hesitate to fly with JMC again.

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