We will be flying into Montego Bay next Tuesday around noon and I was wondering if the Club MoBay is worth the cost or not as this is our first time to Jamaica. All opinions welcome. :)
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We will be flying into Montego Bay next Tuesday around noon and I was wondering if the Club MoBay is worth the cost or not as this is our first time to Jamaica. All opinions welcome. :)
Shellbell, between 11:30am and 12:30 pm there are five flights expected to land in Montego Bay on Tuesday. Don't know how many passengers will be on those flights??
I would suggest you skip Club Mo Bay on arrival and book it for departure, that way if your departure flight is delayed you are enjoying the accommodations of the lounge.
Last June 2015 we arrived around noon on a Sunday and the immigration hall was full. Instead of Club Mo Bay we used the Immigration Kiosks (everyone in your party must be at least 18 years old). The Kiosks were located on the left side of the immigration hall last year.
The couple in front of us used Club Mo Bay on arrival. We were able to clear immigration before the Club Mo Bay couple.
Enjoy,
VVHT
We don't use Club Mobay for arrival as we don't want to hang out at the airport, we want to get to Negril and start the fun.We absolutely love using it for departures so we can unwind for a couple hours before our flight back to reality.Nice cold drinks and some tasty foods and just chilling is the way we like to leave the island.
We used once and won't do it again. We use that time to buy spices, run creme, coffee, etc in the airport shops.
We are having too much fun in Negril to do that during the week.
We had a large group of 12 use Club Mobay for departure only last November. The guys enjoyed the lounge and the big screen tv, as they were ready to just kick back and relax. The girls used the time to shop upstairs. The complimentary food and drinks were very good, service was excellent. It was very dark and basement-like though, which I didn't care for.
I didn't think the departure was worth it. I wasn't a big fan of the food and we only had enough time for 1 drink our last two trips. It was also VERY crowded and not relaxing in my opinion. If you fly Southwest the terminal is not close by. The arrival however was worth it. We bypassed tons of people and flew through. We don't stay long for food etc. but they will fill a to go container with rum punch (which I thought was strong!) or whatever you like for you to take with you. We use it to get out of the airport as fast as possible.
One more thing - last trip our driver ended up being a no-show and the Club Mobay staff were extremely helpful with this unfortunate incident.
To me, this is just my humble opinion,but there is nothing more disconcerting than walking down that last ramp at Sangster and seeing a "sea" of tourists in line at immigration. OK, sometimes there are no lines. To me, Club Mobay is like insurance, a bet that you WILL see a "sea" of tourists and then be hustled through immigration and customs. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.
Started subscribing to it 3 years ago, now, would not leave for Jamaica without it.
I suppose for 30 bucks you could treat it as your last JA buffet with booze included. The getting through customs on departure may be worth the money, by itself.
Probably not for me...
My husband and I love using it when departing. I think the cost is less then what you would spend on lunch and drinks at the food places in the airport. I used it once on arrival but only because we were waiting for friends coming in on a later flight.
The only time I wish I had purchased Club Mobay, was when we departed on a Saturday afternoon during the peak season. On that day, the line to get into the security hall stretched the entire length of the airline check-in counters. I was seriously worried about missing our flight, even though we arrived 2 hours early!
Otherwise, we typically don't encounter long lines at immigration upon arrival and departure typically isn't too bad. However, We usually make it a point to travel on weekdays (preferably Wednesday) as the airfare is is generally cheaper and the airport is less crowded.
Wednesday is a great day to travel to/from JA....
Travel days are almost always stressful even in the best of circumstances. Anything that makes things a little smoother is worth every penny. Nothing like that feeling of having someone waiting just for you. And we get to the airport early for departure so we can relax and enjoy.
Yup I agree! My first time to Club MoBay I almost missed my flight because I didn't know the terminal was on the opposite side of Club Mobay so I was trucking thru the airport with luggage and drink in hand made it in a nick of time! lol...So departure doesn't work for me since I usually only have time for 1 or 2 drinks which is a struggle since I've been drinking for the last pass days...Love Arrival though!Quote:
Originally Posted by KitchenBeeotch
You are probably more confused after reading all the different opinions here. As Papa Georgia stated, it is like insurance against having a bad arrival and/or departure experience. We used their service the last two trips and will definitely do it again.
Even with a smaller crowd at arrival, the service is worth it to us. Zipping right through Immigration and Customs, nice comfortable lounge with cold drinks, nice sandwiches/snacks, great service, free local newspapers, warm moist towels handed out for a quick refresh, toll free phone calls if you need to contact someone (your driver, others in your traveling party, back home etc...) Especially appreciated were the clean, comfortable, private restrooms after a long flight. Sit down, relax, have cold one or three, have a snack or sandwich, rearrange travel documents, carry-on etc...., change clothes to island wear, and grab a cold traveler for the ride.
