I have family in London and fly to London every few months. For the past year I have been using MaxJet, the all business low cost carrier which provides excellent service on the transatlantic route at a significantly lower price than the regular commercial airlines.
Last week however I had to make an unscheduled trip to London and on the advice of a friend booked on a new low cost Canadian carrier called Zoom airlines. I had already booked a ticket on MaxJet for a trip to London for the Christmas holidays and found it difficult to change the ticket. I was looking for a bargain flight from New York to London and could have booked an economy ticket on any carrier but I have been a bit spoiled by MaxJet’s affordable business class and was looking for something similar but cheaper. Zoom offered me a round trip at $700 in their Premium Economy cabin which was $ 400 cheaper than MaxJet and according to my friend who had flown both carriers before Zoom had comparable service, so I decided to give it a try even though until last week I had never heard of the airline.
Zoom is a Canadian charter service which has been flying the New York to London route since April 2007. Zoom flies to other destinations such as Manchester, Cardiff, Paris and Belfast from various cities in Canada and to the Caribbean via Bermuda.
Zoom has an all economy configuration so unlike MaxJet it doesn’t have a lounge for you to relax before you board your flight. It flies out of JFK terminal 4 and the airline advises you to get to the airport at least one and a half hour ahead of the flight departure time however two hours is probably safer. I got to JFK at 4pm for my 5.30 flight to London and was advised at the check in counter to go straight to security as there were nightmarishly long lines already. Zoom has a baggage allowance of 66 pounds for Premium Economy customers while those in Economy have an allowance of 44 pounds and with two pieces of hnd baggage as long as they are ten pounds or less. Flights to the UK only allow one piece of carry on luggage which is includes your handbag.
The difference in ticket prices between Economy and Premium Economy is approximately $60, the extra $60 gets you a comfortable leather seat with an adjustable head rest and extra leg room. The seat has a 36 inch pinch and is quite comfortable for the overnight journey from JFK to London. Additionally premium economy passengers enjoy free flowing alcoholic beverages and newspapers, a free comfort kit which includes a blanket, an inflatable neck pillow, eye shades and a pair of head phones to enjoy the in flight entertainment. The in flight entertainment has a retro feel to it as it is beamed on screens located all through out the cabin. This used to be the case before individual screens on all flights in all classes became the norm a couple of years ago.
On arrival in London you are invited to take the comfort kit with you before you disembark. This was a first for me, as I have never taken an airline blanket off the aircraft with me in the past. However, the Zoom blanket which comes in its own coordinated drawstring bag is quite comfortable and may even replace my beaten up Pashmina on my future travels.
Zoom flies into London’s Gatwick airport and tickets for the Gatwick Express into London’s Victoria Station in Central London are also available for purchase on board.A highly useful concept to further save time I think.
Zoom impressed me and may just convince me to give MaxJet the heave ho on future trips to London.
