This is a Trip Report from the Economy cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
Plane : Ladybird 747-400
I finished my Troubleshooting class on Wednesday, but as the flight was due to leave at 5pm, and the advice given to me was to get there 3 hours before hand, I headed to the airport in the morning, to spend time with a student of the class who was heading back to Trinidad.
From downtown Kingston, we reached the airport in 30 minutes, the cost was $25 or $1700 JMD.
The airport itself is pretty nice, a modern building similar to T5 in design but much smaller, only a small cafe at Checkin, as all the facilities are airside.
My airport buddy took a while to check in as Caribbean Airlines appeared to have changed their baggage policy from 2 x 44lbs checked luggage to 1 x 50lb. With an extra case being chargeable. There appeared to be many people with more than 1 case.
The Virgin Checkin desk opened at 13:15 ish for the 17:15 flight. I waited for ages at the UC line, and after 15 minutes of no one appearing, I asked what I should do, as the ground crew were focusing on the Bag Drop and Economy lines.
The Security Checkers ushered me into the Bag Drop line, and the male agent was very efficient, polite and attentive. I asked about the Lounge access, and he said he would need to check with a manager if I was allowed. A few minutes later a manager came by and he checked with her, although she would n't come and talk to me. He said that they would need to issue me a lounge pass.
He asked me to wait, as someone was supposed to be getting me a pass. 15 minutes later, no sign of anything. He spotted that I was still waiting and went off and got one himself.
It showed good customer service, but I really think they are not used to Au members traveling in Economy or PE. They also were not set up for UC or PE travelers turning up at the opening of Check in.
I went through security, and Immigration and then walked the length of the terminal to the Lounge. The normal gate area is light and airy with a good selection of shops and eating places for such a small airport.
The Jamaican Airlines lounge is downstairs, and is fairly dimly lit, and has crisps / nuts and a help yourself bar, with a few beers and spirits and a bottle or two of white and red wine.
It has free internet which was pretty quick. The lounge staff kept everyone appraised of the Jamaican Airlines technical delays. The Virgin flight was called on time and we headed to the gate.
It was a fair old walk, and you do not go back into the regular gate area, just out to the right and towards the airbridge.
The Ground Crew had separate lines for UC/PE and Economy passengers, and made everyone queue up until they got the all clear to board, and they did board the UC/PE line first. I've not seen this done before, and it worked really well. I recall a scrum at Gatwick in the past, and at LAS, I was impressed at the efficiency of the staff at NMIA.
I settled down into 24C which was on the left in the smaller Y section, I was hoping that the seats next to me were free so I could lie down. I knew the flight was nowhere near full.
After a few more minutes, the cabin filled up, and I asked for an Exit Row to the CC staffing L2. Just after they knew that everyone was onboard, I was escorted to 38K, which was by R3.
We pushed back around 15 minutes late, and this may have been due to the Ground Crew escorting a passenger off.
The flight time was an indicated 8 hr and 28 mins, and the seatbelt signs were turned off pretty quickly.
The drinks were served quickly, although a little too quickly as the CC serving me used a split plastic cup and I ended up with quite a bit of Apple Juice all over my shirt and trousers.
The IFE worked ok on my seat, and dinner was served after an hour or so after take off. I chose from 3 options, and opted for the Sausage and Mash, which was ok.
I did n't sleep too well, the seat was very uncomfortable as I was sitting at a slight angle due to the door protruding into my leg space. The seat is also right near the toilet block.
The lights were back on around 5.30am, and breakfast was served, which was a choice of a Bacon Roll ! or a Cheese and Ham hot roll. I went for the bacon, and it was actually better than some I had in UC.
There was no Au differentiated service.
We landed at 7.15am on the Westerly runway, with the Captain saying the visibility was over 100 miles. It was a long walk to the Immigration hall, and it had changed since I was last there, but the queues were still long, I was asked to wait with all the others, but I indicated to the Immigration staff member that I wanted to use the IRIS machine, and I walked straight up to it, and was through in one instruction.
The luggage belt was not announced until 7:45am, this was just after most of the Orlando and Bridgetown flights had picked up most of their bags.
Priority luggage appeared to be working, but I strongly suspected that my bag was not tagged with an UC tag, I really should of attached my spares !
I was behind someone who was stopped by Customs, and they asked everyone to hold back.
The M25 was clear and I was home by 9.20am.
The flight was pretty good, the crew were friendly and appeared to be pretty happy for a night flight. However, as most of the crew when I ask them like the Caribbean routes, it's not that surprising. I suspect from conversations I heard, some were fairly recent recruits.
The Ground Crew were excellent if you are in Economy, I was pretty unhappy that there was no UC/PE agent at checkin but they were friendly and efficient once they were engaged.
