MaxJet questions

[montekat]

I am considering using MaxJet for a Transatlantic cruise next year. After looking at their website, I would love to have the extra seat room and be able to sleep on the way over. Last time we flew USAirways and were so crowded in the seats that we were unablle to get comfortable or sleep. They have limited cities and only go to Stansted, England. We can fly out of Dulles, but as of right now, their flight schedules are limited. We would have to fly out either 3 days early or the day before the cruise. Since this will be an overnight flight, that means we will have to either stay overnight 2 nights in Stansted or arrive the morning of the cruise.

 

Due to time constraints, we would probably choose to arrive the morning of the cruise, but I am concerned about the reliability of MaxJet. I read some reviews which indicates they use older jets and occ. have mechanical problems and delays. Does anyone have firsthand knowledge, opinions, etc. The price is certainly reasonable for a business class flight. Of course, the USAirways flight we took last time was delayed several hours and we didn't even get to our hotel in London until after 3:00 pm even though it was scheduled to arrive at 9:30 am.

 

Or, is there another airline option that I might consider?

[Globaliser]

Or, is there another airline option that I might consider?

If you're prepared to pay more than for economy, an alternative would be to look at the premium economy products of British Airways and Virgin Atlantic. Both fly regularly from Dulles. They don't offer as much space as Maxjet, which is better than both products. But they do have frequency, reliability and backup if things go wrong. And you may be able to get those flights for less than you'd pay for Maxjet.

[montekat]

Thanks Globaliser, but on checking prices, it is $654

[montekat]

Thanks Globaliser, but on checking prices, it is $650 more per person on BA and over a thougsand more for Virgin and still not have the same space and seat size. For the difference in price, I could go 2 days ahead and still pay less. At least I have plenty of time to make a decision and by that time schedules may change. I just can't face the cramped up seats like we had last time (and I love to fly).

[zaandam_2]

i'm flying on maxjet in august. you raise valid concerns about breakdowns. i wouldn't attempt flying into any city on any airline on the day of the cruise. too many things can go wrong.

 

it appears very easy to get into london (gloabaliser has been helpful) via the stansted express train. i'm going 4 days early, mainly to see london. if i'm going all that way i'm going to make the most of it.

 

when i looked at BA, premium economy was 750 more than coach :eek: my maxjet fare was $621 - one way

[montekat]

The MaxJet would be $521 for us, including taxes, per person, one way. Not a bad deal.

[greatam]

I, too, have booked MaxJet for my QE2 Winter Crossing in January. I feel like a real traitor, being the loyal AA flier that I am. For the fare out of Las Vegas ($721), I almost can't afford to use my miles for first or even business on AA. I'll keep them for another Cathay first class flight to Asia. That was worth the miles.

 

I am kind of hesitant to fly Maxjet but only for the following reason:

 

the last three years have booked FC AA PHX/ORD/LHR for the QE2 Winter Crossing (late December/early January). For some reason, every year the PHX/ORD flight has been late out of Phoenix or been canceled and AA has put me on the BA nonstopper at 7:00PM out PHX. So BA service across the pond with AA miles. Has been great. Don't get that very often. My luck would probably run out this year.

 

I am flying New Year's Eve and the cruise leaves on Jan. 6. So 5 days to do something. Haven't been to Paris since I was in college (a looooong time ago). So maybe a couple of days in Paris (if I can figure out what to do with the cruise luggage).

 

I wouldn't take the chance of flying MaxJet with no alternative plan (like a large credit card balance), IF you are arriving the day of the cruise. Have not heard of any problems or cancellations. However, that to me is just too risky.

[Globaliser]

Thanks Globaliser, but on checking prices, it is $650 more per person on BA and over a thougsand more for Virgin and still not have the same space and seat size.

I agree: That difference in price is not worth it.

[sterling36]

I flew out of Dulles last year on MaxJet. We made the reservation six months in advance and we planned to fly out Wed night arriving on Thrusday morning. We got a call on Tuesday night (less than 24 hr before departure) that they were having mechincal problems and we would not be flying out until Thursday night arriving Friday morning. We got another call on Wednesday to tell us that they were STILL having problems and that we could either fly out Friday from NY (I live in DC) or we could wait until Saturday night and fly out of Dulles. We decided to fly out of Dulles. They did give us each a free round trip ticket to be used within a year, but I really would not count on them to get you across the pond in a timely manner. Our experience was last Oct, but I don't know it they have gotten any better. We have a friend that flew out this March and he was delayed about 8 hours because they had to turn around over the Atlantic and return to NY because of engine problems.

