Air Jamaica flights from Philly

[DianaD]

Hi there - I have booked our return trip to CSA for Dec. 1 - 6, 2011 (YAY!) We are tempted to book Air Jamaica flights, which leave Philly at 6:00 a.m. and the return flight leaves Montego Bay at 6:00 p.m.

Question is: When you arrive early at CSA (which is what we would love to do since you lose almost a day when you get there late afternoon as with USAirways), I know if your room isn't ready you can change and leave your luggage and enjoy the beach, etc. But for the 6:00 p.m. flight departure, what can you do after you have to check out at 11:00 a.m.? Can you eat, drink, etc. etc.? Are there facilities for being able to change into traveling clothes? I would guess that the shuttle for a 6:00 p.m. departure would leave CSA maybe 2:00 or thereabouts.

I know some of you have taken Air Jamaica and love the fact that you can squeeze so much more time in at the resort, any downsides to it? Any problems with Air Jamaica?

Thanks!

Diana D.

[Cathy_Joe]

Hi Diana
We have done this many times. You can still enjoy the resort until your bus leaves. We usually swim for a bit then shower and change and catch a bite to eat.
We usually leave our clothes and a few toiletries in an easily accessable place.
You can shower and change over at the Sport Complex.
We never had a problem with AJ. We too fly out of Philly. In fact, we just returned last Saturday but we took US Air because it saved us several hundred dollars. The down side there was US AIR leaves at 3pm and the airport was packed. One of the airport offcials said that time frame is the busiest. We barely had time to make the plane. Usually when we leave on AJ we breeze thru security and check in and have time for some food at Marqueritaville but not this time.
We decided AJ was worth the extra cost.
You will have a blast at CSA.

[Buggyblues1974]

We also take the Air Jamaica flight from Philadelphia. 6 am departure from Philadelphia, 6 pm departure from Jamaica. We stay at CSS or CTI. Upon arrival you can leave your bags near the check-in desk, if your room is not yet ready. Upon check-out you can also leave your bags there. As long as you are on the resort you may eat and drink with no questions. Our bus, to the airport, would leave CTI or CSS at 2 pm for a 6 pm flight. I'm sure your bus would leave later.

We prefer Air Jamaica.

Enjoy the sun as much as you can before you leave for home. :-)

[Pamela]

There are locker rooms (one for men and one for women) near the gym where you can store enough of your belongings to get you through the day after check-out. You are free to use the resort's amenities and to eat and drink until you leave.

We've been flying on Air Jamaica out of JFK since we moved to NY in 2008. In our 7 trips to Jamaica since that time, we've had weather-related issues (e.g., JFK closed to incoming flights, so we had to land elsewhere to wait out the storm), but we've never had a bad experience that was attributable to some particular policy of Air Jamaica.

[maryrnp]

We flew Air Jamaica for the first time in Jan. It was great. We were impresses. We arrived early, and our room wasn't ready but no problem. we just enjoyed the resort until it was. After checking out, there is still so much you can do. Go have lunch, walk around the resort, say your good byes, and before you know it you are leaving. We did the same thing in Jan. We found plenty to do before our ride back.

[Sonofthebeach]

Air Jamaica is definatly the right choice, out of 18 trips, we only had 2 serious problems. The shuttle for your return trip leaves at 1pm so you have enough time to hit the beach, shower & eat lunch & say your goodbyes. Just cause they want your bags outside by 11am doesn't mean they'll be picked up at that time. I dont turn my keycard in till about noon, so we can shower in the room right before we go to lunch.

[DianaD]

Thanks everyone! I will go ahead and book Air Jamaica - it's a bit more expensive than USAir ($880 vs. $813 for the 2 of us), but I think worth the extra resort time. Cannot wait!! Atrium room this time too!

Diana

[donrae]

I wish we had booked AJ for this trip. We booked US Air and they nickel and dime you for everything so AJ may be a little more but by the time you pay the extra luggage fee and if you want peanuts or a drink it will cost you more. We always flew AJ out of BWI but now we are flying out of Philly.

[rjammin]

We've flown AJ six times and never had a problem. It was a sad day for me (and I'm sure others in Chicago) when AJ stopped flying out of Chicago. The flights left Chicago at 6:40 AM and returned at 5:30 PM, both non-stop. Now it's either AA or USA 3000, both limited and more expensive.
I hope AJ returns to Chicago someday.

[karyn]

We've flown AJ six times and never had a problem. It was a sad day for me (and I'm sure others in Chicago) when AJ stopped flying out of Chicago. The flights left Chicago at 6:40 AM and returned at 5:30 PM, both non-stop. Now it's either AA or USA 3000, both limited and more expensive.
I hope AJ returns to Chicago someday.

I agree! I hate that there are not more non stop flights. I hate to fly so lay overs are awful. We found that USA3000 has a nonstop flight from Chicago leaves at 7 am and lands in Montego Bay at 11:55 am. It was actually cheaper then Spirit, which I hated! So, when we go back this May we are flying USA3000. I will have to post how that goes after the trip. I wish AJ was in Chicago again for nonstop flights.