Club Mobay: Essential to Any Jamaican Vacation
September 1 | Maggie Ballantyne
May 2022 marked the third time I had utilized the Club Mobay service on both the arrival and departure at Montego Bay Airport. The first time was pre-covid in May 2019, the second time was during the height of covid in October / November 2020, and the third time was this May 2022. Each experience was unique, eased my travel experience, and proved time and time again this service is one I will never travel without.
Club Mobay on the arrival and departure are two very different experiences. On the arrival, a representative meets you after you exit the aircraft and escorts you straight to the immigration desk though an expedited line. This line saves each passenger HOURS of time. During my 2020 trip, the Mobay representative also took me to the front of the line for temperature checks, review of paperwork, and a health check in addition to customs. While that is not currently required to enter Jamaica, having a professional available to navigate the crowd, expedite the wait and organize my various pieces of paperwork was invaluable.
While we are not in a post pandemic world quite yet, the airport seemed much more “normal” with heavy crowds in May of 2022. After getting our passports checked, our guide directed us to our luggage carrousel where our bags were waiting for us. From here, our representative took us to the Sandals Lounge, where we checked in for our complimentary shuttle, tags were placed on our bags, and we were escorted into a private seating area. On the arrival side, there are two lounges if you are traveling to a Sandals Resort: The Sandals Lounge and the Club Mobay Lounge.
If I am traveling to a Sandals Resort, I typically wait in the Sandals Lounge because it is easier to hear them call for your shuttle when it is time to go. If I were not traveling to a Sandals property, I would wait in the Club Mobay Lounge. Regardless, each lounge has included soft drinks, cocktails, Red Stripe beer, coffee, and snacks. It is air conditioned (most of the airport is not!) and a great place to relax prior to traveling to your resort. WiFi here is complimentary, so this is the perfect opportunity to text loved ones that you landed safely before heading to your resort.
The departure Mobay experience is also expedited, but in a slightly different way. When you arrive back at the Montego Bay airport after your wonderful vacation you are going to need to check your bags and go to the desk to get your boarding pass. Lines for this process have increased heavily since 2019 and 2020. I used to walk right up and now that is a distant memory!
On this particular trip in May we waited 60 minutes to check our bags, answer a health questionnaire, show our negative Covid test results, and receive our boarding pass. Negative Covid tests are no longer required to get back into the US, so that could save you some time! I personally flew with Southwest and thought the staff did a good job at keeping people organized and moving; however, a crowd is a crowd and they can only do so much.
After receiving our boarding pass and dropping our luggage, we headed to the Mobay check in. It is important that we did this BEFORE entering the security line because Mobay guests had their own security line. While the normal security line had HUNDREDS (not exaggerating) of people in it with a queue spanning two rooms, we had a total of 6 people in front of us. That’s right, 6. And after us, it was empty. I honestly believe had we not had the Mobay service, we would have missed our flight going home.
With security taking five minutes maximum, we grabbed our carryon bags and went to the Club Mobay Lounge. This lounge on the way out is HUGE in comparison to the lounge on arrival. It is three floors and the third floor does have a family/kid room, with waiters serving a full bar and hot food, outlets for charging your electronic devices, complimentary WiFi, and TVs with all the flight information on it so you can keep track of your flight status and boarding time. The Mobay representatives also make final boarding announcements and remind people to go to their gates. The lounge is air conditioned unlike the gates and a really nice place to relax before a flight.
I have been to 3 continents, at least 8 counties, and almost 25 states. I have been traveling as long as I can remember. Even as a very seasoned traveler I experience high anxiety on travel days, and the Club Mobay services ease that feeling significantly. I have personally walked past hour-long lines to only wait a few minutes, I have avoided running to a gate because of time I have saved, I have enjoyed drinks and snacks and sipped on mimosas in the air condition while people wait in hot and humid lines just trying to navigate a foreign airport.
Club Mobay currently costs $80 per person for round trip services. In my opinion, this service is priceless. Only a select number of spots are sold per day, so they are limited and booking Mobay as soon as you have your flights is highly recommended.
If you are interested in traveling to Jamaica and adding Club Mobay on to your package, I am happy to help. And if you want to travel to a country other than Jamaica, I am happy to help you navigate airport services other countries offer. I have also helped my clients book services in St. Lucia, Barbados, and Turks & Caicos recently.
Please feel free to reach out to me at maggie@wishesfamilytravel.com or find me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/wishesfamilytravelmaggie