On another note, once on board the service was GREAT. The food was good and the chairs were really comfy.

[montekat]

Thanks Lilly, that helps answer some of my questions. I would hate to miss the ship, even if for only one day. Maybe will consider it for 2 days ahead, or just bite the bullet and fly regular coach and arrive a day early. Maybe their mech. problems will be better by the time we fly, but can someone really count on that?

[sterling36]

I don't know that I would count on MaxJet. What I would wonder about is if they would still be around next year when you will be doing your travels. What ever you decide have a GREAT trip. We're doing a T/A in March, but we're doing the southern route, FLL to Rome. Right now I'm looking for tickets from Rome to IAD.

[Dale Jr]

Quote:

Originally Posted by excitedofharpenden

A few friends from the US are using Maxjet to the UK before the westbound Transatlantic on Connie in September

 

Make sure if you use MaxJet you fly in at least two or three days prior to your cruise.

 

If you go to Flyer Talk and do a search you will notice that MaxJet is very prone to mechanical problems and flight cancellations are the norm. With all their equipment spoken for they cannot easily substitute another aircraft and delays in excess of a day or two have been experienced due to next flight availability issues.

 

The buzz in the industry is that if you have to be somewhere at a definite time then MaxJet should be avoided. EOS and SilverJet are better but marginally so as they have the same situation with no replacement aircraft. Their incidence of mechanical problems is far less than MaxJet has with their very aged fleet.

 

There are also questions as to how long MaxJet is going to survive with continued rising fuel prices and their low revenue due to very low fares. I would not plan anything very long range, however September should still be ok from what I have been told. Pure business travelers are avoiding MaxJet like the plague due to reliability issues and once this summers tourist season ends watch out. We have already seen one of the five all Business Class airlines shut their doors this past February (MiMa) and the outlook is not great for the balance. For very competitive Business Class fares and much more reliable service from a great variety of cities check out British Airways New Club World.

[Steve Roberts]

I can highly recommend Silverjet - I've flown with them and I can highly rate them. Only problem is they fly to/from Newark.

[IrishKathy]

Okay, both Sterling36 and Dale Jr indicate that they would avoid Maxjet for the long term.

 

We are looking at May 2008 (bad), but at the END of our repositioning cruise (good). We would also plan to stay at the Radisson, which Maxjet promotes as a two minute walk to the terminal, the night before our flight.

 

As other posters have stated, there is a very large price difference between Maxjet and others. When I went on Kayak today the lowest price I could find from London to New York was $2000 pp. With Maxjet we, hopefully, can fly from London to Las Vegas for about $800pp, in business class no less.

 

Bottom line, what would you do in our circumstance? Buy the Maxjet tickets and hope they are still around next May? Our home airport is Denver so that makes a difference too.

 

Taking a cheap flight to Miami from Denver before the cruise is only $160pp. The flight from Las Vegas is $120pp. So with everything included, we are only talking a little over $1000pp for three one-way flghts.

 

We await your thoughts.

 

Kathy

[greatam]

I have not flown Maxjet yet. But I have seats booked for New Year's Eve from LAS. I also have very good travel insurance. And I allowed 5 days before the QE2 leaves from Southampton, UK.

 

IF you have the extra time in case of mechanical problems AND you have good travel insurance, I would not hesitate to book another Maxjet flight.

 

That said, if you are really concerned, you might want to look into one way consolidator tickets OR book a RT on a US carrier, with the return as far out as possible. That would allow you another one way trip to Europe-another transatlantic in reverse???? There are a number of consolidator travel agencies in Denver-look in the Denver Post Sunday travel section for adds that have "cheapie" packages offered. Granted, those will be coach tickets, but usually a saving. You are just a little tooooo early to really start pursuing this.

 

You may also want to look into Aer Lingus-one way tickets at reasonable prices from/to NYC, Boston, Chicago, Washington and Los Angeles. All flights to Europe are via Dublin, so maybe a little "Irish" vacation on your return as well.

[sterling36]

I personally would not plan on MaxJet being around next year. That being said, I think that I would buy the tickets (if they are available). I would hope that even if something did happen to MaxJet in the next 10-11 months that they would take care of their passengers. When we went over last October, we ended up on Virgin Atlantic because the MaxJet plane was still out of commission.

 

So, I think that I would purchase the tickets, but not really count on being on a MaxJet airplane.

