As most of you will know, just under 2 weeks ago I returned from sunny Majorca... and boy am I regretting coming back now with this Manchester weather! My tan has already started to fade and have managed to pick up a cold and a cough... who said England's a good place to be! So although you find me a little depressed with the current weather I've now felt able enough to talk about my holiday... without running to the airport to try and go back there!
** My Story **
Around the middle of August myself and my boyfriend decided we deserved a break and began looking for holidays... now if we hadn't of had a budget (that was really bordering on poverty) we wouldn't have had a problem... and it took us ages to find a decent hotel & flights that appeared to be cost effective and rather a bargain at the same time. We booked with the online company Sun4U which we later found is the English representative of a Spanish company JumboTours (Sun4U can often be found on the teletext holiday pages). After one quick phone call it was sorted... we were off to Majorca on 5th Sept and flying with BMI Baby... a new experience for us both!
** Who Are They **
BMI Baby promotes itself as "the airline with tiny fares," an off shoot almost of other budget airlines including EasyJet and RyanAir. They are owned by the more prestigious BMI (British Midland) flight company, one of the leading flight suppliers in the UK today.
** Where They Fly **
As other low cost budget airlines BMI Baby's route map is limited to destinations within Europe although currently flies to over 20 destinations within Europe. The other bonus with this airline is that it departs from 10 UK airports including Glasgow, Edinburgh, Teesside, Manchester, Nottingham, Birmingham, London, Cardiff, Belfast & Dublin so access to flights from BMI Baby is available for the majority of the public within the UK... so what's your excuse?!
Flight destinations include Majorca, Prague, Toulouse, Nice, Faro, Ibiza and Alicante.
** The Website **
Probably the easiest and most convenient way to book flights independantly is to use the website, which can be located at www.bmibaby.com. Now in my opinion anyone can use this website, it's uncluttered and simplistic - so even people like me can find what they need!
~ Booking - This is probably the most important part of the website and equally the easiest too, as soon as the main page loads the drop down menus located at the top allow you to input your destination, departure airport, dates of travel and number of passengers. You will then be presented with a list of options from which to choose, each displaying the date, the flight time & also the price for ease of usage. Once you've selected the one that's best suited to your needs you merely have to log in (see opening an account below) and oversee payment or merely continue without opening an account. You'll be asked to input passenger details followed by payment methods and then, once completed you'll be sent a confirmation email with a code on - this is your ticket, yes, another annoying airline that doesn't issue tickets!
~ Where We Fly - This drop down menu also located at the top of the page gives information as to the locations BMI Baby flies to as well as airport information. By selecting the route map option you can highlight your desired departure airport or destination airport and be shown where you can go or come from to there. The latter option is airport information that gives details on each of the destination airports including location, public transport and check in times.
~ When We Fly - The first option on this drop down menu allows you to view the timetables by selecting a departure and destination airport which clearly shows flight times and flight days for the majority of 2004. The latter option is live flight information - for those of you who have already booked flights and want to check if you're flight is due to depart on time or if you're meeting someone and want to see if there's been any delays. This is updated fairly regularly - about once an hour.
~ Your Bookings - Here you can login to your account, create an account for easy payment next time you fly and also change your booking.
~ Why Fly BMI Baby - The drop down menus here consist of benefits (reason to fly with them), deals (special offers and reductions in prices) and lastly email offers (allows you to subscribe to the previous offers).
~ Hotels, Cars, Etc. - Here you can book all the extras you may need including hotels, car hire, parking and insurance - you may find that especially with car hire you'll get a much cheaper price than you would when booking once you're at your destination so it's a good idea to check it out! By clicking on any of the options you're taken to www.travelextras.com which is actually run by BMI Baby so low prices are (supposedly) guaranteed.
Other options on the website also allow you the option to contact BMI Baby and gives you the choice of either phoning or emailing them. There's also a careers section, FAQ and news section too. Overall I'd say this website is one of the best of it's kind - easy to use, quick to use, navigation is superb and you're not overloaded with information, perfect!