On the departure side, by-passing the Security lines wait can save your entire day. In April there were two lounges. The original which is down stairs with no views but is nicely decorated. The newer one is on the main floor and very bright and airy. It looks out over the main runway with the ocean behind. The food and drinks are top shelf. The menu changes over the course of the day so watch for fresh options during your stay. Our last visit they started with small sandwiches and snacks. After a while they were replaced with sushi options. Drinks were cold and non-stop. You can still go out and shop in the terminal and come right back in for round two in the lounge. Big screen TVs, local and international newspapers round out the entertainment.
This has been discussed many times, and I think it just comes down to a matter of personal preference. Do you find air travel stressful? If so, the extra service may be worth it to you. Would waiting for an extra 20 minutes in line ruin your day? Ditto. Personally, we drink very little, so free drinks are of no interest to us, and in our 8 trips to Jamaica during peak season we've only found the lines long enough to be troublesome once on arrival and once on departure. The immigration kiosks seem to us to have significantly improved the arrival experience. So the service is not worth it (anything, really) to us. When we travel, our airline credit cards give us access to various airport lounges, and we've never used them, either; they're just not of much interest to us.
Having lunch at the airport is about 30$ anyway if you have a couple of beers with it..spend about the same on Mobay..save on the security lines..and get lots of options for food and drinks..
We use it on arrival and always will. The "worth it" question is highly personal. Its worth $100 bucks to me to be led thru the lines and have a place to freshen up with a beer or a quick sandwich while the taxi gets ready for us. My GF freezes on flights so she likes having a nice clear area to change into her "Negril" clothes. I like having a sandwich and a couple RS while she does that. Its also nice that the Mobay folks hail your cab for you and let you know when it is actually at the curb and then get to straight to it.
In FEB we were delayed in FL for over three hours as MBJ had shut down all incoming flights. Of course it was opened up all at once and when we landed the customs line was well up the ramp. It was over double what we had ever seen even on busy days. I would guess at least a two hour wait to get processed. That $100 was well spent at that point!
I tell everyone if $100 is worth the convenience then just consider it a bonus if the line is crazy. $100 is worth just the little extra details and if it saves time all the better.
Love Club Mobay! But - just left JA yesterday and did Club Mobay on our way out. Asked for rum cream on ice and the reply was "No rum cream. We have Baileys." Seriously...........
Club Mobay is worth every penny in my opinion for both arrival and departure. It reduces my stress on travel days.
Has anyone ever used the Club Mobay service and flew in and out on Southwest. I thought I read that the terminal that Club Mobay is in is quite a haul from Southwest gates??
Thanks in advance
I fly South West and the departure gate is usually in the old part, near Margaritaville.
So yes, the Club Mo Bay departure lounge is quite a distance from that.
I use arrival service when I go around the Holidays because the airport is very busy. I also appreciate having a nice clean and roomy place to change out of my winter clothes, since I fly from Chicago. It does save considerable time waiting in lines to clear Immigration and then customs.
In fact, last winter, the lines in Customs were very long in the afternoon, and I heard some very angry remarks about me cutting ahead so I clarified that I paid for the fast track service, and it was an option for them in the future.
Then I wrote to Club Mo Bay to point out what happened. There weren't enough staff working customs, and the dedicated fast track line wasn't open. Nobody wants to listen to other angry passengers when you're not doing anything wrong. If I was waiting in that line and didn't realize it was a paid service, I would have felt impatient too.
Happy meal at DQ is 6 bucks, plus you get ice cream!
Sitting in club mobay departure now. Have access as a CC perk, but even at $30, it seems worth it. Happy to not have to eat the fast food in the terminal. Throw in a couple drinks and it pays for itself.
Staff here is excellent too.
I enjoy the pizza at Domino. Cant remember how much - $8 maybe.Quote:
Originally Posted by rocknrollfarmer
I'll have to try the DQ happy meal next time. Thanks for the info!
If you want to hear some angry remarks...try going into the Jamaican immigration line (which is almost always very short) as a white, blonde lady......... :oQuote:
Originally Posted by Nurse Marcia
tell us some of the good ones:cool::confused:
Maybe one day I will have the "pleasure"!Quote:
Originally Posted by Bnewb
Even the best travel days can be stressful. Anything to ease that stress is worth it in my book. We also tip our guide and wait staff. We budget for it.
I've used the arrival service last few times... the first time was so worth it as the lines were at the top of the ramp... last couple times it probably saved me minimal time... I think it's well worth it as many of us book our trips so far out... flightstats and similar websites only have a 3 day window so therefore it's tough to judge... my personal experience is the earlier the arrival, the better...if I don't land before noon at MBJ then I'll continue to purchase it to be safe... like others, I'm not so big on the departure Club MoBay... I wanna get to Negril and stay as long as humanly possible