Travel City & JMC to Orlando - anybody used them??

[phaedra]

Hi folks :)

We're thinking of going on one of Travel City's fly drives on April 17th on a JMC 737 Airbus, anyone flown with them on the premier service?, works out at about £660 more for the 5 of us but I need the extra legroom (35' instead of 28'!!!) as I'm 6'6' and have osteo arthritis in both knees.

[orlandobabe]

We've been on an Airbus (didn't think it was a 737). We got an upgrade to premier class. We had the two seats at the bulk head so did get a bit of extra room. If you need it Pheadra then you must have it. It's a shame as apart from a bit more leg room and seat width and a choice of food and an extra film-there wasn't much else to warrant the extra money.

I know you're from the north east same as I am-so anything that gets you there in one hop has to be good.

[phaedra]

Thanks :D

This is a spur of the moment type thing, we weren't going to go until October at the earliest but when I saw the web price drop from £159 to £109 I had to ring them!, of course when you add on the compulsory supplements and car hire it ends up at £240 instead!, then the car upgrade to a mini van and we're up to £265 each :( still not a bad price though, cheapest I can find anywhere else is £159 from Just The Flight but that will be plus all the supplements no doubt! and the car hire at about £480, I'll find out tomorrow when I get a reply from them but so far it looks like Travel City and Premium upgrade at £395 each:)

Godd job we bought AP's last December so no park tickets to buy:D

[Lesley S]

We flew with JMC in July, premier class and it was worth it. Free drinks throughout the flight, extra movies, better dinners, wider seats and more leg room. Flights were on time, can't fault them. That is a good price you are paying for this.

[phaedra]

Booked it!, came to £2005 all in :)

Anyone got a really cheap villa for April 17th to May 1st:D

Looks like we'll be staying at the Howard Johnson Kissimmee Hotel (near Walmart).

[Rushton50]

If it is an airbus A300 series..I know that jmc and airtours use them. I am sure you will find it a refreshing change to the normal flights as the toilets are located downstairs instead of ques of people waiting in the aisles. The food generally on airlines is of neuveux cuisine and whoever thought that people should have the culture shock as soon as you get your meal tray needs to be forced fed some of it as not all of it is as good as say Lakers used to be when he flew out of Manchester a few years ago.

Please dont be offended if you adore the meals on the flights, but i begrudge paying an extra £10 per person to not enjoy my food.

[RIS]

Hi

JMC is now called Thomas Cook Airlines. The Airbus that goes to Orlando is a A330-200. ( They have 2 of these )

Overall they seem very good value when compared to BA or VS etc.

All the best

Roger

[huckleberry house]

Phaedra
Have you considered staying in a Villa,for 5 of you is the hotel really that much cheaper?Remember that in a villa you will be much more comfortable staying in at night time and saving on the costs of eating out all the time,also rest days are possible at a villa with drinks bought from a supermarket much cheaper than a hotel bar or cafe.

Lesley

[phaedra]

Hi,

Sorry for not getting back to this sooner (4 months!).

We flew with Thomas Cook in Premier class (34" not 35") and despite being assured that I would be given row 1 seats AB or HI with the extra legroom (both outbound and return flights) we ended up elsewhere so it was still quite uncomfortable for me but better than cattle class :)

Flights and staff were very good, lot's of free drinks (pity I'm driving when we get there!) and the food was also OK. Decent choice of entertainment and seatback screens, didn't use mine, just popped on the MP3 player, took a few pills and tried to sleep as much as possible.

As to the villa/hotel question, we did a 2 centre holiday this time, 1 week in Tampa at Busch Gardens and the second week in Kissimmee for Universal/Seaworld etc.

We stayed at a very nice villa last December when we had my wifes father & brother with us but this time we opted for hotels purely on cost. The Howard Johnson in Tampa is about 300yds from Busch Gardens and at about £32 a night was not quite worth it!, the Howard Johnson on the 192 (about 4 miles east of Walmart) was less than £18 a night and the room was huge, almost double the Tampa one. We got a free fridge, microwave and coffee maker (and kettle after I asked about one!). Cost wise the villa in late April would have been between £700 and £900 for the 2 weeks and the hotels cost just under £350 so not even close!.

All in all the villa is certainly preferable. At the end of the day we really only slept in the hotel, we spent almost all day at the parks and then out for a bit of shopping and an early evening meal followed by the kids playing in the hotel pool for the rest of the evening before bed so we managed fine. Mind you, having a 15yr old who's rapidly becoming a "Kevin" we could have done with an extra room at times!.