** Ease of Booking **
The easiest way to book is certainly online and can be achieved with a credit card in about 10 minutes flat (for us quick typers of course)! There's also the option to book over the phone which I haven't personally tried, apparantly it is a longer process due to phone queues though.
** Prices **
Now here's the real meat of this review, the bit you've all been waiting for! Is it really all that cheap? And the answer I'd have to give you is that yes, it is pretty cheap! Myself and my boyfriend flew for under £200 return to Majorca from Manchester on day flights which really was quite a bargain, since then my friend has also flown to Prague (by booking in advance) for £40 one way. Some typical prices are shown below to give you a better idea: -
1 week in advance to Majorca - £242 (for 2)
1 month in advance to Majorca - £186 (for 2)
3 months in advance to Majorca - £104 (for 2)
So as you can see, booking in advance really will save you the most money, and those prices include all taxes and airport payments too!
** Customer Service **
I really can't fault BMI Baby at all when it comes to customer service, my confirmation email after booking arrived within an hour and my email enquiry about extra luggage was answered within 24 hours. Overall I'd rate the customer service as very good - nice and cheerful is always the way to go!
** Check In & Boarding **
Check in for our flight opened two and a half hours before departure and closed forty five minutes before departure. We chose to arrive somewhere in the middle both times and were surprised by how small the queues were. Check in was quick and easy, as there's no tickets you just need to give in your passports and confirmation number which can be found on your booking email - that's all there is to it! oarding is equally easy, the gate opens 30 minutes before departure and closes about 10 minutes before it also.
** The Flight Itself **
Now here's the actual downfall to this company and possibly the most vital too.
~ The Plane - Upon boarding my boyfriend (who is a little wary should we say over flying) almost had a coronary when he saw the state of the plane, the wings were marked and the paint was all chipped and well as several worrying panals of metal coming off the actual wings! Inside wasn't much better, the floor still had crumbs of the previous flight and the odd chair had rips in causing the stuffing to be showing. Although we hadn't paid the earth for these flights we were expecting the quality of the plane to be similar to previous flights with different airlines.
~ Safety - Another one of my boyfriend's worries, until he's seen the safety video (which is undoubtably almost identical on all flights) he can't quite relax... which is why I was walking on egg shells with him when we learnt there wasn't a safety video merely a procedure conducted by the air hostesses - somewhat old fashioned and not as effective I've always thought.
~ Air Hostesses - Okay I know all air hostesses don't look like they do on films but the turn out of the ones on our flight shocked me the most - they were wearing baggy white BMI Baby t shirts and black jeans... since when did air hostesses stop wearing the compulsory head to toe uniform that's what I want to know! They were pleasant and helpful for the duration of the journey so I can't fault them completly... but jeans I ask you?!
~ Food - As all flights are within Europe and so under a duration of 4 hours BMI Baby doesn't actually offer meals, they do however come round with the usual food trolley containing snacks, drinks and 2 choices of sandwiches but it didn't win me over!
~ Entertainment - A major downfall here... the plane we flew on both in and out of Majorca didn't have televisions or radios in the seat arms, hardly a crime but nonetheless it does make for a much more pleasant journey... by the time we arrived in Majorca I was wishing my boyfriend hadn't quite made it onto the plane!
And so my overall opinion of the actual flight is that you really do get what you pay for, that old fable that's always been taught to me by my mum!
Would I recommend them? Yes I would, purely due to the prices and the ease of booking, based alone on the flight I'd have to say you'd be wise to spend a little bit extra and travel in comfort but hey.... beggers can't be choosers!
Thanks for reading!
More details
Class flown most frequently
Economy
How often do you travel with this airline
Rarely
Where did you book
Online Travel Agent
Safety
Satisfactory
How well does it cater for disabled people
OK
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