Fair...just fair (JMC Air)

Member Name: robyn

Product:	JMC Air
Date:	02/10/01 (195 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap, On time, Pleasant staff

Disadvantages: Drinks selection not too good, Safety in question

I recently flew with JMC for the first time, on a holiday to Cancun, Mexico. Since it was a long haul flight (the journey was just over 10 hours), I imagined that the flight would be a nightmare. Cramped seating, poor food, etc. and it wasn't nearly as bad as I imagined. However, I would say the experience was just fair overall.

--CHECK IN--
The check in process was long, gruelling and painful. We arrived at Gatwick Airport 2.5 hours early (they recommend that you arrive 2 hours before departure time), but the queue was horrendous. It went beyond the cordoned off area and moved at a snail's pace. We waited in the queue for about 40 minutes. However, we were given pre-booked seats already so we had a window and aisle seat.

--BOARDING--
Boarding started at about 45 minutes before departure. There were two staff members on hand to check through everyone's carry on luggage and body check. Since there were only two staff members, this process took a long time and by the end of it, I doubt they were being very thorough. Still, there were no delays to flight times, which was impressive.

--SEATING--
The seating arrangement for our long haul flight was two seats on the side (one window, one aisle) and four seats in the middle. It turned out that we travelled on a Brittania Airlines going to Cancun and coming back to London. The seating was cramped but probably not much different from what I've experienced with British Airways or Continental.

--SAFETY--
One thing I found distressing was just after take off, there was a thin stream of bluish gas coming from the wing. I've never seen this before and have travelled by plane a lot in my life. It scared a lot of passengers on our side (no one on staff was around to ask since the seat belt sign was on) but it stopped after the seat belt sign turned off.

--IN FLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT--
There were no seat back TV's, only big screen monitors. They
showed two films both ways. On the way there we saw "Shrek" and "Sleepless in Seattle." On the way back, we saw "Heartbreakers" and "The Family Man." There were also TV shows- "Third Rock from the Sun," and "Ab Fab" but nothing that was very worthwhile.

--FOOD--
The food was actually very good going over to Cancun. I ordered a vegetarian meal and received a nice veggie korma with rice, potatoes, roll, and chocolate cake. On the way back, the food was really poor and made me and my partner very sick. I had a stuffed pasta, salad, hard roll, and vanilla sponge cake.

--DRINKS--
The variety of drinks were pretty poor. No Coke, only Pepsi. Only juices on offer were tomato and orange. The wine was cheap and gross. All non-alcoholic drinks were 50p. Mini cheddars accompanied the drinks.

--STAFF--
The staff were pretty helpful, friendly and seemed to be in good spirits.

--ARRIVAL--
Arrival was smooth and we arrived only a few minutes late.

Overall, the flight was okay. We did get a fairly cheap package holiday and you do get what you pay for. Don't go expecting luxury but it's pretty bog standard fare.

Summary: