For those of you scheduled to fly AJ before the divestment, you may want to take a look at this article. Good luck and happy travels:
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...crisis_7517674
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For those of you scheduled to fly AJ before the divestment, you may want to take a look at this article. Good luck and happy travels:
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...crisis_7517674
This might be a problem even for those who don't fly AJ, especially if they haven't bought tickets yet.
If the AJ flights aren't allowed, that means (until the other airlines adjust their schedules) that there'll be a lot fewer flights/seats going to MoBay, and might lead to a higher fare, at least in the short term.
Wow. This is horrible. I am going to be a nervous wreck until I can find out exactly what is going on. AJ has already changed our flights twice and drastically altered our vacation plans. I am so excited to get to CN on 4-10. They better figure all this out before then. I am so worried.
This situation with Air Jamaica is sad! They have inconveinenced a lot of people. They didn't even send out anything official about going out of business. They were still booking flights upto about a month or two ago. Now u r asking for favors from DOT. This is going to got worse before it gets any better.
I'm to fly AJ on April 18th. I'm not even sure what I should think. *yikes*
For all those who have flights scheduled on AJ, I'm reading and hearing of some folks who haven't been notified... in fact, a work companion was booked on AJ for a June departure, and hadn't heard ANYTHING about their demise as of two weeks ago (he heard it from me), nor had he been contacted by them OR by their tour operator.
You will probably have to take matters into your own hands to salvage your vacation - as my workmate did - and initiate changes to your itinerary. If AJ doesn't cover up front, you'll probably have to dig into your own pockets and let the AJ refunds fall if, when and where they may.
This is a heck of a way to run a railroad (or airline), and its very sad, as a number of folks I know have always enjoyed their AJ experience. That's something you never hear in the airline industry anymore (despite what their ads tell us).
We are scheduled to fly on April 26; do we rebook on another airline and just lose the amount we paid for the AJ tickets?
we are booked on AJ for Dec. That is far away, but, if they can't fly from here, what happens to the money we paid. At this time we can get a different flight on a different carrier, but by the time all is decided, we may not be able to book. This is very discouraging news. I have been watching AJ news updates. There is nothing I saw about his on there. I hope they get things straightened out so everyone can enjoy their vacations. What a blow to the Jamaican economy also.
Are the flights before the big switch (April 12) going to be effected? We are flying on one of the last, if not the last, flight out of chicago on 4-10. After reading the article louieandsusie posted, it seemed like the time frame in question was 4-12 and after? Anyone know?
The original article said the decision would be made 4-5. I can't find any results or what happened. Anyone know?
we are going to CSA and originally flying air jamaica 4/17 - 4/24. this is one of those times i am truly glad that i use a travel agent. she was able to catch wind of this and rebooked us on spirit airlines for only a little bit more. never flown spirit but hope it will be fine. i figure as long as it gets us to CSA, it's worth it!! Only 12 more days...
I am worried too . . .we are booked to fly on April 26. I would rather double pay for air than be miss a day of vacation.
i thought that flights were not being done after the 10th. that was why we needed to change our airline. i'd rather be safe than sorry and check into as much as possible.
I am booked by AJ for April 24, 2010 from JFK. I contacted AJ and they send me an email saying that I shouldn't be affected. I hope not.
Just be aware with Spirit, that unless you pay for your seat assignments you will NOT be travelling together. They will randomly assign your seats at the airport, and deliberatly place you apart so you pay the seat selection charge. Additionally, it's per LEG, not per trip. (i.e. if you have a connecting flight, you will be 4 seat assignment charges per person.)Quote:
Originally Posted by illinoiskaren
Additionally, they charge for all checked bags. (1 and 2.)
We used to fly spirit all the time before they got silly with the fees. Now it's cheaper for us to fly American or JetBlue.
Have a fantastic trip! (to my favorite place!)
Spirit Air is great. We are taking that to Jamaica from Atlantic City on April 12. We use Spirit Air all the time to fly to Florida and love it!
I'm glad I'm not the only person out there with a flight and concerned. I was beginning to think I was the only silly person that booked with them. I didn't even know they were having problems, in fact I've never even flown them...but when booking a flight, for 40$ more we could get non-stop out of BWI and so we were like 'sure' not researching or such. We were booking in such a haste to secure the vacation to begin with for a friends wedding and rooms were all sold out at CN and etc. so that was part of the non-research on our part, however after booking I started getting more into researching Negril and came across the info.
Although the demise of Air Jamaica is unfortunate, as of Decemeber of 2009 it had accumulaed $1.2 billion (with a B) USD in debt. Fully owned by the Jamaican government since 2004, there weren't many alternatives but to work a deal with Caribbean Airlines. Caribbean may offer take over some of the obligations but beware - AJ, being foreign flagged, can shut down with no obligation to refund or find alternatives for displaced passengers.
Options for the old Air Jamaica routes to Montego Bay:
Chicago:
American - offers a non stop
Delta
US Air
Spirit
Air Tran
United
Continental
Baltimore:
American
Delta
US Air
Spirit
Air Tran - offers a non stop
United
Continental
Jet Blue
Philly:
American
Delta
US Air - offers a non stop
Air Tran
Continental
New York area airports:
American - offers a non stop
Delta - offers a non stop
US Air
Spirit
Air Tran
United
Continental - offers a non stop
Jet Blue - offers a non stop
Air Canada
Observer sayd date has been pushed out till April 30th
!!! here is the link
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...Air-J-takeover
n1fru Mike Paradise and Bonnie Paradise
Eileen and Rex,
R u aware that Spirit is going to start charging $45 a piece for carry-on luggage. It's bad enough that airlines r charging to check-in your bags but, to start charging for carry-ons. That's crazy! I hope that people will protest that by not flying to send out a strong message. People have enough to worry about with this mess with Air Jamaica.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...Air-J-takeover
New date for takeover is April 30th.