[lucky white heather]

I can highly recommend Silverjet - I've flown with them and I can highly rate them. Only problem is they fly to/from Newark.

 

We are booked on Silverjet, Newark to Luton in August post cruise.I am not a convinced flyer and am having nervous thoughts when reading about the mechanical failures the Business class only type airlines seem to be experiencing and with only one aircraft to rely on ....what happens if your airline doesn't fly when timetabled and you have another onward flight that will be "missed" at the other side of the pond? Any recompense?

Anyone know how often Silverjet don't make their transatlantic flights because of mechanical problems...frequent /infrequent? I can safely presume the captain doesn't want to ditch mid Atlantic either !

What is their record of aircraft safety/mechanical failures/ delays..anyone know?

I thought I would really be enthusiastic about this flight but I am wondering what I have let us in for now!

 

Terrified.

[lucky white heather]

Forgot to ask in my previous post what would happen if the flight is postponed for whatever reason..obviously we are relying on the flight to get back to the UK..would we be given a hotel room until the flight problem is resolved, offered another flight on a alternative airline...????

[DanJ]

Just read an article that said several European airlines (Virgin, BA and Lufthansa) are planning to start all-business class divisions in the next year to 18 months. Won't be good news for Maxjet, Silverjet, Eos, and whatever other all-business airlines are out there.

[zaandam_2]

Just read an article that said several European airlines (Virgin, BA and Lufthansa) are planning to start all-business class divisions in the next year to 18 months. Won't be good news for Maxjet, Silverjet, Eos, and whatever other all-business airlines are out there.

 

that would depend on how they new flights are priced. Virgin's BC was $3000 oneway vs. Maxjets $620. I realize that is won't be as nice but it was still a no brainer. I'm only expecting something a bit nicer than coach.

[zaandam_2]

I found a site which rates maxjet as a 3-star airline, whatever that means. here's the link. click on 'comments' for the recent reivews (some good, some not so good)

 

http://www.airlinequality.com/Airlines/maxjet.htm

[WELSH WIZARDS]

My husband and I { I sound like the Queen :) ], have just booked to fly home with Maxjet on Dec. 28th, price $499 !!. I checked with my credit card company before I purchased and specifically asked "If I pay for an airline ticket, with my Credit Card would I be covered by them for the cost should the airline cease trading" , , and they confirmed I would. I am flying back on 28th. Dec, but we do not have to be home quickly for any reason. I have read the comments on many sites, and the worse things that seems to happen are delays, re routing , being put up in a hotel for the night, and flown home with Virgin or similar the next day. No one seems to have had anything worse than that happen. Maxjet have moved some 75,000 passengers since they started, and I guess most of them have arrived no worse for wear, all be it with some delays. I am well prepared to take this amount of risk, for a price like this. Given our travel flexibitity, why would we not ? !!

[IrishKathy]

Welsh Wizards,

 

May I ask what credit card company you used for your purchase of the Maxjet tickets?

 

Kathy

[Globaliser]

Forgot to ask in my previous post what would happen if the flight is postponed for whatever reason..obviously we are relying on the flight to get back to the UK..would we be given a hotel room until the flight problem is resolved, offered another flight on a alternative airline...????

As your flight is on an EU airline to the UK, you should be covered by the EU Regulation which requires the airline to accommodate and feed you during any delay, amongst other things. I don't think that the airline is required by the Regulation to re-route you onto another airline, but it might do so either as a matter of goodwill, or because it's in its own terms and conditions, or for its own operational reasons. In any case, an airline like Silverjet would very probably do much more than the minimum required in order to live up to its "quality service" image.

Virgin's BC was $3000 oneway vs. Maxjets $620. I realize that is won't be as nice but it was still a no brainer. I'm only expecting something a bit nicer than coach.

That's about the measure of it. Maxjet is "better than premium economy", but Virgin and many of the other business class-only airlines are "almost first class".

May I ask what credit card company you used for your purchase of the Maxjet tickets?

I suspect that Welsh Wizards got that answer because this is part of the consumer protection provided by any UK-issued credit card. By law, if you make a purchase of £100 or over with a credit card, the credit card company effectively guarantees the performance of the contract by the supplier. If the supplier doesn't deliver, the credit card company is as liable to you as if you sued the supplier - even if the supplier has gone out of business. This applies to pretty much everything, not just travel.

[IrishKathy]

Globaliser,

 

Thanks for the explanation.

 

Kathy